30 Years Ago, Oasis Released a Perfect Rock Anthem — With a Twist

When the rock band Oasis went on their record-breaking reunion tour in 2025, one of the biggest anthems for the band, was ironically, one that you could have easily seen performed live just a few years earlier in a different context. While "Wonderwall," and "Champagne Supernova," "Live Forever," and "Supersonic," make good use of the frontman Liam Gallagher's unique, searing vocals, the band's other immortal, mega-hit, "Don't Look Back in Anger" feature smoother, less punk-rock vocals from older brother Noel Gallagher; the Paul McCartney of Oasis to Liam's John Lennon.

30 years ago, on February 19, 1996, Oasis released "Don't Look Back in Anger" as a single. It was their fifth single off of their second album; the smash-hit record What's the Story? (Morning Glory). And today, the song still represents a high point for the band, even though, in a sense, its kind of the first example of a very successful solo Noel Gallagher song.

Legend has it that singer Liam Gallagher had a choice between singing "Wonderwall" and singing "Don't Look Back in Anger" and choose the former. And, true to the rough-and-tumble Oasis reputation, Liam allegedly showed up drunk to the 1995 recording of "Don't Look Back in Anger," and Noel chased him out of the studio with a cricket bat.

But, today, nobody thinks about that, nor does anyone really focus on the fact that its Noel, not Liam singing the song, even though, at the time, that was the song's novelty. The band had never released a single in which Liam hadn't been the lead vocalist, which, in retrospect is a little like a great Rolling Stones song with Keith Richards on vocals, not Mick Jagger. (And if you look at that list, there's nothing even close to "Don't Look Back in Anger" in terms of awesomeness and cultural status.)

With its John Lennon-ish borrowed piano riff from "Imagine," and an unforgettable guitar solo, "Don't Look Back in Anger" is great not because its a great Oasis song, but because its a timeless song that feels like it could have come from any era. The proof of this is that most covers of "Don't Look Back in Anger" are quite good, including Suki Waterhouse's excellent 2025 take on the song. Like The Beatles' "Yesterday," it's a song that defines Oasis, even though its mostly a song that only needs one person to perform it well. Every Noel Gallagher acoustic version of this song—either during the Oasis years or during his solo years—is fantastic. So, its an anthem that can go big or go small, and still be emotionally moving and rock and roll at the same time.

Oasis, "Don't Look Back in Anger" 30th Anniversary Rerelease

To celebrate the 30th birthday of "Don't Look Back in Anger," Oasis has released a new music video, as well as a ton of merch on their official website. This includes great new t-shirts, as well as the fact that "Don't Look Back in Anger" features on the 30th anniversary deluxe reissue of What's the Story? (Morning Glory) on vinyl.

You can check out all that merch, including limited edition records, right here.