Remember Oasis’ (Mainly Liam Gallagher’s) Unhinged Behavior at the MTV Awards?

With so much talk going round about Oasis’ highly anticipated (and equally divisive) reunion tour, we couldn’t help but remember some of Oasis’ more, well, Oasis-y performances—like Liam Gallagher’s unhinged behavior at the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards. There was booze, there were attitudes, there were expletives. What more could one expect from the Gallaghers at the time?

Let’s take a look at the performance that fueled tabloid headlines and Oasis criticism for weeks, months, and even years to come.

Oasis Performs at the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards

New York City’s Radio Music Hall held the creme de la creme of 1990s musicians for the MTV Video Music Awards on that fateful night of September 4, 1996. Performances included Beck, Alanis Morissette, Neil Young, LL Cool J, Metallica, No Doubt, The Smashing Pumpkins, and, of course, Oasis, who took the stage after The Cranberries and just before Bone Thugs-N-Harmony.

The “bad boys” from Manchester performed “Champagne Supernova,” the hit single off their then-recent release (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? Despite having no nominations at the awards show, Oasis’ contributions to the modern soundscape were undeniable, and the song fit perfectly amidst other popular hits like No Doubt’s “Just a Girl” and Beck’s “Where It’s At.”

However, the performance also serves as a snapshot of what would ultimately lead to Oasis’ demise years later: boozy bravado, awkward stage dynamics, and an apparent general disdain for the very institution that was granting them the leniency to act that way in the first place.

Liam Gallagher’s Behavior Drew Criticism

After the meteoric success of Oasis’ first two records, whatever bad habits and unhealthy relationship dynamics the band had prior to their fame seemed to worsen exponentially. The band’s controversial performance at the MTV Video Music Awards in 1996 was certainly no exception, drawing criticism and anger from American fans and skeptics alike.

Frontman Liam Gallagher appropriately set the mood within the first five seconds of being on stage: “I hope you’re having a good time, but we know you’re having a s*** time,” he told the crowd, seemingly preparing them for what was to come as his brother and guitarist Noel Gallagher played the song’s opening riff. When the time came to sing the first iteration of the song’s refrain, Liam improvised, “In a champagne supernova up your bum.”

Instrumentally, the performance was decent. The musicians dutifully followed Liam’s lead as he jumped downbeats and wavered the tempo while he sang with varying degrees of musical accuracy. During instrumental breaks, Liam would pop his fingers in his mouth, shout to the audience, and make kissing faces toward the crowd. (The camera operators swinging the audience’s view from Liam to the rest of the band were truly doing the most.)

As the song neared its end, Liam slapped the microphone stand down to the ground, downed a pint of beer, and spit it back out onto the stage. The singer left before the song’s final notes, leaving the spotlight on Noel and his Union Jack guitar as the rest of Oasis closed out the performance. What a time to be alive, knowing that the Manchester boys will be back at it again in 2025.

Photo by Alan Davidson/Shutterstock