The Police to Led Zeppelin: Check out the biggest reunion tours in music history

One of the most successful Britpop bands, Oasis is set to reunite, much to the surprise and delight of unsuspecting fans. Ending their 15-year-long beef, brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher are set to perform together once more in a reunion tour that kicks off in 2025. Considering their massive musical influence in Europe, Oasis is likely to make music history with ticket sales for their upcoming shows. But, they are not the first band to make a dramatic comeback. With their recent announcement, Oasis joins the elite company of musical groups like The Police and Led Zeppelin, who previously pulled off similar feats. Ahead of Oasis’s historic return, let’s look at the biggest band reunion tours in music history.

Social media has been abuzz with news of Oasis’ reunion. While many are concerned about scoring tickets for the gigs, ardent fans of the group are also interestingly reviving the 90s ‘mod cut’ — an Oasis-inspired hairstyle to celebrate the news.

When and where is the Oasis reunion tour happening?

Oasis are all set to embark on their Reunion Tour next summer. They are scheduled to play 17 gigs spread across Cardiff, Manchester, London, Edinburgh, and Dublin, starting at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium on July 4. The Wonderwall hitmakers recently added three more shows to their original schedule as fans clamoured to get their hands on tickets. The mere news of the band’s reunion has also given a push to their streaming stats, which according to Billboard have quadrupled following the announcement.

Before Oasis returns to the stage, here’s a look at the other biggest band reunion tours that have achieved great success.

Biggest reunion tours of bands in music history

The Eagles — Hell Freezes Over Tour

Creative differences and high-flying egos have led several bands to part ways, but in the case of The Eagles, it was a particularly ugly spat that transpired on stage which led to their breakup. The beloved band of the 70s broke up in 1980, after two of the band members threatened physical violence onstage in the presence of their concert audience.

In the race to recreate the success of their career-defining 1976 album Hotel California, tensions arose between singer-guitarist Glenn Frey and guitarist Don Felder. It all came to a head on July 31 1980, when the group was performing at Long Beach, California.

Recalling their heated exchange on stage, Frey said in an interview, “We’re out there singing Best of My Love, but inside both of us are thinking, ‘As soon as this is over, I’m gonna kill him.’ That was when I knew I had to get out.” After the infamous show, the members of the band went their separate ways and launched their solo careers. Nearly 14 years later in 1994, The Eagles regrouped for the iconic Hell Freezes Over Tour.

Country singer Travis Tritt, along with a host of other country singers can be credited for the band’s reunion. The musicians put together a tribute album called Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles, and it was in the music video of Take It Easy that Tritt dreamed of getting members of The Eagles back together. Members Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Don Felder, Joe Walsh, and Timothy B. Schmit agreed to come on board, and within a few months of the music video shoot, the band made a comeback with the live album Hell Freezes Over. Consequently, their reunion tour became the highest-grossing tour of the band, earning an estimated USD 253 million.

Following a 50-year career, the band kicked off their farewell tour The Long Goodbye in 2023. Don Henley, now 76, is the only founding member of the Eagles still playing in the current lineup. He is joined by longtime members Joe Walsh and Timothy B. Schmit.

Guns N’ Roses — Not in This Lifetime… Tour

One of the most iconic classic rock bands to grace the music scene, Guns N’ Roses was formed in 1985 and went on to sell more than 100 million records worldwide following their smashing debut album Appetite for Destruction. The original band members included vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKagan, and drummer Steven Adler. While the Guns N’ Roses never officially broke up, members of the band gradually dropped out due to a variety of reasons. The band first parted ways with Steven Adler in 1990 due to his severe heroin addiction. Later, founding guitarist Izzy Stradlin followed suit, citing burnout and growing tensions with his bandmates amid his journey to sobriety.

Despite Stradlin and Adler’s exit, the band continued to remain the biggest musical acts in the early 90s. However, growing tensions between Rose and Slash eventually ended in the latter quitting the group in 1996. He was followed by McKagan who also dropped out in 1997. Axl Rose remained the only original member of the band in GNR until the band’s reunion tour in 2016, which saw the return of both Slash and McKagan.

The band’s landmark reunion tour, the Not in This Lifetime… Tour marked the first time that Rose, Slash, and McKagan performed together on stage since the band’s Use Your Illusion Tour in 1993. With unprecedented demand from fans who had waited a long time to witness their reconciliation, the tour became one of the highest-grossing reunion tours ever with an earning of USD 584.2 million. The extremely lucrative tour ended with the band performing 158 shows spanning six continents.

The Police Reunion Tour

If a time machine were to take you back to the early 1980s, you would come back to 2024 crooning Every Breath You Take by The Police. The three-piece band, consisting of vocalist Sting, guitarist Andy Summers, and drummer Stewart Copeland earned hitmaker status right from their debut in 1977. With iconic hits such as Roxanne and Can’t Stand Losing You to their name, the band shocked fans when they decided to disband at the height of their success in 1984. Internal disagreements between the members and the lure of solo projects all contributed to the band’s decision to part ways.

