Oasis have stopped the sale of a stash of previously unreleased recordings from their 1990s heyday.
The audio trove had been gathered together by sound engineer Huw Richards – who worked with the band from 1994 until 2001 – and included 63 live shows, soundchecks and more than 100 hours of rehearsal tapes featuring brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher. The tapes were set to go under the hammer via Littleton Auctions but it’s now been confirmed the sale of the audio has been stopped.
Managing director of Littleton Auctions Ben Homer said: “Littleton Auctions confirms that the Oasis recordings known as The Desk Tapes have been withdrawn from our October 3 auction in light of legal proceedings.
“We are very disappointed that we cannot offer this significant archive as planned … The rest of the sale is unaffected and will take place as normal. We respect the legal process and will make no further comment on the proceedings at this stage.”
Richards’ son, Owain Richards, put the collection – which includes 209 DAT tapes, 73 analogue cassettes and three MiniDiscs – forward for the auction and he’s confirmed the band didn’t want the sale to go ahead.
According to the BBC, he said: “It is true that Oasis have sued me and my father to try to prevent the auction of the tapes made by my father many years ago.
“We have agreed to postpone the auction [of the recordings] to enable the legal dispute to be resolved either by litigation or otherwise in an orderly way.”
The auction – which also includes other Oasis artifacts including a Kangol Oasis tour parka from Richards’ personal collection as well as original setlists and internal tour itineraries – is set to go ahead on Saturday (03.10.26).
The news comes after the reformed rockers confirmed they are returning to the road next year for Oasis Live ’27 two years after their sold out Oasis Live ’25 Tour and the 42 shows sold out shortly after going on sale over the weekend.
A report suggests they were overwhelmed with demand as more than 11 million fans reportedly registered for just two million tickets – and Noel and Liam Gallagher’s band would have loved to have been able to add more concerts to the list.
A source told The Sun newspaper: “There were just over two million tickets for sale with over 11million people registering. “They have 12 nights at Manchester’s Etihad Stadium but they could have sold it out 179 times.
“Noel and Liam were blown away by the reception from their fans and wish they could have added more – but 42 is their lot.”
Oasis Live ’27 will span 42 shows across Scotland, England, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, France, Italy, the US and Ireland. They added four extra shows to their run at Knebworth House in England, bringing the total to six, plus another date at the Rome Olympic Stadium on July 26, and Munich’s Allianz Arena on July 6.
However, the Slide Away rockers have confirmed that no further dates will be added.
After tickets for all the shows sold out, singer Liam took to social media to write: “That’s all folks.” However, he hinted more concerts could follow if the band come up with some new music.
Liam explained: “Listen if all goes well with the tour I guess next step is to have a chat about new music. Can’t see us touring again unless we have new music.”