Oasis reunion: what is Noel and Liam Gallagher’s net worth?

One of the most anticipated events of the year kicked off this month – the Oasis reunion tour. The Gallagher brothers decided the music (or perhaps the money) was more important than their 15-year feud and took their own advice about the perils of looking back in anger.

How much will they make from the tour and what does it mean for their net worth?

First of all, it is worth pointing out that musicians don’t tend to make the cut when it comes to MoneyWeek’s list of the richest people in the world. That is largely the reserve of tech tycoons. Taylor Swift is widely recognised as being one of the only singer-songwriters to have reached billionaire status through music alone.

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The Gallagher brothers’ wealth does not come close to Swift’s level, based on online reports, however they will profit handsomely from this year’s string of performances.

Last summer, Birmingham City University estimated that the Oasis reunion tour could bring in £400 million in ticket sales and merchandise, with the brothers each earning £50 million. That estimate was made when they had announced just 14 dates. The band is now playing 41 dates in total.

Online reports of their net worth are difficult to verify, but the Sunday Times Music Rich List calculated the brothers’ combined wealth as £52 million back in 2009, when the band first split. By 2018, the rich list’s researchers estimated that it had climbed to £60 million.

That said, Noel is widely recognised as the wealthier of the two brothers – and by a significant margin. As the primary songwriter and producer on the band’s music, he earns the lion’s share when it comes to royalties.

Expensive divorce settlements have also taken a chunk out of their wealth in recent years. When Liam divorced his second wife Nicole Appleton in 2015, court documents showed the £5.5 million payout she received represented half of his wealth at the time.

Noel also announced a split from his second wife Sara MacDonald in 2023, and is understood to have paid a £20 million divorce settlement. It is unclear how much of Noel’s wealth this represented.

Merchandise and streaming

It isn’t just ticket sales that will boost the brothers’ net worth, but revenue from Oasis merchandise and an uptick in streaming.

A report in The Sun claims the Gallaghers landed a £20 million payday after their merchandise partner – part of Warner Music Group – secured the rights to the black and white image used when the comeback tour was first announced last summer.

The band has reportedly filed documents at the Intellectual Property Office to prevent unauthorised reuse from bootleg merchandisers.

An increase in streaming activity could also mean more income from royalties. In August last year, The Guardian reported that Spotify had seen a 690% increase in the number of daily streams of Oasis songs since the reunion tour was announced.

Will Noel sell the rights to his back catalogue?

In another lucrative business move, Noel has indicated he could consider selling the rights to his back catalogue at some point in the future. He previously identified 2025 as the first year he would be able to do this.

“Well, I get mine [the rights to his catalogue] back, all of it, in 2025, because I’ve been knocking years off the deal as opposed to taking money advances,” he told Apple Music in 2021.

“The way that I look at it is I’ll be approaching 60, and it’s like, do I want to leave it to my kids, who’ll probably swap it for a PlayStation game? Or do I get rid of it now and set everybody up for life?”

Deals like this can be worth hundreds of millions. Bruce Springsteen sold his back catalogue to Sony for a reported £376 million in 2021. David Bowie’s work went for more than £185 million, according to Variety.