In that time, Oasis had pretty much bypassed mid-size venues, progressing from small clubs straight to stadiums, to hosting Britpop's biggest party at a stately home in Hertfordshire. "This is history," Noel Gallagher famously told the Knebworth crowd. "Right here, right now, this is history." The tickets were £22.50 and the line-up included The Prodigy, Manic Street Preachers, The Chemical Brothers and The Charlatans, depending on which night you were there. It is estimated more than 2.5 million people applied to go, breaking box office records, and the stories from the shows are the stuff of music legend: the helicopter arrival, Liam Gallagher's golf buggy joyride, the celebs mingling backstage; Mick Hucknall, for some reason, the one that everyone seems to have a tale about. But the real story of that weekend is that of the band's unique relationship with the fans, says Jake Scott, director of the 2021 documentary Oasis Knebworth 1996. Interspersed with footage from the two gigs, the programme took the viewer back to the 90s, to the buzz of finally of getting through to buy tickets on the landline, the excitement building on car trips, the queuing to get as near to the stage as possible. "Everyone wanted to be there," Scott tells Sky News. "It was already famous before it happened, the biggest rock concert on British soil in history. "The contact between the band and the crowd, I think, is palpable. It's a tangible thing. And for a lot of those people who went, it was maybe their first gig ever. There's a lot of stories. And those anthems really resonated with that audience because it sounded like them." Michael Spencer Jones, a photographer behind Oasis's albums and singles covers during that period, says that after first seeing the band play to just a handful of people less than three years earlier, it was a momentous weekend for those who had been with them since the beginning. The rise and rise of Oasis "You spend all this time with a band and you get to know them... there's huge emotional investment in the music and what it means to everyone. So being in the crowd and thinking, 'wow, they've gone from playing in front of, like, 12 people to this in just over two-and-a-half years'. It was astonishing, that journey from humble beginnings to the whole country being completely captivated." Scott's documentary is an unapologetic celebration of the band in its heyday and of the 1990s, setting the gigs up against the backdrop of Euro 96, the explosion in the art scene at the time, and "this bloke Tony Blair who was going to change everything". It also highlights how different things were at gigs before camera phones came into play. Even Spencer Jones, off-duty for Knebworth, has only two quickly snapped pictures from the weekend, one of the fans and another of the clean-up. "I think Noel once said that the only problem with being in Oasis was that he never got to see them," he says. "So it was nice, not having the responsibility of taking any photographs and just being able to watch." 'It was so intense' Many who were there - including Liam and Noel - have said they don't remember a lot of it. Not necessarily because of alcohol or drugs - "speculation about anyone being drunk or high on stage or anything like that is quickly dismissed [when you see the footage] because you can't be that good, for two nights and sustain it like that, and be out of it, it's just not possible", says Scott - but perhaps the intensity of the occasion. "I watched both nights from the stage, so I had the best view in the house," says Brian Cannon, the band's artwork designer at the time. "But I don't remember a single second of either gig - not because I was hammered, because I wasn't. "I remember vividly other bits of the event, but the actual gig itself, I genuinely can't remember a single thing about it, which, funnily enough, is what both Liam and Noel say. It's like it was almost... it was just so intense, it just wiped itself from my memory." What Cannon recalls most is "the insane size" of the event. The backstage guestlist, for about 7,000 people, was in itself bigger than most gigs. "I remember thinking I'm glad I'm not a punter out the front there because I couldn't imagine using a toilet or getting a drink or food or anything, it was just immense," says Cannon. "That was the overarching memory for me." The 2021 documentary features emotional fan accounts of the weekend - the guy who found out just before that he was to become a father, another who ended up with Liam Gallagher's tambourine as a souvenir, and the particularly poignant story of the girl who attended with her brother, not knowing he would soon be diagnosed with cancer and this would be one of her last memories of the pair together "just enjoying life". There is also an anecdote from the fan who ended up being invited into a limo to give directions to a driver transporting Kate Moss and Anna Friel. As well as those stories, the programme highlights the relationship between Noel and Liam at the time, before things turned acrimonious. "You're only as good as your frontman, any band, and if that is Oasis at its peak - which it is - it's because Liam's at his peak," says Noel in the programme, his younger brother's distinctive, snarling live Slideaway playing in the background, demonstrating his point. "A big part of telling the story was showing that camaraderie and brotherhood," says Scott, who first met the band when he directed the video for Morning Glory in 1995. "They're two brothers, with their best mates... the meteoric trajectory of [playing Knebworth] and they're having a laugh and mucking about it, really enjoying themselves. I love seeing that relationship, the spontaneity of it... There's a sweetness in it and something very emotional about it." The documentary is all about the good times. Both Spencer Jones and Cannon say that even at the gigs, there was a sense that things couldn't get any bigger than Knebworth. 