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Roger Waters and David Gilmour’s turbulent nearly 60-year relationship is proof that time does not heal all wounds.
The two Pink Floyd powerhouses grow increasingly annoyed with each other as the years go by, much to the chagrin of millions of fans who still hold out hope for one last concert or new music from one of Britain’s greatest bands.
Such is the animosity between the pair, that Waters has now re-recorded the band’s seminal album, The Dark Side Of The Moon, without the rest of Pink Floyd, insisting that the 1973 album was his project all along and that he wrote it all.
But despite his ongoing antagonism with Gilmour and other surviving bandmate Nick Mason, insiders believe the relaunch will still mean he must share royalties, or face a case in the High Court, which is familiar ground for the group. at war.
Waters’ pro-Russian stance saw him make a stunning virtual appearance during a UN Security Council meeting on Wednesday, bizarrely with his dog, where he ‘condemned’ the invasion of Ukraine but also criticized ‘provocateurs’ who he says , had provoked the Russian invasion. . He insists that the besieged nation is “not really a country at all”, dismissing it as a “irregular sort of lazy experiment”.
Left to right: Laurie Durante, Roger Waters, David Gilmour and Polly Samson attend a benefit evening for The Hoping Foundation on July 10, 2010 in London.
Over the past week, the 79-year-old has bartered with former bandmate David Gilmour and even the guitarist’s wife, lyricist Polly Samson, after the latter attacked Waters on social media and accused him of anti-Semitism. , which he denies.
Over the past week, the 79-year-old has exchanged criticism with his former bandmate David Gilmour and even with the guitarist’s wife, lyricist Polly Samson, after the latter attacked Waters on social media and accused him of anti-Semitism. , which he denies.
Samson called him an “anti-Semite to (his) rotten core,” as well as an “apologist for Putin,” in a post that was retweeted by his spouse.
But the feud goes back decades, almost to the time guitar hero Gilmour joined Pink Floyd in 1968, shortly after enigmatic lead singer Syd Barrett was forced to resign due to failing mental health and heavy use of psychedelic drugs.
The partnership brought even greater success to the band, and multi-million dollar fortunes to its members, but would create an extraordinary rivalry between Waters and Gilmour over who was the driving force.
And after 17 years of infighting, Waters, credited with charting the band’s direction and artistic concepts, would finally leave in 1985 before heading straight to the High Court to dissolve the band.
He tried to prevent Gilmour, Mason and the late keyboardist Richard Wright from ever using the Pink Floyd name again. It was a battle he ultimately lost and later accepted that it was “wrong” to start.
Since his departure, Roger has only performed with Nick and David in 2005 at the Live 8 charity concert in London, and during his own performance of The Wall at The O2 in 2011 in a rendition of Comfortably Numb.
The lack of music in the last four decades has caused fans great pain.
Roger founded Pink Floyd in 1965. David joined the band two years later, in 1967, and Syd left the following year due to mental health issues.
The progressive rock band has sold more than 250 million records, but insiders admit they haven’t spoken for most of that time.
Since Waters’ acrimonious split from the group in 1985, frustrated fans have long yearned for a reunion, but instead have been treated to one fight after another in the never-ending fight.
Things first came to a head when Walters tried to break up the band after he quit in 1985, labeling them a “creatively spent force”.
Gilmour and the rest of Floyd told him they were going to continue, prompting Waters to invoke a “outgoing members” clause in his contract and take the group to the High Court to dissolve them.
After two costly years, Waters settled with the band and quit, saying his hand had been forced by the “financial repercussions” of legal proceedings.
He later said: ‘I don’t think any of us came out of the 1985s with any credit… It was a bad, negative time, and I’m sorry for my part in that negativity.
‘I made a mistake. Of course I was. Who cares?… It’s one of the few times that the legal profession has taught me anything.
Former Pink Floyd bandmates David Gilmour (left) and Roger Waters (right) have been at odds online
‘Because when I went to these guys and said, “Listen, we’re broke, this isn’t Pink Floyd anymore,” they said, “What do you mean? That’s irrelevant, it’s a label and it has commercial value. I can’t say that it’s going to cease to exist… you obviously don’t understand English jurisprudence.”‘
It was disputes over their 1983 album The Final Cut that ended the band’s life. Waters had written the record, but Gilmour asked for more time to write some songs himself. Waters later refused.
