The A to X Of 2025: the year in pictures and video

29 December 2025, 12:00

From the return of Oasis, Radiohead and Pulp to the loss of some of the greats in music and Radio X's very own 10th birthday... here are the most significant moments in our world from 2025.

1. A is for Activism

   2025 was a year of controversy and conflict across the world and there were a number of artists who spoke their minds about political issues - which often brought them into contact with the authorities. Punk rap duo Bob Vylan had their Glastonbury set pulled from the BBC's iPlayer, while Belfast hip hop trio Kneecap were reported to counter-terrorism police, both after comments allegedly made during their live shows. No charges were ultimately pressed against either artist, with Avon & Somerset police claiming that Bob Vylan's Glasto set "[did] not meet the criminal threshold outlined by the CPS for any person to be prosecuted".

   

2. B is for Bonehead

   Let us acknowlege the infinite and patience and calming aura of Mr Paul Arthurs, aka Bonehead, who set out on the Oasis Live '25 tour in July 2025, back in his rightful place as the band's rhythm guitarist. In fact, onstage in Cardiff this summer, Noel Gallagher announced: "If it wasn’t for him, none of this would have happened." Bonehead had to sit out shows in Asia and Australia to undergo further treatment for prostrate cancer, but thankfully, he was back in action by the time the band made it to South America in November.

   

3. C is for Cardiff

   Friday 4th July 2025. Were you in Cardiff? We were! And so were Liam and Noel Gallagher. For the first time in 16 years, the brothers walked onstage in front of a clearly emotional and delighted crowd. Would it be worth the wait, the hype, the anticipation? Of course it was! Radio X's Johnny Vaughan took his 4 To 7 Thang Gang to the Tiny Rebel pub in the city to soak up the atmosphere and there was much soaking to be done.

   

   Johnny has a very special Friday Horn for the Oasis Reunion

4. D is for Damon

   With so much fuss being made in 2025 about Oasis, it was heart-warming to see the sometime Blur frontman wish his former Britpop "rivals" well. “I think we can officially say that Oasis won the battle, the war, the campaign, everything," he told The Sun. "They are the winners. It’s their summer and God bless them. I hope everyone has a wonderful time but I’m going to be in a very, very different place.” That place, was of course, back working with Jamie Hewlett and an array of special guests on the forthcoming Gorillaz album The Mountain.

   

5. E is for Ellie

   Ellie Rowsell, that is, singer, guitarist and songwriter with Wolf Alice. Her metamorphosis into a fully-blown rock superstar on the band's latest album The Clearing was partly ironic and partly a demonstration of how Rowsell felt she had no longer anything to prove. In December of this year, Wolf Alice were playing arenas around the UK, including two nights at The O2 in London.

   

6. F is for Florence

   2025 saw the return of Florence + The Machine with their sixth studio album, Everybody Scream, that dropped on Halloween 2025. The title track was the lead single, complete with an elaborate, eerie music video that featured IDLES' Mark Bowen making a cameo.

   

   Florence + The Machine - Everybody Scream (Official Music Video)

7. G is for Gallagher Hill

   For those in Manchester who weren't lucky enough to get tickets to see homecoming heroes Oasis play at Heaton Park, it turned out that there was a hillside opposite the venue where you could get a good look at what was happening onstage. Quickly dubbed "Gallagher Hill", the area was soon mobbed by fans, with one estimate claiming as many as 10,000 people set up camp there over the five nights of the Oasis residency in Manchester. Despite the council's attempts to block the view and move fans away from the area, Our Liam acknowledged the crowds from the Heaton Park stage and even Anaïs Gallagher paid tribute to the faithful by sending them some custom-made merch!

   Anaïs on Instagram ❤️ pic.twitter.com/7c80TIcnNb

   — Oasis Planet (@OasisPlanet_) July 20, 2025

8. H is for Hayley

   Williams, that is - the Paramore star released her third solo album, Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party in August and the track Parachute was a Radio X Record Of The Week back in September.

   

   Hayley Williams - Parachute (Official Video)

9. I is for Industry Plants

   Sam Fender had lots to say about the music industry in February, just as his third album People Watching dropped. He told the Sunday Times that the music biz is "80 per cent, 90 per cent kids who are privately educated", adding: A kid from where I’m from can’t afford to tour, so there are probably thousands writing songs that are ten times better than mine, poignant lyrics about the country, but they will not be seen because it’s rigged."

   

   Sam Fender - People Watching (Official Video starring Andrew Scott)

10. J is for Johnny

    Marr, that is. In the face of the Oasis reunion, the legendary Mancunian guitarist admitted he'd turned down an enormous sum of money to reform The Smiths with his estranged songwriting partner Morrissey. Speaking on the Stick to Football podcast in June, Johnny explained: "We got made an offer recently, but I said no. It was a little bit about principles, but I’m not an idiot, I just think the vibe’s not right. It was an eye-watering amount of money, but also, I really like what I’m doing now which makes it a lot easier. I like where I’m at. I still want to write the best song I’ve ever written. I want to be a better performer."

    

11. K is for Kicking Off

    “Big guy with your big f**king beach ball. What a f**king douchebag. You’re a f**king middle-aged man in a f**king ridiculous hat, and you’re a f**king f**kface. We’re fed up of not getting f**king paid properly and fed up of having to play for douchebags like you.” Shirley Manson rant onstage at Melbourne's Good Things Festival in December was one of the more memorable spleen-vents of 2025.

