Who the Fuck is Tony McCarroll?

The Beat That Built the Beginning

Stick on Definitely Maybe. Not the polished stuff. Go to the raw tracks. “Rock ‘n’ Roll Star.” “Bring It On Down.” “Columbia.” The ones that sound like a pub fight and a victory lap rolled into one. That’s Tony McCarroll.

You don’t think about him. But you should. He was there before the chaos. Before the headlines. Before Oasis became a juggernaut. He was the drummer who kept the beat while the rest of the band found their feet.

Tony McCarroll isn’t a household name. But without him, there’s no Definitely Maybe. And without Definitely Maybe, there’s no Oasis.

The Start

Tony McCarroll wasn’t a prodigy. He wasn’t flashy. He was a lad from Manchester who could keep time. And in 1991, that was enough.

He met Guigsy on a football pitch. Bonehead came next. Then Liam. They called themselves The Rain. It wasn’t great. Liam renamed them Oasis after a poster in his bedroom. That’s how it started.

Noel joined later. He brought the songs. He brought the vision. He brought the rules. “I’ll join,” he said, “but it’s my band.” Tony went along with it. What else could he do?

By 1994, they were the biggest band in Britain. Definitely Maybe was a phenomenon. The fastest-selling debut album in UK history. Tony played on all of it. “Supersonic.” “Live Forever.” “Cigarettes & Alcohol.” His drumming wasn’t fancy, but it was solid. It was the backbone of the sound that made Oasis unstoppable.

The Sacking

But in Oasis, being solid wasn’t enough.

April 1995. Oasis was recording (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?. Tony McCarroll was out.

Noel said he wasn’t good enough. “I like Tony as a geezer, but he wouldn’t have been able to drum the new songs.” Owen Morris, the producer, called his drumming “extremely basic.”

Tony had his own version. He said Noel wanted him gone. Said the band was turning into a dictatorship. Said he was pushed out.

Whatever the truth, Tony was replaced by Alan White. A better drummer. A quieter presence.

And just like that, Tony McCarroll was out of the band he helped build.

The Lawsuit

Tony didn’t go quietly. In 1999, he sued Oasis for £18 million. Said he was owed his share of the band’s five-album deal.

He didn’t win. He settled out of court for £550,000. Enough to move on. Not enough to forget.

After the Beat

What do you do when you’ve been kicked out of the biggest band in the world?

Tony wrote a book. Oasis: The Truth. It came out in 2010. It didn’t make waves, but it told his side of the story.

He played in a few bands. None of them went anywhere.

In 2021, he had a heart attack. Survived. Had a stent fitted. Kept going.

That’s Tony McCarroll. Still standing.

What’s Left

Tony McCarroll isn’t a legend. He’s not a genius. But he was there. At the start. When Oasis was just a group of lads with big dreams and bigger egos.

He played on Definitely Maybe. The album that changed everything. The album that made Oasis.

You don’t have to love him. You don’t even have to care. But admit it. You wouldn’t have Live Forever or Supersonic without him.

And that’s enough.