Seven of the most explosive rock band break-ups from Oasis and the Beatles to the Kinks

Infamous rock band break-ups from Oasis to The Beatles

Oasis

Liam and Noel Gallagher had always had a difficult relationship even before the brothers shot to fame with Oasis in the 1990s. The regularly feuding brothers managed to stick together through thick and thin over two decades before breaking up after what happened backstage on August 28, 2009. The pair were in Paris after a long tour and Liam had had to cancel a show due to laryngitis, although Noel claimed he was just hungover. Just before they went on, Noel came at Liam with his guitar. Back in 2015 Noel said: “He started wielding it like an ax, and I’m not f***in’ kidding. And I’m making light of it because it’s kind of what I do, but it was a real unnecessary violent act, and he’s swinging this guitar around, he nearly took my face off with it. And it ended up on the floor, and I put it out of its misery.” After the guitar was smashed, Noel stormed off, Oasis didn’t perform their show and haven’t done so live ever since.

That was until this morning when the Gallagher brothers put aside their differences and announced a 2025 UK tour.

The Kinks

Another group of feuding brothers were The Davies who were at each other's throats from the '60s until they split in 1996. Even afterwards they continued to feud, with Ray infamously stamping on Dave's 50th birthday cake. Back in the 1960s they had early onstage fights, including once in Cardiff in 1965 when Dave Davies reportedly kicked over drummer Mick Avory's kit during the performance. The latter responded by hitting Dave with a hit-hat stand knocking him unconscious. As a result, the band weren't allowed to perform in the US for several years. Meanwhile, The Kinks often clashed over the band's creative direction. Their feuding was often in public, fought out in the press with Dave once calling Ray a "control freak" and Ray referring to Dave as an "egomaniac". Despite all the fighting, the Kinks are hoping for a reunion, as discussed exclusively with Express.co.uk last year.

Fleetwood Mac

The band has taken many different forms over its half-century in the business. Even before the iconic Rumours album, Fleetwood Mac had lost founder Peter Green and three other members. They managed to keep the music alive despite the romantic breakups of John and Christine McVie and also Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham. However, the latter walked in 1987 and Christine McVie followed in 1998, yet both have rejoined at different stages in the band’s history. But then Nicks and Buckingham’s feuding reached boiling point once again in 2018 just before another tour. During her speech at New York’s Radio City Music Hall honouring Fleetwood Mac, Nicks felt that Buckingham has been smirking behind her back. As a result, she was unwilling to remain in the band and so Buckingham was fired, leading to his filing of a lawsuit against the band for wrongful termination, which was settled out of court. He later suffered a heart attack and Nicks wrote him a letter telling him to look after himself, but any hopes of a proper Fleetwood Mac reunion when the dust had settled were lost when Christine died in 2022.

Eagles

During the 1970s, Don Henley and Glenn Frey led Eagles as the main singer-songwriters, meaning their dominance created tensions within the band that led to the departure of the original guitarist and bass player, Bernie Leadon and Randy Meisner. Although the biggest band in the world by the turn of the 1980s, Eagles’ feuding was at its zenith. That year at a fundraiser for California Senator Alan Cranson, Frey believed guitarist Don Felder had been rude to the politician’s wife backstage. As a result, the pair started fighting and the tensions didn’t stop on stage. Near the end of the set Felder told Frey: “I’m going to kick your ass when we get off the stage.” The band remained split until the 1994 Hell Freezes Over reunion tour.