ROCK 'N' ROLL STARS' WELSH CONNECTIONS

OASIS are gearing up to launch their massive reunion tour in Cardiff, with the Gallagher brothers set to take to the stage together for the first time in 16 years in less than a month.

- ROBERT HARRIES Reporter [e-mail]

The concerts, part of the Oasis Live '25 tour announced last year, take place on Friday and Saturday, July 4 and 5.

Many were surprised and delighted that the iconic 1990s band chose the Principality Stadium as the venue to kickstart what is one of the most eagerly-awaited musical tours in rock history.

Perhaps the choice should not come as a surprise, given the band's connections with Wales.

After all, they recorded their hit second album (What's the Story) Morning Glory? about 40 miles from Cardiff at the world-famous Rockfield Studios in Monmouthshire.

The album went on to sell more than 22 million copies across the world.

It’s regarded by many as the band’s finest work, boasting hits including Wonderwall, Don’t Look Back in Anger, Some Might Say and Champagne Supernova.

Three miles away from Rockfield Studios, you'll find the Royal Oak pub in the market town of Monmouth, and had you popped in there in the summer of 1995, there’s a fair chance you would have seen frontman Liam drinking pints late into the night.

During the recording of the album at Rockfield, which was released in October 1995, Liam admitted he “spent more time in the pub than I did here”.

He said: “I'd do my singing and I'd come back and our kid (Noel Gallagher) would still be playing the same f****** riff over and over and over again.”

Perhaps Oasis’ biggest tie with the country is the fact one of their members is Welsh.

In 1999, original bassist and founding member Paul “Guigsy” McGuigan left the band, along with guitarist Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs.

The pair were replaced by guitarist Gem Archer and another musician called Andy Bell, who had formerly founded a rock band called Ride.

Bell, now 54, was born in Cardiff in 1970 and later moved to Oxford and then Sweden.