Credit: Far Out / Johnny Marr / Freschwill
Sun 13 September 2026 13:00, UK
Oasis are almost as renowned for their internal conflicts and arguments as for the litany of classic songs they recorded during their mid-1990s heyday. As such, it is no surprise that the Mancunian group got through its fair share of band members, but that didn’t stop Johnny Marr from offering his services to the band at one point.
Setting the tone for the line-up shifts that would occur later on in their career, when Oasis first formed, they were without both Noel and Liam Gallagher. Instead, it was Chris Hutton who took on vocal duties for the band under their moody original name, The Rain, before being swiftly replaced by Liam in 1991.
That ever-changing line-up would only expand as the group shot to mainstream rock and roll stardom in 1994, with the endlessly successful debut Definitely Maybe. Tony McCarroll was the first to drop out of the band’s ‘classic’ line-up, owing to Noel Gallagher sacking him for an apparent lack of technical proficiency.
With Alan White replacing McCarroll, the line-up of Oasis’ glory days was actually rather solid, in spite of the endless touring, recording, and existing almost solely on a cocktail of drugs and insomnia. Around the turn of the millennium, though, Manchester’s favourite group were experiencing something of a transitional period, both in sound and in line-up.
Both Paul ‘Guigsy’ McGuigan and Paul ‘Bonehead’ Arthurs left the band, leaving Oasis without any of its original members, and Oasis suddenly found themselves on a recruitment drive. Luckily, finding people to play in the biggest band of the era wasn’t a difficult sell, and Gem Archer was soon recruited to fill the guitar spot.
As a member of the Creation Records outfit Heavy Stereo, Archer was a natural fit for Oasis, but he nearly lost out on his spot to one of Noel Gallagher’s ultimate heroes. “Johnny Marr offered his services to the band,” the songwriter revealed to Total Guitar in 2000. “He said, ‘If you can’t find anyone, I’ll step in for a while.’ And we said, ‘Fine.’ But then we recruited Gem. Johnny was just gonna save us if we didn’t have anyone.”
While the idea of Oasis with Johnny Marr is certainly an interesting proposition, bordering on a fantasy for certain fans of Mancunian indie, it is difficult to imagine the former Smiths guitarist blending in well with the line-up of Gallagher’s band. He is, after all, a rather individualistic, distinctive performer, whereas, for all his quality, Gem Archer blends into the background of Oasis rather well, without detracting any of the spotlight from either of the Gallagher brothers.
Further reading: From The Vault
Nevertheless, Marr’s offer to join the group is merely one of the ways in which the legendary guitarist supported Oasis throughout their tenure. During the early, pre-fame days, for instance, Marr famously lent Noel a Gibson Les Paul after an early Oasis gig, noticing that Gallagher’s cheapo guitar meant he spent most of the gig tuning and re-tuning it.
That Les Paul followed Gallagher throughout the Definitely Maybe years, building upon its extensive rock history – having once been owned by Pete Townshend, and been used by Marr on multiple Smiths recordings – before being smashed over the head of a stage invader in Newcastle. Perhaps, then, Johnny Marr’s offer to join Oasis was less about helping the band out in their transitional period and more about ensuring the safety of their various precious guitars.
