The roots of Oasis can be traced back to Manchester in 1991 and a band called The Rain, who comprised Paul McGuigan (bass), Paul ‘Bonehead’ Arthurs (guitar), Tony McCarroll (drums) and Chris Hutton (vocals). Unsatisfied with Hutton, Arthurs auditioned acquaintance Liam Gallagher as a replacement. Liam then suggested that the band name be changed to Oasis (after the Oasis Leisure Centre in Swindon, which was a venue on an Inspiral Carpets tour poster which hung in the Gallagher brother's bedroom). Oasis played their first live gig in August 1991 at Manchester’s Boardwalk club. Liam’s brother Noel, who was a roadie for Inspiral Carpets, went to watch the band play, and thought the band would be a possible outlet for a series of songs he'd been writing for several years. Noel approached the group about joining with the proviso that he would become the band's sole songwriter and leader, and that they would commit to an earnest pursuit of commercial success. After over a year of live shows, rehearsals and the recording of a proper demo (known as the “Live Demonstration” tape), the band's break came in May 1993 when they played a gig at the legendary King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut in Glasgow, and were spotted by Creation Records co-owner Alan McGee, who signed them to Creation 4 days later. Due to problems securing an American contract, Oasis ended up signing a worldwide contract with Sony, which in turn licensed Oasis to Creation in the UK. A limited white label release of the demo of their song "Columbia" followed, and then their first single, "Supersonic", was released in April 1994, which reached number 31 in the UK charts. This was followed by "Shakermaker", and then third single, "Live Forever", which was their first to enter the Top 10 of the UK charts. Debut album “Definitely Maybe” was released in September 1994, entering the charts at number 1, and at the time becoming the fastest selling debut album in the UK. The group followed up the fourth single from Definitely Maybe, "Cigarettes and Alcohol", with the Christmas single EP "Whatever" which entered the UK charts at number 3.

Oasis had their first UK number 1 in April 1995 with "Some Might Say", the first single from their second album. At the same time, drummer Tony McCarroll was ousted from the band, with Noel saying: “I like Tony as a geezer but he wouldn't have been able to drum the new songs”. McCarroll’s replacement was Londoner Alan White, formerly of Starclub and younger brother of renowned studio percussionist Steve White (whom Paul Weller recommended to Noel). Around this time the UK press built up a rivalry between Oasis and fellow Britpop band Blur, culminating with the 2 bands releasing new singles on the same day in August 1995 (Blur's "Country House" outsold Oasis’ "Roll with It" 274,000 copies to 216,000 during the week - Oasis’ management came up with several reasons for this, claiming "Country House" sold more because it was less expensive (£1.99 vs £3.99) and because there were 2 different versions of "Country House" with different B-sides forcing serious fans to buy 2 copies). Bassist Paul McGuigan briefly left the band in September 1995, citing nervous exhaustion. He was replaced by Scott McLeod, formerly of The Ya-Yas, who featured on some of the tour dates as well as in the "Wonderwall" video, before leaving abruptly while on tour in the US. McLeod later contacted Noel Gallagher claiming he felt he had made the wrong decision. Gallagher curtly replied ‘I think you have too. Good luck signing on’. In order to complete the tour, McGuigan was successfully convinced to return to the band. Second album “(What's the Story) Morning Glory?” became the third largest selling album of all time in the UK with over 4 million copies sold, and produced 2 further singles, "Wonderwall" and "Don't Look Back in Anger", which reached numbers 2 and 1 respectively in the UK. The album also contained the non-UK single "Champagne Supernova" (featuring guitar playing and backing vocals by Paul Weller) which peaked at number 1 on the US Modern Rock charts. Oasis performed back-to-back concerts at Knebworth in August 1996 - the band sold out both shows within minutes, 250,000 people over 2 nights (2.5 million people applied for tickets, to this today the largest demand for a show in UK history).