'It couldn't get any bigger' The band were getting "harder and harder to be around", says Spencer Jones, purely because of the level of fame they had reached and the growing amount of people working around them. And the cracks in the brothers' relationship were there. "When they were together, they were very funny and witty," he says. "It was incredibly entertaining to watch... They were close. But there was always that frisson between them. "I think Liam described it perfectly. He said, 'if we had a fruit and veg store, we'd argue about where to put the tomatoes', and I think that really summed up their relationship. There was a serious fault line. The irony is that it created that creative relationship, the very thing that ultimately drove them apart was the very thing that made that relationship special." "Where do you go from that?" says Cannon, of the Knebworth shows. "It couldn't really get any bigger. I mean, they carried on in terms of excess because they recorded Be Here Now, a Rolls Royce in a swimming pool on the cover. The excess continued, just not in terms of big gigs." Read more:A high-five and a hug as Oasis reunite on stageOasis: the reunion that felt like it might never happen Not of Knebworth size, at least. The band continued to fill arenas until Noel eventually called it a day in 2009. For years, he made it clear he had no plans to kiss and make up with his brother. Then came 2024, when the band's comeback was announced, and those triumphant reunion shows followed in 2025 - Oasis sounding as good as they ever did. A new documentary, Don't Look Back In Anger, will be released next month, telling the story of those shows, of the brothers making up, and featuring their first interview together in more than 20 years. So the Oasis juggernaut is still going strong. Liam has said there is more to come. So 30 years on from their biggest ever shows - and with everything in place for gigs to happen - is it time for a Knebworth encore? This article is an updated feature first published in 2021

Warning: This article contains references to self-harm. The famous gossip blogger was treated in a Miami hospital earlier this week after he reportedly livestreamed himself self-harming. The video, streamed on TikTok on Tuesday, appeared to show Hilton covered in blood with cuts on his arms and torso, while drawing a knife across himself. The footage was taken down and his account suspended. In an update to the Perez Hilton website, his family said the 48-year-old remains in hospital. A statement said: "Perez's condition remains serious but stable. He experienced significant blood loss and sustained additional injuries that will require surgery in the coming days. His treatment and recovery will be a long process. "We are grateful that Perez was able to spend time with his mother and sister yesterday." The family said Hilton was being held under Florida's Baker Act, a law allowing doctors to put a person on a 72-hour hold if they are a danger to themselves or others. His three children, a son and two daughters, "remain safe and are being cared for by immediate family", the statement continued. The family asked for privacy "during this incredibly difficult time". Hilton, whose real name is Mario Armando Lavandeira Jr, became famous in the early 2000s as a gossip journalist, reporting on celebrities who made public gaffes. Read more from Sky News:Music producer William Orbit diesStar Wars gets first Welsh version His website started in 2004 and became one of the most famous celebrity news pages on the internet, but his caustic attitude towards the stars he covered was criticised at the time, along with his practice of "outing" closeted gay celebrities. Hilton has since gone on to release four books and hosts a podcast. Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for free on 116 123 or visit samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.

UK Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said in June she was "minded" to intervene in Paramount Skydance's $110bn (£81.4bn) acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) over public interest concerns. But a statement from her department on Thursday said she would not due to the legally binding commitments provided to her by Paramount. Money blog: HMRC repays £50m to thousands of pension savers The media and entertainment conglomerate said it would invest £80m in the UK and ensure the news brands it acquired would remain editorially separate, as would the children's TV channels. It has promised that Channel 5 will continue to operate as a public service broadcaster and be separate to the US news brands it owns: CNN and CBS. It added that CNN International will continue to be available in the UK. A letter from the company to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said it had "no intention to change Channel 5's commissioning strategy, scheduling approach, news provision, UK origination levels, children's content". Paramount has agreed to make the assurances legally binding. The deal is now effectively green lit by the UK as competition watchdog, the Competition and Markets Authority, decided there are no aspects necessitating its intervention. Ms Nandy said, however, she will be meeting with Paramount in the coming weeks seeking assurances about the impact of the deal on wider creative industries. Why does it matter? Ms Nandy had expressed concern over media plurality and the shrinking number of news media owners. Fears for streaming service concentration had also been voiced. A merger of WBD and Paramount Skydance is one of the biggest media deals in history, with significant impacts on TV, filmmaking, and the possible future of the cinema. Other entities that would be owned by Paramount Skydance and WBD in the event of a deal include TNT Sports, Cartoon Network, and Nickelodeon, as well as the Paramount+ and HBO Max streaming services. TV channels will remain distinct from the streaming services, the UK government was assured. The joining of two of Hollywood's five legacy studios could prompt cinema operators' concerns over possible reductions in jobs and the ​number ⁠of films released in theatres. The company is also headed by David Ellison, the son of Trump-ally Larry Ellison, who put up tens of billions of dollars to satisfy funding guarantees for the WBD bid. While the EU has approved the takeover, regulatory approval is still required in the US, where state attorneys general led by California have sought to block the deal on antitrust grounds.

