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LONDON - Lead guitarist Noel Gallagher said Saturday he had quit British rock group Oasis because of "verbal and violent intimidation" and a lack of support from his bandmates and management.
As the rest of the band were said to be considering whether to carry on without him, Noel released a statement saying the atmosphere within the group had become "intolerable".
"As of last Friday the 28th August, I have been forced to leave the Manchester rock'n'roll pop group Oasis," he said on the group's official website.
"The details are not important and of too great a number to list. But I feel you have the right to know that the level of verbal and violent intimidation towards me, my family, friends and comrades has become intolerable.
"And the lack of support and understanding from my management and band mates has left me with no other option than to get me cape and seek pastures new."
He apologised to fans at the Rock en Seine festival near Paris, where the band cancelled their appearance at the last minute on Friday after organisers said Noel and his brother Liam had a fight backstage.
"Apologies are probably not enough, I know, but I'm afraid it's all I've got," he said.
Shortly after the band failed to come on stage in France, Noel, 42, released a brief statement saying he was leaving the group because "I simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer."
The longer explanation he released Saturday made no direct mention of Liam, the band's charismatic but temperamental lead singer with whom he has a notoriously stormy relationship.
Noel said: "The last 18 years have been truly, truly amazing (and I hate that word, but today is the one time I'll deem it appropriate). A dream come true. I take with me glorious memories."
The band's spokeswoman said they were expected to decide in the next few days whether to continue without their main songwriter and the creative force behind hits such as "Wonderwall" and "Don't Look Back in Anger".
Alan McGee, the founder of Creation Records and the man who first signed them, said he saw little chance of Noel changing his mind.
"I think this is pretty major. Noel's a proud person, he won't go back on it. And he knows he could make a successful solo album," he said.
The split brings an end to months of speculation that the relationship between the Gallagher brothers had reached boiling point.
Last weekend the band pulled out of a concert at the V Festival in Chelmsford, southern England. Organisers said Liam, 36, had lost his voice due to viral laryngitis, but the cancellation fuelled rumours of a split, which Liam denied.
However, he revealed this month that he and his brother no longer speak, travel separately on tour and only see each other on stage.
Oasis were at the vanguard of the Britpop music wave of the mid-1990s and went on to become one of the most commercially successful British bands in years, selling a reported 50 million records worldwide.
Formed in Manchester in 1991, they released their debut album, "Definitely Maybe", in 1994 and their brand of guitar-driven anthems mixed with a heavy dose of rock star hedonism and a love of football soon found a wide audience.
In 1995, they released the critically acclaimed album "(What's the Story) Morning Glory?", and "Be Here Now", released two years later, became the fastest-selling album in British chart history.
Reports of the brothers' rows and rock star excesses began filling newspapers, however, and the band's popularity waned before recent albums "Don't Believe the Truth" and "Dig Out Your Soul" signalled a return to form.
- AFP /ls
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