Oasis Rocker Leaves Tour Amid Cancer Diagnosis

Oasis founding member Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs will be stepping away from the band’s ongoing reunion tour after being diagnosed with prostate cancer.

The 60-year-old guitarist took to social media Friday to announce his diagnosis as he revealed he would be taking time away from the tour to focus on his treatment.

“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,” Arthurs wrote in his post “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.”

Arthurs said that he was “really sad to be missing these shows,” but reassured his fans that he’s “feeling good” and will be back “ready to go” in time for the South American leg of the tour.

“Have an amazing time if you’re going this month and l’ll see you back onstage with the band in November,” he concluded.

This is the first time Arthurs has disclosed his prostate cancer diagnosis, but in 2022, he revealed he had been diagnosed with tonsil cancer. “I was diagnosed last year [in] March with tonsil cancer, so it was tough, a tough year to say the least, but [I] finished treatment on June 24,” Arthurs said the following year on his special Radio X show, Bonehead’s Bank Holiday. “Three months after that, I got the all clear.”

“I’m under the care of the Christie Hospital, which is the cancer hospital up in Manchester,” he continued. “For the next five years, I’m under their care, which is the best care.”

The rocker noted that while he was “98% back to fitness,” he was “getting back” to normal.

“I’m being looked after,” he explained. “I’m being monitored, it has gone, and I’m getting back, I’m about 98% back to fitness. There’s a few things that I’ll never get back to normal, but you know, so what? There’s things that you can live with. It was a tough, tough year.”

Arthurs was one of four founding members of Oasis in 1991, with brothers Noel Gallagher and Liam Gallagher joining the lineup shortly after its founding.

Oasis recently reunited in 2024 after breaking up in 2009, and they kicked off their reunion tour this summer. Noel and Liam have largely remained quiet as to the logistics behind their decision to play together once again, but did attribute the reunion to Arthurs during a July performance in Cardiff, telling the crowd, “If it wasn’t for him, none of this would have happened.”