Oasis guitarist Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs has announced he has prostate cancer, and will miss several of the band’s upcoming shows to undergo treatment.
Arthurs was a founding member of the Britpop band, playing with them from 1991 to 1999. He rejoined last year ahead of the massively successful Live ‘25 Tour.
In a statement posted to Instagram, Arthurs wrote: “Early this year I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. The good news is I’m responding really well to treatment, which meant I could be part of this incredible tour. Now, I am having to take a planned break for the next phase of my care, so l’ll be missing the gigs in Seoul, Tokyo, Melbourne and Sydney.
“I’m really sad to be missing these shows but l’m feeling good and will be back ready to go in time for South America. Have an amazing time if you’re going this month and I’ll see you back onstage with the band in November.”
Back in September 2022, Arthurs announced he had been given the “all clear” after an earlier diagnosis of tonsil cancer.
At the time he wrote on social media: “I had a full scan 10 days ago and it’s all clear, it’s gone.”
“Thank you so much all of you for the messages I’ve had throughout, you’ve helped more than you know,” he said, further thanking the team at The Christie NHS foundation.
“Into recovery now and see you all soon,” he added.
He has since been part of the massive Oasis reunion shows across the UK and United States which have earned rave reviews from critics.
After the final reunion show at Wembley Stadium last weekend, The Independent’s Hannah Ewens gave the band’s performance five stars and wrote: “‘The great wait is over!’ declares one of dozens of newspaper headlines flashing up on the screen at Oasis’s final UK reunion show. Out come the brothers, arm in arm: Liam and Noel Gallagher in the flesh. Could it be, thinks the 90,000-strong full house at Wembley Stadium, that they are really embracing one another on that stage? That they have held out on feuding for the 39 dates thus far to get here, immediately opening, appropriately, with the chaotic static of ‘Hello’?”
She concluded: “As this Oasis Summer comes to a close, the cultural mood in the UK has deteriorated into something sour. A couple of Sundays ago, enough people to fill this stadium almost twice over travelled down the road for the biggest far-right protest in decades. Prime minister Keir Starmer has announced a huge step towards mass surveillance with his digital ID cards policy. Reform UK is surging in the polls. “What’s so great about Britain?” a new special socio-political edition of British GQ asked its writers and celebrity interviewees to ponder, seizing on this uncomfortable moment. Who knows, but thankfully we have Oasis. ‘See you next year’, Liam teases again, before the fireworks erupt.”