Swift has not recently spoken about the US president, but the singer-songwriter backed then-vice-president Kamala Harris, Mr Trump's Democratic rival, in the 2024 election. The 36-year-old superstar also posted on social media that Mr Trump was "WELL AWARE we do not want him as our president" during the previous presidential campaign in 2020. Swift has repeatedly been criticised by Mr Trump, who said he "hated" her in an online post after she endorsed Ms Harris. "Has anyone noticed that, since I said 'I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT,' she's no longer "HOT?"," Mr Trump wrote last year. Dozens of artists, ​such as Sabrina Carpenter and Ariana Grande, have called on the Trump administration not to use their songs. A TikTok video on 3 August that included Swift's song August posted to the account for Trump's campaign has had the sound removed. The video shows Donald and first lady Melania Trump watching fireworks while standing on a balcony, with the text, "Mood because it's August and Donald Trump is your president." And the caption read: "I'm sure @Taylor Swift is going to be super excited we used her song!" Fans have recently noticed that the track was removed from the Trump TikTok. One of the comments on the video was from a user who said "TAYLOR REMOVING THE AUDIO QUEEEEEEN", while another read, "Sorry, what was that? cant hear the song." A video posted on 6 August, which features the text, "Did you know Taylor Swift wrote a whole album about the color of the Republican Party", has also had the sound removed. And a video, posted on 6 November 2025, which included Swift's track Father Figure, also has had the audio removed, Variety reported. Read more from Sky News:Hilton 'stable' after self-harming on TikTokTrump lashes out after court blocks ballroom While Mr Trump has been critical of Swift following her decision to back Ms Harris, he did congratulate Swift on her engagement to NFL player Travis Kelce last year. "Well, I wish them a lot of luck," he said. "He's a great player, and I think he's a great guy, and I think that she's a terrific person, so I wished them a lot of luck." Swift and Kelce married in New York City in July. The White House and a representative for Swift have not commented on the removal of her songs from the posts.

The Grammy winner died at home on 23 July, his family and friends announced in a statement on his Instagram page "We are deeply saddened by his passing," the statement said. "He will be greatly missed by us and by so many whose lives he touched through his music, friendship and kindness. "We kindly ask that the privacy of William's family and close friends is respected during this difficult time." Orbit produced Madonna's 1998 album Ray Of Light, a move into electronica and trip-hop for the US singer, which included hits such as Frozen and The Power Of Goodbye, as well as the titular track. He also worked with the star on her 1999 single Beautiful Stranger, from the second Austin Powers film, and her next album, Music, in 2000. For Blur, he produced the 1999 album 13, which saw the band take a darker lyrical turn and produced hit singles such as Tender and Coffee & TV. Orbit also took his ethereal sound to All Saints, to chart-toppers Pure Shores and Black Coffee in 2000, and worked on Spice Girl Mel C's 1999 debut solo album, Northern Star. Of his solo output, he was best known for his electronic version of Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings, and the trance remix released in 1999. 'A true visionary' Ferry Corsten, the DJ behind the trance version, was among those paying tribute on Instagram, writing: "William was a true visionary. "I had the privilege of working with him on Barber's Adagio For Strings in 1999 - a moment that changed my career and opened many doors in electronic music. I'll always be grateful for his trust and inspiration. Rest in peace, William. Your music will live on forever." All Saints songwriter Shaznay Lewis shared a broken heart emoji, while Mel C wrote: "Such an honour to have worked with this great man. Sending all my love." Orbit produced 12 solo studio albums in total, largely of electronic music, and was also a member of the groups Bassomatic and Torch Song. Singer Sonique, best known for her 2000 chart-topper It Feels So Good, collaborated with Bassomatic in the 1990s. "He was one of the first people I ever worked with," she wrote. "I am so sad to hear this. Sending all my love to his family. RIP my friend." Singer Katy B also paid tribute, saying: "I remember going to William's studio many years ago, I was so nervous but he was so warm and unassuming and genuinely curious about me and my music I still remember how welcome I felt . What an amazing legacy and major loss." DJ and producer Darren Emerson, formerly of Underworld, said he was "absolutely gutted" to hear of Orbit's death, and recalled a story of Orbit asking him whether he should perform Frozen with Madonna on the National Lottery programme, or if it was "uncool". "I just laughed and told him that maybe it was better he did and that I very much doubted it would be a bad thing to do... especially as the music he made with Madonna was amazing," Emerson said. "It was a pleasure to work with one of the best producers I've known. You'll be sadly missed mate, and your music will always shine bright." Read more from Sky News:US court blocks Trump's $400m White House ballroomOasis promoter granted Knebworth licence Orbit also worked with Britney Spears and Will.i.am on the 2013 album Britney Jean, and produced a 2014 version of the Freddie Mercury solo track There Must Be More to Life Than This, which featured Michael Jackson using archive vocals, and Queen. His awards included two Grammys for Ray Of Light - best pop album and best dance recording - and one for best song written for visual media for Beautiful Stranger. He was also nominated for Grammys for his work on Pink's song Feel Good Time, as well as his own 2000 album Pieces In A Modern Style, and for record of the year for Ray Of Light.