Robbie Williams is beefing with Noel Gallagher, and suddenly it’s the noughties all over again.
The Rock DJ hitmaker’s history with the Oasis brothers runs deep, with him challenging Liam Gallagher to a £100,000 fight at the Brit Awards in 2000.
In recent years, he’s made several other scathing comments, describing Oasis as ‘gigantic bullies’ in their heyday, then saying he would be their reunion tour opener, as, while they weren’t exactly ‘friends’, he didn’t consider them to be ‘enemies’.
But in his latest move to fuel the rivalry, Robbie, 52, has taken an almighty swipe at Noel, 58, that is – quite literally – close to home.
The former Take That member placed a cheeky poster on the Manchester street where Noel grew up, promoting his newest album ahead of a gig at the city’s Aviva Studios tonight.
Robbie is performing tunes from his record Life Thru A Lens and his number one album Britpop as part of Brits Week. He’ll also join in with a tribute for Ozzy Osbourne tomorrow night when the annual ceremony heads up north for the first time.
And what better way to honour a new era for the Brits than by throwing it back with some good old-fashioned feuding?
Robbie’s promotional artwork has been plastered across a wall on Whitworth Street West in Manchester City Centre, where Noel lived before he became the famous Wonderwall hitmaker we know today.
It quotes a four-star Britpop review from the Daily Telegraph, reading: ‘…sing-along choruses to make Noel Gallagher question whether he ever needs to bother writing another song.’
Below the excerpt were a slew of star ratings from other publications of his record-breaking album, such as The Sun, Classic Pop, and Sunday Express.
Sharing snaps of the poster on his Instagram, Robbie’s caption said: ‘LONG 90’S IN MANCHESTER…TONIGHT! [sic]’
In the comments, fans were living for how he came for Noel once again, as @karollllleee declared she is ‘Team Robbie ❤️’
‘👏Brilliant 🤩’, commented @_komarovapolina, while @hichichooray joked: ‘Outstanding quote and review from @liamgallagher! x’
‘Lmao the never ending beef 😂’, laughed @elisabenslimane.
The history of Robbie Williams’ feud with the Gallagher brothers
Indeed, Robbie and Noel and Liam Gallagher have been trading insults for over two decades.
Initially, they were pals, as Liam took Robbie under his wing after he went solo in 1995, and they were seen living it up at Glastonbury.
‘I happened to know them and knock about with them for a little while,’ Robbie reflected in 2013, then admitting that he doesn’t think he was ‘their cup of tea’.
‘At the time I think the exact words were, “I’m not mod,” so I was sort of mates with them for a bit, then I didn’t gel with them, so we stopped hanging out, simple as that.’
Things escalated at the Brits in 2000 when Noel called Robbie the ‘fat dancer from Take That’, after which he retorted onstage: ‘So, anybody like to see me fight Liam? Liam, a hundred grand of your money and a hundred grand of my money. We’ll get in a ring and we’ll have a fight, and you can all watch it on TV. What do you think about that?’
From there, Robbie continued to get his revenge, selling out Knebworth Park for three consecutive nights after Oasis sold out two in 1996.
In a nod to Noel’s original jibe, Robbie sent him a pair of tap shoes along with a note reading: ‘Dear Mr N Gallagher, you said two nights at Knebworth is history. Well, I guess three is just greedy. Yours, Rob.
‘PS: Finding it difficult to find adequate support for my show. What are you doing on the 1st and 2nd? Oh, and the 3rd?’
Robbie’s ex, Nicole Appleton of All Saints, went on to date Liam a year after their split. She married him, and they welcomed son Gene, divorcing in 2014.
But such big life milestones did nothing to put an end to the rift, as Robbie took a further swipe at Noel during Take That’s reunion run at Wembley Stadium, saying on the mic: ‘Noel Gallagher, you can kiss my perfectly formed backside.’
Liam would label Robbie a ‘fat f***ing idiot’ in 2014, which he responded to by reviewing his band Beady Eye, saying while some songs were ‘nearly great,’ they had ‘no chorus’.
Making matters public once more, in November 2022, Robbie told Zane Lowe that he is, admittedly, still a fan of Oasis, but ‘they were gigantic bullies, too, to the whole industry, everybody in it’.
‘A lot of that still remains inside me. They’re probably different people now, but there’s a lot of me that’s like, “They’re f***ing bullies, them. I don’t like bullies”,’ he said.
When a fan tweeted Liam about Robbie’s comments, he wrote back that he ‘didn’t agree on the bullying thing’, defending himself by saying: ‘I’ve never bullied anyone in my life I’m a massive p**s taker for sure and probably gone a little too far sometimes but if I’ve ever hurt anyone’s feelings I apologise [sic]’.
In 2024, Oasis practically broke the internet by confirming ‘the guns had fallen silent’ and they were reuniting for a world tour, marking Noel and Liam’s first time sharing the stage since their bitter 2009 split.
Giving his opinion, Robbie praised: ‘Liam Gallagher reading his phone on the toilet would be more charismatic and intriguing than 99.9% of the world’s population at their most enigmatic.
‘All he has to do is stand there and sing for the audience to be guaranteed their money’s worth.’
Never missing the opportunity for a dig, he added on: ‘Noel will be there too.’
Last year, Robbie hailed Oasis as ‘omnipresent,’ saying he ‘couldn’t compete with that’ and that he was willing to become their tour support act.
‘We’re not exactly friends, but I don’t think we’re enemies.’
Music fans will have to wait and see if there’s any further drama to add to the timeline this weekend, as while Robbie will perform at the Brits, Noel will also attend.
The Champagne Supernova singer will receive the songwriter of the year award, which is decided by a panel of experts and has been won by Ed Sheeran, Kid Harpoon, Raye, and Charli XCX in the past.
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