‘IT’S BEYOND AN OBSESSION’: How Oasis Turned Their Love For The Beatles Into The Soundtrack Of Britpop — From Naming A Son Lennon To Closing Shows With ‘I Am The Walrus’
Highlights
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Noel and Liam Gallagher never hid their devotion to The Beatles, calling the band the benchmark for every song they wrote.
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Liam Gallagher even named his first son Lennon, a tribute to Beatles legend John Lennon.
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Oasis regularly closed concerts with a powerful rendition of “I Am The Walrus,” cementing the connection between the two bands.
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Critics sometimes accused Oasis of copying The Beatles — but the Gallaghers proudly embraced the comparison.
When Oasis exploded onto the music scene in the early 1990s, the British band didn’t try to disguise where their inspiration came from.
From their interviews to their songwriting, Noel and Liam Gallagher made it clear that The Beatles were their ultimate reference point.
“It’s beyond an obsession,” Noel Gallagher once admitted when describing his relationship with the legendary Liverpool band.
“With every song that I write, I compare it to The Beatles.”
For Noel — the group’s chief songwriter — the Beatles weren’t simply a favourite band. They were the standard against which every melody, lyric, and arrangement was measured.
A Beatles Influence That Went Beyond Music
The admiration didn’t stop with songwriting.
In 1999, Liam Gallagher named his first son Lennon, a direct tribute to Beatles icon John Lennon, showing just how deeply the band’s legacy had shaped Oasis both personally and professionally.
On stage, the influence was even more obvious.
During their breakthrough years in the mid-1990s, Oasis frequently closed concerts with a thunderous performance of the Beatles psychedelic classic “I Am The Walrus.”
The cover became a staple of their live shows, serving as both a tribute and a reminder of the musical lineage they proudly claimed.
The Sound Of Britpop — With A Beatles Echo
Musically, the Beatles’ fingerprints can be heard throughout Oasis’s catalogue.
Songs like “Don’t Look Back in Anger,” “Whatever,” and “All Around the World” carry the same sweeping melodies and stadium-ready sing-along energy that defined many of the Beatles’ most beloved recordings.
Critics often pointed out these similarities, sometimes dismissing Oasis as derivative.
But the Gallaghers never saw it that way.
To them, The Beatles were not something to imitate — they were the blueprint of what great British songwriting could be.
From Manchester Bars To Global Fame
Formed in Manchester in 1991, Oasis quickly became one of the defining bands of the Britpop movement, alongside acts such as Blur and Pulp.
Their 1994 debut album Definitely Maybe and the massive 1995 follow-up (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? propelled the band to international fame, producing anthems that are still sung in stadiums today.
Despite internal tensions and famously volatile relationships between the Gallagher brothers, Oasis dominated British music throughout the decade.
A Legacy That Still Echoes
Although Oasis officially split in 2009 after years of public feuds, their influence continues to resonate across generations of British rock bands.
And while the Gallaghers built their own identity within Britpop history, they never stopped acknowledging the band that inspired them in the first place.
For Oasis, The Beatles weren’t just a musical influence — they were the starting point of everything.
Which Oasis song feels the most “Beatles-like” to you? Let us know in the comments below.
