Row over 'free plug for clothes' led to end of Oasis, Noel reveals

NOEL Gallagher has revealed that one of the most infamous splits in rock 'n' roll stemmed from a row about an advert in an Oasis tour programme.

The guitarist, launching his solo album, broke his silence yesterday about his departure from the band, explaining that that it had spiralled from a squabble about his brother Liam's demands for a free plug for his clothing range. Noel left the group in 2009 after years of tension between the pair.

He said that on the night of his departure, which led to the cancellation of a headline slot at a Paris festival, Liam had stormed into the dressing room wielding a guitar like "an axe". "He nearly took my face off with it," he said. Noel said he had regretted the way the band had broken up, with just two shows to play. He added that if they had finished the tour and had time to reflect, "we'd never have split up".

Noel is to launch his post-Oasis career with a new album, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, on 17 October, the first of two albums which have been completed. The second will follow next year.

He revealed that tensions had been heightened on the night of the Paris showdown because the band had been forced to cancel a headline slot at the UK's V Festival as Liam had failed to show up because of "a hangover". The official reason given was that Liam had laryngitis.

Noel said he had had no desire to leave Oasis - it was simply that he could no longer continue being in a band with his brother. "I'd never had enough of Oasis - I'd had enough of him," he said. Noel will support the album with a tour of small venues, beginning in Dublin on 23 October.