    

    Garbage’s Shirley Manson really f***ing hates beach balls‼️(Good Things Melbourne 2025)

12. L is for Live '25

    What else? 2025's biggest tour, the most-anticipated reunion of the last 20 years and a huge success for all concerned. It kicked off with a momentous show at Cardiff's Principality Stadium on Friday 4th July and came to an end 41 dates later at MorumBIS in São Paulo, Brazil on 23rd November 2025. As the band posted afterwards: “From Gallagher Hill to the River Plate, from Croke Park on the banks of the Royal Canal to the City Of Angels, the love, joy, tears and euphoria will never be forgotten."

    View this post on Instagram

13. M is for Mani

    One of the biggest losses of 2025 was that of Gary "Mani" Mounfield, bassist with The Stone Roses and Primal Scream, who sadly died on 20th November 2025, aged 63. Tributes came from across the world, including Elbow, who posted a moving tribute that said: "Mani was our hero. Then he was our mate. He always used your name a lot when talking to you. One of the many things that made you glow when you’d been in his company. And he had the best stories because he forgot nothing. He never stopped being our hero. Never will."

    

14. N is for Nicholson

    Andy Nicholson, former bassist with Arctic Monkeys, stopped off at Radio X Towers in November to discuss his photo book I Bet This Looks Good On Your Coffee Table, which features his own images of the band taken between 2005 and 2007. He told Dan O'Connell: "The only thing we ever cared about was, let's write some songs, learn them, be able to play them really well and perform them to people. And then it got to a point where we were doing these gigs and people were singing these songs back to us and it started to live a life of its own." The Monkeys' debut album, Whatever People Say I Am That's What I'm Not, turns 20 years old in January 2026, if you can believe that.

    

    Andy Nicholson's Arctic Monkeys book made his former bandmates cry

15. O is for Ozzy

    Another huge loss in 2025, but what a way to bow out. The Prince Of Darkness, the iconic rock legend Ozzy Osbourne played his final show with his Black Sabbath bandmates at Birmingham's Villa Park on 5th July with a line-up that featured members of Metallica, Slayer, Pantera and many more in attendance. The metal superstar died on the 22nd of that month aged 76. Tributes flooded in from all corners of the world.

    

    Black Sabbath - War Pigs (live from Back To The Beginning)

16. P is for Pulp

    After reforming in 2023 for a series of shows, Jarvis Cocker and co surprised the world in 2025 by releasing their first new album in 24 years, More. They've even promised more live shows and a new EP, The Man Comes Around, for 2026. Both the singles Spike Island and Got To Have Love were Radio X Records Of The Week this year!

    

    Pulp - Spike Island (Official Video)

17. Q is for QOTSA

    Queens Of The Stone Age's Josh Homme paid a visit to Radio X in August, where he discussed his health, after battling cancer in 2023. "I feel really well. I'm doing well," he told Dan O'Connell. "Life is good, you know? And it's nice to be able to appreciate things. So, I've really had a lot of joy lately.” The band ended the year by taking the Catacombs show on the road.

    

    Josh Homme: "I've really had a lot of joy lately"

18. R is for Radiohead

    Less bombastic than the return of Oasis, Radiohead slid back into our lives like they'd never been away with four nights apiece in Madrid, Bologna, London, Copenhagen and Berlin. The shows were universally agreed to be excellent, despite a wobbly moment when a throat infection postponed two nights on the Denmark run for just over week.

    

    RADIOHEAD - NO SURPRISES, LONDON O2, 22nd NOV 2025

19. S is for Shazam

    When an audience member was captured on TikTok Shazaming The Verve's iconic tune Bitter Sweet Symphony during Richard Ashcroft's opening set at the first Oasis show in Cardiff in July, the inevitable 'splaining began - but Ashcroft himself was more gracious: "If you don’t know it Shazam it, all new fans welcome!"

20. T is for Talk Tonight

    "30 years and worth the wait!" That was the opinion of Melissa Lim, better known as the woman who inspired Noel Gallagher to write the classic song Talk Tonight after a fractious Oasis show in San Francisco in 1994. Lim attended the Oasis gig at Pasadena's Rose Bowl on 6th September and shared the full circle moment on her Instagram.

    View this post on Instagram

21. U is for Undressed

    One of 2025's biggest viral hits was brought to us by Shane Boose, aka Sombr, whose tune Undressed notched up 5.4 million views and 1.4 million likes on TikTok in its first 72 hours.

    

    sombr - undressed (official video)

22. V is for Victories

    It was quite a decent year for Sam Fender, who won the Best Alternative/Rock Act trophy at the BRIT Awards in February and then followed it up by taking the 2025 Mercury Prize on his home turf of Newcastle in October. Also, a special mention to The Last Dinner Party, who were named Best New Artist at the BRITS 2025.

    

23. W is for West End Girl

    One of the most talked-about albums of 2025 was Lily Allen's fifth album West End Girl, which brutally detailed breakdown of her marriage to Stranger Things actor David Harbour. In fact, Allen claims the record was inspired by The Streets' conceptual LP A Grand Don’t Come For Free. One track in particular, Pussy Palace, attracted much attention with its portrayal of an incident where Allen discovered sex toys hidden in the apartment she shared with Harbour, resulting in the first Top 10 single for the musician in over a decade.

    

    Lily Allen - Pussy Palace (Visualiser)

24. X is for Radio X

    We'll end by giving ourselves a round of applause. Not only did we launch our own pop-up radio station, Radio X Oasis, to coincide with the band's Live '25 reunion tour, but we marked our tenth year in the business with a live show at Manchester's O2 Apollo Manchester. Radio X Is Ten Live with Škoda featured sets from Blossoms, Liam Fray of Courteeners, Hard-Fi, Jake Bugg and Circa Waves and a good night was had by all. See you for more in 2026!

    • Watch all the sets from Radio X Is Ten Live with Škoda here
    

    Blossoms - The Honeymoon | Radio X Is Ten Live with Škoda