Oasis’ world tour is making an unscheduled stop in Splitsville – with guitarist Noel Gallagher pulling out after clashing with his party-animal brother Liam.
The last-minute change forced the Britpop giants to cancel their French tour dates and find a replacement strummer for the rest of their European concerts.
An Oasis spokesman said Noel called it quits only for the foreign concerts and “intends to perform with the band for the scheduled [United Kingdom] dates later this summer.”
No reason was given for his decision, but British newspapers reported that a sobered-up Noel, 32, was furious with his younger brother’s bad behavior on the road.
Noel, whose wife gave birth to a girl in January, reportedly told lead singer Liam, 27, if he didn’t stop drinking and carousing, the band is history.
The hard-living brothers – aiming for a comeback with their fourth album, “Standing on the Shoulder of Giants” – have long been the Cain and Abel of rock ‘n’ roll.
This latest dispute is the closest the band has come to breaking up, but it’s hardly the first time the Gallagher boys have gone their separate ways.
In 1995, Noel briefly left the band while they were rehearsing their second album after a boozed-up Liam attacked him.
The following year, Liam walked out of the band’s first American tour 15 minutes before his plane left.
He rejoined the group in Chicago a week later, then skipped out of a live session for MTV, forcing Noel to take over the singing duties.
Liam found a seat in the balcony and spent much of the performance heckling Noel, who retaliated by walking out on a North Carolina gig.
The latest tour has also been fraught with tension – with Liam denying reports that actress-wife Patsy Kensit gave him the heave-ho in a trans-Atlantic phone call before an Atlanta concert.
Still, the brothers have vigorously denied they’re on the brink of a permanent breakup.
“We will not split up. Certainly, not this year,” Noel said in February.