Alex James claims Blur “need to let Oasis get their stuff out the way” before making comeback
It seems a new Britpop battle could be brewing after Alex James claimed that Blur will not be making a comeback until the Oasis reunion has fully passed over.
The two bands were infamous in their rivalling exploits as part of the Britpop ‘Big Four’ throughout the 1990s, culminating in the notorious battle where Blur’s ‘Country House’ beat Oasis’ ‘Roll With It’ to number one in 1995.
However, with the Britpop renaissance having swept the world over the past year, largely at the hands of the Gallagher brothers’ massive 2025 reunion tour, Blur have been notably quiet, working on solo projects since 2023.
James, the band’s bassist, has now jokingly opened up about this while appearing on Chris Moyles’ show on Radio X, where he naturally blamed Oasis for the lack of Blur activity.
First speaking of his frontman Damon Albarn’s latest ventures with Gorillaz, James said he had been to see the band’s recent show at the London Stadium, which he compared to “the bit at the end of La La Land, where they’re both kind of living their dream, but they’re not together anymore.”
However, when Moyles pointed out that Blur is not completely over, James interjected, “It’s a long time ago now – 2023,” before adding, “Yeah, I think we need to let Oasis get their stuff out the way before we even sort of countenance”.
When lightly probed on whether Blur should be playing Knebworth, the bassist laughed while replying, “No, no, honestly, I don’t want to poke that hornet’s nest again, trust me.”
It comes as Oasis have gone surprisingly quiet following the end of their reunion tour in December last year, despite widespread rumours that more dates could be planned for 2027.
This allegedly could include a stint at Knebworth, recreating the iconic and history-making double bill of gigs they originally played there in August 1996.
For James’ part, though, he is also cashing in on the renewed Britpop zeitgeist, with his Britpop Classical tour taking him to a range of UK dates this summer, including Margate Dreamland and Latitude Festival.
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