Blur's Damon Albarn finally admits defeat against Oasis – 'They won the battle'

Blur frontman Damon Albarn has acknowledged Oasis as the ultimate winners of the long-standing Britpop rivalry, admitting their ongoing reunion tour has firmly placed them back at the top of the music scene.

Speaking about Oasis' epic comeback, Albarn, 57, reflected on the decades-old competition that defined 1990s British music. “Well, it was obvious, wasn’t it?” he said. “I think we can officially say that Oasis won the battle, the war, the campaign, everything.”

Although Blur famously beat Oasis in the 1995 chart battle with their single Country House, Albarn now believes Gallagher brothers Liam and Noel have claimed the long-term victory.

“They are the winners. They take first place,” he added. “In the face of such overwhelming evidence, I am happy to accept and concede defeat. It’s their summer and God bless them. I hope everyone has a wonderful time but I’m going to be in a very, very different place.”

Blur recently released To The End, a documentary chronicling their 2023 reunion and comeback album The Ballad of Darren. They also played two major shows at London’s Wembley Stadium last summer.

However, Albarn conceded that those performances are being eclipsed by Oasis’s current success. “My two-night stint at Wembley will be dwarfed by their seven,” he told The Sun.

Oasis kicked off their highly anticipated Oasis Live ’25 reunion tour last weekend with two sold-out nights at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium. The band returned to their hometown of Manchester on July 11 for the first of five major outdoor shows at Heaton Park, which was their first concert in the city since 2009.

Thousands of fans queued at the gates from the early morning hours, with some travelling from as far as Australia and South Korea to witness the historic performance. The show attracted over 80,000 attendees and featured some of the largest on-stage screens ever used in a UK concert.

One emotional moment from the Manchester concert has since gone viral on social media. A video captured a group of concertgoers lifting a disabled fan named Daniel above the crowd so he could see the stage. He attended the show with his sister Jemma, but was unable to get accessible tickets.

A woman who shared the video on TikTok wrote: “This is Daniel – he went to night one of @Oasis with his brilliant sister Jemma… A lady got our attention and started asking around to see who could help – she was brilliant!”

She added: “This was Daniel’s first concert, he had a fantastic time. Music brought everyone together once again.”

Oasis’s return marks their first tour in two decades and has been met with overwhelming enthusiasm, as fans around the world celebrate the band’s long-awaited comeback as they belt out their classic songs including Wonderwall and Don't Look Back In Anger.

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