This year, the impossible finally happened – Noel and Liam Gallagher buried the hatchet and reformed Oasis.
Since their split in 2009, this kind of reunion felt impossible with the brothers hurling insults at each other across interviews and social media for decades.
However, now Liam is promising he’ll be blowing kisses at his older brother as they perform on stage – tell that to a fan even five years ago and they’d laugh in your face.
Not all bands have the power of brotherly bonds to help bring them back together though and there’s been plenty of bitter splits over the years.
Nobody feuds quite like a musician and their former bandmates and while miracles do happen, there are some spats which run too deep to reconcile.
Here are the artists who refuse to reunite with their bands, no matter how much the fans want it…
Morrissey and The Smiths
Possibly one of the most famous feuds in music history, British rockers The Smiths broke up in 1987 and it’s been nothing but bad blood ever since.
Recently, former frontman Johnny Marr reportedly turned down a very lucrative offer for the Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now hitmakers to reform.
Morrisey has thrown some barbs at Marr over the years but this and a disagreement over The Smiths trademark have reignited the feud.
The Charming Man stars have given numerous reasons for the original break-up over the years, with some suggesting it was Marr’s decision to leave that spelt the end.
He said he was taking a break due to being exhausted from the band’s schedule. Easterhouse guitarist Ivor Perry briefly replaced him but The Smiths split up weeks later.
Marr rejected NME’s claim that The Smiths broke up because Morrissey was frustrated at him wanting to work with other artists, as he told the publication in a 1978 interview: ‘The major reason for me going was simply that there are things I want to do, musically, that there is just not scope for in The Smiths.’
In the years since, this void has only become bigger and bigger, with Morrissey’s conservative political views at odds with Marr’s.
A fan asked about the reunion on X, to which Marr responded with a picture of Nigel Farage – clearly there’s no love lost here.
David Lee Roth and Van Halen
Fans came frustratingly close with this one but sadly Van Halen scrapped their reunion tour in October after David Lee Roth allegedly upset his bandmates.
According to Alex Van Halen during an interview with Rolling Stone, he and Roth nearly came to blows over Roth’s response to a possible tribute to Eddie Van Halen.
Eddie, Alex’s brother, died in 2020 and Alex hoped to put a tribute into their reunion show with old footage, inspired by the Freddie Mercury montage in Queen gigs.
‘The thing that broke the camel’s back, and I can be honest about this now,’ Alex claimed, ‘was I said, “Dave, at some point, we have to have a very overt — not a bowing — but an acknowledgment of Ed in the gig. If you look at how Queen does it, they show old footage.” And the moment I said we gotta acknowledge Ed, Dave f***in’ popped a fuse.… The vitriol that came out was unbelievable.’
In 2019, while on a podcast, Roth made his feelings about Eddie very clear as he declared: ‘We have always hated each other, right up until the last phone call’.
If a tribute to Eddie is the sticking point for a reunion tour, fans will be waiting a while for Van Halen to return.
David Byrne and Talking Heads
Talking Heads are an iconic band but sadly there is no reunion on the cards, yet.
David Bryne left the group in 1988 to pursue a solo career while his bandmates — Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth, and Jerry Harrison — released another album without him.
He then sued them over the name usage which was settled out of court and Talking Heads were no more.
Things were turbulent between the former bandmates for quite some time, with the occasional sly remark hurled as the relationship turned sour.
Chris told The Guardian in 2020: ‘His brain is wired in such a way that he doesn’t know where he ends and other people begin. He can’t imagine that anyone else would be important.’
David and his former bandmates have appeared to make up in recent times with the re-release of their concert film and David stating he regretted the way he left the group.
This reunion is more likely than others but still, we’re not holding out hope as Billboard reported they had rejected an $80million payout to play Coachella.
Roger Waters and Pink Floyd
A feud so bitter even fans don’t want them to reunite, there’s no chance of Pink Floyd reforming after the controversy surrounding Roger Waters.
The bassist has been at odds with the rest of the band – David Gilmour and Nick Mason – for quite some time now, after being accused of antisemitism.
After clashing over creative differences in the 80s, Roger and David went toe-to-toe in a legal battle as the former attempted to dissolve Pink Floyd.
Last year, David’s wife also accused Roger of harbouring anti-Semitic views, something which has been levied at the musician from a few separate people.
Years later the disagreement continues to bubble with Roger claiming he was ‘banned’ from the Pink Floyd website in 2020.
In 2022, Pink Floyd released their first new single in more than 25 years in support of the people of Ukraine.
Hey, Hey, Rise Up! did not include involvement from Roger, although re-released songs from Dark Side of the Moon still credit him.
Paul Weller and The Jam
‘It would be absurd,’ Paul Weller famously told reporters in 2013 when asked about reforming mod icons The Jam.
Given his impressive solo career since leaving it’s no surprise Paul hasn’t considered reuniting with Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler once more.
His initial exit in 1982, announced by his dad, reportedly ‘came as a shock’ to his fellow bandmates who were a little disgruntled.
Bruce and Paul did not speak for 20 years after this and Rick said in 2015 he still hadn’t spoken to the Going Underground singer.
In 2020, two of the trio did reunite for a performance, with Paul telling NME at the time: ‘It came about because we had both lost loved ones last year.
‘[Bruce] lost his wife at the early part of the year, and I lost my dad, and it opened up a bit of a dialogue, and it seemed like a nice thing to do at the time. In fact, it was a wonderful thing.’
However, he has also called Rick and Bruce’s From The Jam act a ‘bit cabaret’ so a reunion doesn’t appear to be on his mind any time soon.
Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac
Stevie Nicks has firmly put her foot down when it comes to reuniting Fleetwood Mac and as devastating as that is, we can’t blame her.
The group’s internal relationships have been well documented, famously writing Rumours about their own breakups and affairs.
The late 70s saw Stevie and Lindsay Buckingham throw lyrical punches while Mick Fleetwood and Stevie began a shortlived affair which she said ‘would have been the end of Fleetwood Mac’.
Mick once told Mojo: ‘It’s no secret, it’s no title-tattle that there is a brick wall there emotionally. Stevie’s able to speak clearly about how she feels and doesn’t feel, as does Lindsey.’
In 2018, Lindsay was ousted from the group ahead of a tour, which led to a legal dispute which was eventually settled out of court.
However, it was the death of fourth member Christine McVie in 2022 that finally brought an end to any reunion plans.
‘Without Christine, no can do,’ Stevie told Mojo that year. ‘There is no chance of putting Fleetwood Mac back together in any way. Without her, it just couldn’t work.’
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