When Liam Gallagher met Robbie Williams

This is how Williams has described his ongoing row with the Oasis frontman, which has regularly been front page news, after the pair went from being pals to bitter rivals.

In an interview earlier this month, Williams described the long-awaited Oasis reunion tour as a “soap opera” after revealing he once left the country to escape jibes from Liam and his older brother Noel.

While some fans have blamed media hype for the long running argument, there seems little doubt that the discord is genuine, after former Take That singer Williams, 50, revealed his views to Virgin Radio.

Robbie Williams and Take That

Williams was only 16 when he joined boy band Take That with Gary Barlow, Mark Owen, Howard Donald and Jason Orange in 1990.

The Manchester based teen group rocketed to fame, boasting global record sales of 45 million to date. Their first chart hit was It Only Takes a Minute, which reached number two in the UK singles chart in May 1992.

The group went on to release 33 singles, including 12 chart-toppers; nine studio albums; three live albums; and 14 video albums. Their live sell out stadium tours attracted arenas full of adoring fans, who loved the band’s high-energy dance routines.

When Williams announced he was leaving Take That in 1995, fans were devastated, but it didn’t do his career any harm. In January 2024, media reports claimed he had amassed a fortune of £222 million.

Liam Gallagher and Oasis

While Take That were marketing their music to a largely teenage pop audience, fellow Manchester band Oasis were enjoying success in a different genre. Liam Gallagher formed the rock band in 1991 at the age of 19, at the height of the “Madchester” music scene, when the town was the northern capital of indie music.

Initially called The Rain, the band’s founding members were Liam on lead vocals, drummer Tony McCarroll, guitarist Paul Arthurs and bass player Paul McGuigan. Liam’s older brother Noel, 24, joined later that year, when they changed their name to Oasis.

After being signed by Creation records in 1993, they shot to mainstream stardom, appealing to a more fashionable Britpop audience. Oasis’ second album, What’s the Story Morning Glory, topped the album charts in many nations in 1995, elevating the band to superstar status.

First meeting

When Liam Gallagher met Robbie Williams, both were iconic vocalists at the peak of their professional careers. Their first meeting was at Glastonbury Festival in 1995, just before Williams left Take That. Liam and Noel Gallagher, the Britpop bad boys, couldn’t have been more different from Williams, the cheeky pop star.

At the time, the media respected indie and rock bands far more than boy bands, which irked Williams. A report in iNews suggested he wasn’t the happy-go-lucky character portrayed in the media, claiming he hated the fact he was perceived as “thick” and becoming disillusioned with Take That.

In June 1995, Williams arrived at Glastonbury, his brown hair bleached blonde. In an interview, he said, “With the sort of band I’m in, people are looking at me like, ‘You’re not supposed to be here’!” He didn’t let this affect him and during Oasis’ performance, he got on stage and started dancing with the band. Afterwards, he was spotted backstage, hanging out with the musicians.

Williams left Take That soon afterwards and began hanging out with Oasis. Regardless of their different backgrounds, Liam and Robbie became friends and were spotted socialising and playing in a charity football match together in London. Robbie had already left Take That to pursue his solo career, while Oasis continued to dominate the charts. Both were flying high and continually in the media spotlight.

Feud begins

The exact reason why their feud began is unclear, other than reports that Noel Gallagher wasn’t keen on Williams, labelling him the “fat dancer from Take That”. Whether this was in response to Williams’ impromptu dance with Oasis on the Glastonbury stage wasn’t clear.

Reports of discord began circulating, with increasingly cruel insults being traded. The media loved the rivalry and their ongoing reports of every incident fanned the flames and escalated the feud.

Williams’ sellout Knebworth shows

Williams played sellout shows at Knebworth Park in Hertfordshire over three consecutive nights on 1st, 2nd and 3rd August 1996 in front of 375,000 fans at the biggest British music event in history at the time. With the feud in full flow, Oasis also played there on 10th and 11th August, later releasing a live album and documentary about the sellout event.

Williams reportedly got his revenge for Noel’s comments by sending him a pair of dancing shoes with the message, “You said two nights at Knebworth was history. Well, I guess three is just greedy!”

Robbie Williams Brit Awards 2000

At the Brit Awards 2000 in March at Earl’s Court, London, the feud erupted in spectacular style when Robbie challenged Liam to a boxing match. After accepting the British Single of the Year Award for She’s the One, while still on stage, he surprised viewers by calling his former friend out.

“Would anyone like to see me fight Liam?” Robbie asked. “Liam, a hundred grand of your money and a hundred grand of mine – we’ll get in the ring and you can all watch it on TV!”

In a 2019 interview with Jonathan Ross, Williams spoke of his collaboration with boxer Tyson Fury in the recording studio on an album track called Bad Sharon after the pair met in Las Vegas. Williams, an amateur boxer, had already suggested a match with Liam Gallagher. When Ross asked why fight Liam and not Tyson Fury, Williams quipped, “I want someone I can beat!”

He had already spoken to boxing promoter Eddie Hearn, but said Liam never responded. Playing down the feud, Williams said it had been “in the ‘90s”, when they had “hung out” a little, without necessarily being friends.

“Bullying” accusations

In 2021, Williams branded the Gallagher brothers “bullies”, claiming he often saw TV programmes where “hateful” comments were made about him. Calling it “wrong, grotesque and unbearable”, he left the UK for a while to escape from the limelight.

He claimed as well as Noel calling him the “fat dancer”, Liam had branded him a “fat idiot”. In November 2022, Williams publicly labelled Liam and Noel “gigantic bullies” to the “whole industry”, adding, “I don’t like bullies.”

Liam responded on Twitter by saying, “I’ve never bullied anyone in my life”. Admitting he took the mickey and that he had “probably gone a little too far sometimes”, he apologised if he had “ever hurt anyone’s feelings”.

Williams said he was still a fan of Oasis’ music and believed their forthcoming reunion tour in summer 2025 would be “incredible” and “special”. He said Liam’s singing alone would guarantee the audience would get their money’s worth, pointedly adding, “Noel will be there too.”