Fortunately, fans of The Police got a chance to witness their magic on stage again after they announced the 2007 reunion tour to celebrate the band’s 30th anniversary. As the band reunited to perform together after two decades, devoted fans thronged their 151 shows across five continents. Raking in over USD 360 million, The Police made history with their world tour, earning a place among the biggest and most successful band reunion tours of all time.

Spice Girls — Spice World

Besides Oasis, another British band that fans want to see back on tour is the Spice Girls, especially after their recent 30th anniversary. Renowned as one of the most successful girl groups of all time, the band is comprised of Melanie Brown (Scary Spice), Melanie Chisholm (Sporty Spice), Emma Bunton (Baby Spice), Geri Halliwell (Ginger Spice), and Victoria Beckham (Posh Spice). After breaking out on the music scene in 1994, the band delivered their first worldwide hit with Wannabe in 1996 and went on to become the best-selling female group of all time. On becoming the cultural icons of the 1990s, the soaring star power of the individual members caused fractures within the group, leading to their official breakup in 2001.

While the disbandment of the Spice Girls was a hard pill to swallow for their hardcore fans, the girl group has since surprised fans with not one, but two triumphant reunion tours. Following their split, the first concert to see all five members reunited was The Return of the Spice Girls Tour which ran from December 2007 to February 2008. The tour went on to gross over USD 70.1 million with massive ticket sales soaring up to 581,066.

More recently, the Spice Girls reunited for the Spice World tour in 2019 which marked the group’s only tour without “Posh Spice” Victoria Beckham, who dropped out due to other commitments. Bringing over 700,000 fans to their shows, the tour reportedly earned USD 78.2 million in thirteen sold-out shows.

Furthermore, in a heartwarming moment recorded by David Beckham, all members of the girl group recently came together to celebrate Victoria Beckham’s 50th birthday in April 2024. The mini-reunion also saw the group performing their hit song Stop together at the bash.

Jonas Brothers — Happiness Begins tour

In the pop genre, the Jonas Brothers’ reunion is a worthy tale to remember when looking at the biggest reunion tours of all time. Formed in 2005, the American pop band gained popularity from their appearances on the Disney Channel, thus earning the brothers Kevin, Joe and Nick Jonas the coveted teen heartthrob status. From bagging their own show Jonas on the Disney channel to starring in the Camp Rock films, the band became a household name in the 2000s, and even bagged their first major award win in 2008 for Breakthrough Artist at the American Music Awards.

After initially taking a hiatus from 2010 to 2013, the Jonas Brothers eventually announced their split in 2013, leaving legions of fans heartbroken. The trio continued to pursue solo projects, and it wasn’t until six years later in 2019 that the band made their comeback. Winning back their loyal fanbase, the Jonas Brothers went on to earn their first No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with their comeback single, Sucker.

The band also embarked on their first tour after reconciling in 2019, calling it the Happiness Begins tour which went on to earn over USD 121 million. In a nod to their musical legacy, the band was honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame just last year.

Take That — Progress Live tour

The impact that Manchester-founded pop group Take That has had on the musical scene in 1990s United Kingdom has been noteworthy, to say the least. The news of their breakup in 1996 left the country in mourning to such an extent that fans set up a “shrine” with posters, flowers, and candles outside the HMV record store in London. Things particularly began to go downhill for the band after Robbie Williams quit the band in 1995, which, as per the singer, was a mutual decision between him and his bandmates Jason Orange, Mark Owen, Gary Barlow, and Howard Donald. After continuing as a four-piece band, the group eventually disbanded a year later.

As Williams went on to become a successful solo artist with early hits such as Let Me Entertain You and Angels, he did not participate in the band’s 2006 reunion tour called The Ultimate Tour. It wasn’t until 2011 that Take That fans finally got to witness a complete reunion of the group in the Progress Live tour, which was the first tour to feature all five original members after 15 years. The Progress Live tour became one of the biggest tours in the United Kingdom and sold out more than 1.34 million tickets in less than 24 hours of its announcement. It was the final tour to feature Jason Orange and Robbie Williams together and earned more than USD 185 million.

Led Zeppelin — Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert

The true embodiment of rock and roll, Led Zeppelin, comprising members Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, and John Bonham, is often regarded as one of the greatest bands of all time. Their discography is laden with era-defining hits such as Stairway to Heaven, Whole Lotta Love, and Immigrant Song, revolutionising the rock genre by blending elements of blues and folk music. Following the death of drummer John Bonham in 1980, the band made the difficult decision to break up, leaving their fans distraught. While the three surviving members went on to continue solo activities as musicians, the band has not officially regrouped except for a one-off gig at The O2 in London in 2007.

Members Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, and Jason Bonham — son of the late drummer John Bonham came together to perform at the benefit concert, which was held in memory of music executive and Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegün. Fans deemed the Celebration Day show the perfect farewell to the 70s band, who impressively held off from trying to cash in on their success by performing grand reunion tours following their official breakup.

(Main and featured images: Nick Jonas/Facebook; The Police/Facebook)

This article first appeared here