Gilmour would later say, “I’m certainly guilty of being lazy at times… but I was wrong to want to put some silly tracks in The Final Cut.”
Roger has amassed a staggering net worth of £247 million thanks to a highly successful solo career as well as his companies Roger Waters Music UK and Roger Waters Music Overseas.
In 2005, the original line-up of Roger, Richard, David and Nick reunited for the first time in 24 years for the Live 8 concert in London, three years before Richard’s death.
But Gilmour would later claim that the experience did not make him want to reform for new songs.
He said: ‘He [Live 8] the essays convinced me [that] It wasn’t something I wanted to do very much… There have been all kinds of parting moments in people’s lives and careers that have later been terminated, but I think I can say categorically that there won’t be a tour or a record again where He participated. It has nothing to do with animosity or anything like that. It’s just… I’ve been there, I’ve done it.’
For years, drummer Nick Mason was in the middle, only speaking extensively on the line in an interview with Rolling Stone in 2018, where he said, “It would seem silly at this stage in our lives to keep fighting.”
Waters called Samson’s claims “grossly inaccurate” and said that he “is taking advice on his position.”
He continued: “I think the problem is that Roger doesn’t really respect David. He feels like writing is everything, and playing guitar and singing is something that, I won’t say anyone can do, but everything has to be judged by the writing and Not because of the way you play.
“I think it bothers Roger that he made some kind of mistake leaving the band assuming that without him he would retire. It’s a constant irritation, really, that he’s still coming back to it. I’m hesitant to get too involved in this, just because it’s between the two of them rather than I. In fact, I get along with both of them, and I think it’s really disappointing that these rather old gentlemen are still at odds.
But Waters and Gilmour never heeded his warning, and the war has continued, even worsening in recent years.
In 2021, after marrying his fifth wife, Waters went back to war, this time over Pink Floyd’s website.
He said in a vlog: ‘David thinks he’s the owner. I think he thinks that because I left the band in 1985, he owns Pink Floyd, that he’s Pink Floyd, that I’m irrelevant and that I should keep my mouth shut.”
Dave Gilmour has backed his wife Polly Samson (right), who called Roger Waters an ‘apologist for Putin’ and an ‘anti-Semite’
‘This is bad. We should get up. Or, just change the name of the band to Spinal Tap, and then everything will be rolling.’ He also said of Gilmour: “he’s been saying pork pies for 35 years.”
And Russia’s war with Ukraine has even brought them into battle. Last September, Waters was declared ‘persona non grata’ by the Polish city of Krakow after his concerts there were canceled over his war stance.
Waters had written an open letter that month saying the West should stop supplying Kiev with weapons, accusing President Volodymyr Zelensky of allowing “extreme nationalism” in Ukraine and urging him to “put an end to this deadly war.”
Waters was denounced by Ukraine on Wednesday after he told the United Nations Security Council that Russia’s invasion of its neighbor “was not without provocation.”
The 79-year-old, who has stirred controversy with his stance on the war, was invited to address the 15-member Moscow Council.
‘The invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation was illegal. I condemn it in the strongest possible terms,” the British musician said via video.
But Waters later hinted that kyiv was also to blame.
‘Furthermore, the Russian invasion of Ukraine was not without provocation. So I also condemn the provocateurs in the strongest possible terms,’ he said.
Ukraine’s ambassador to the UN responded, playing the title of one of Pink Floyd’s most famous songs.
“How sad for his former fans to see him accept the role of just a brick in the wall, a wall of disinformation and Russian propaganda,” Sergiy Kyslytsya said.
This week, Pink Floyd songwriter Polly Samson called Waters an “anti-Semite” and an “apologist for Putin” in a tweet. Waters responded by posting a statement on Twitter saying that she “completely disproves” Samson’s allegation.
But it’s the band’s millions of fans who have been hurt the most by their feud, only holding out for 20 minutes of live music on Live 8 in 2005. But the chances of a reunion are now further away than ever.