Oasis spent the end of 1996 and the first quarter of 1997 at Abbey Road Studios in London and Ridge Farm Studios in Surrey recording their third album. “Be Here Now” was released in August 1997, preceded by the UK number 1 single "D'You Know What I Mean?". By the end of the first day of release, “Be Here Now” had sold over 350,000 units, with sales in it’s first week totalling 696,000, making it the fastest selling album in UK history. It debuted at number 2 on the US Billboard charts but its first week sales of 152,000 were below expected sales of 400,000 copies. In November 1998, the band released “The Masterplan”, a compilation album of 14 B-sides.

In early 1999, the band began work on their fourth studio album. However, the shock departure of Paul ‘Bonehead’ Arthurs was announced in August, with Noel stating that Arthurs wanted to spend more time with his family, and Arthurs' statement clarifiing his leaving as ‘to concentrate on other things’. 2 weeks later the departure of bassist Paul McGuigan was also announced. The Gallagher brothers held a press conference shortly thereafter where they assured reporters that "the future of Oasis is secure. The story and the glory will go on". The now 3 piece Oasis chose to continue recording the album, with Noel re-recording most of Arthurs' guitar and McGuigan's bass parts. After the completion of the recording sessions, the band began searching for replacement members, with the first new member lead/rhythm guitarist Colin ‘Gem’ Archer, formerly of Heavy Stereo. The band was rehearsing with David Potts, but he quickly resigned, and they brought in Andy Bell, former guitarist/songwriter of Ride and Hurricane #1 as their new bassist (Bell had to learn the bass as he had never played it before). Following the folding of Creation Records, Oasis formed their own label, Big Brother, and released their fourth album, “Standing on the Shoulder of Giants”, in February 2000. Despite being the band’s lowest selling album, it peaked at number 1 on the UK chart and number 24 on the Billboard chart, with the singles "Go Let It Out", "Who Feels Love?" and "Sunday Morning Call", all making the Top 5 in the UK Singles chart. During a Wembley Stadium gig on the subsequent tour, the band recorded a live album, “Familiar To Millions”, released in late 2000.

Throughout 2001, Oasis split time between sessions for their fifth studio album and live shows around the world. The album, “Heathen Chemistry”, was released in July 2002, reaching number 1 in the UK and number 23 in US. The Smiths’ Johnny Marr provided additional guitar as well as backup vocals on a couple of songs.

Oasis began recording a sixth album in late December 2003 with producers Death in Vegas at Sawmills Studios in Cornwall. However, drummer Alan White left the band in early January 2004, replaced by Zak Starkey (drummer of The Who and the son of the Beatles' Ringo Starr). The album was finally recorded in Los Angeles based Capitol Studios in late 2004, with producer Dave Sardy taking over the lead production role from Noel (who decided to step back from these duties after a decade of production leadership for the band). ”Don’t Believe The Truth” was released in May 2005, spawning 2 UK number 1 singles, "Lyla" and "The Importance of Being Idle", whilst "Let There Be Love" entered at number 2. The band collected 2 awards at the 2005 Q Awards (“Best Album” (for ”Don’t Believe The Truth”) and a special “People's Choice Award”). Following in the footsteps of the previous 5 albums, ”Don’t Believe The Truth” also entered the UK album charts at number 1.

Oasis released a compilation double album entitled “Stop the Clocks” in 2006, featuring what the band considers to be their ‘definitive’ songs (they didn't want to release a compilation, but their contract with Sony Music had just expired, forcing a release against their wishes). Oasis received the 2007 BRIT Award for “Outstanding Contribution To Music”, and released their first ever digital-only release, "Lord Don't Slow Me Down", in October 2007, which debuted at number 10 in the UK Singles charts.

In May 2008, Zak Starkey left the band after recording the band's seventh studio album, replaced by former Robbie Williams drummer Chris Sharrock. In June 2008, the band re-signed with Sony BMG for a 3 album deal. Seventh studio album, “Dig Out Your Soul”, again produced by Dave Sardy, was released in October 2008.

Oasis have sold over 50 million records worldwide.