Oasis stars Noel and Liam Gallagher have taken legal action against their former sound engineer, Huw Richards. The lawsuit concerns hundreds of hours of intimate recordings of the brothers. The recordings were allegedly put up for auction for up to $2 million (£1.6 million).
The Gallaghers filed legal papers to the High Court on Tuesday. They named their former colleague Huw Richards, his son Owain and the Worcestershire-based auction house as defendants, in an effort to stop the sale of the tapes. Sources say Richards is “disappointed and bewildered” at the rock duo’s move. It is claimed he approached the brothers to see if they wanted the tapes back.
A source also described Richards’ side of the dispute.
“Huw approached the Gallaghers and offered this to them, they declined,” the source said. “Now they are suing him. It belongs to him. It feels a bit rotten to do this to him when they are off making tens of millions with their reunion.”
The case is now before the High Court. Further updates may follow.
The legal fight follows weeks of public attention on the archive. The collection’s contents and the planned sale explain why the brothers moved to block it.
The archive is known as The Desk Tapes. It includes recordings of 63 live shows, soundchecks and more than 100 hours of rehearsals from the band’s rise in the 1990s. It also holds candid conversations between Noel and Liam. Richards worked as Oasis’ sound engineer from the release of their debut album, Definitely Maybe, in 1994 until 2001. He amassed the material during that period.
Littleton Auctions in Evesham, Worcestershire, had scheduled the sale for October 3. The guide price was between £1.2 million and £1.6 million. The lots also include original setlists, tour itineraries and a band-played guitar. The High Court filing now puts that date in doubt.
The auction house has described the recordings as the only known master archive of their kind. It has said the sale was being handled through the appropriate legal process. It has also promoted the sale as a “once-in-a-generation opportunity for fans and collectors alike.”
The dispute comes as Oasis enjoy one of the biggest comebacks in recent music history. The band’s 2025 reunion shows made an estimated £300 million at the box office. A further 38-date run, including Knebworth, Manchester and Glasgow, has since been confirmed.
