Why David Gilmour will never reconcile with Roger Waters: “He’s done some terrible things”
The three pinnacles of rock music seem to commonly be referred to as sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll. While there might be some truth to this, another key factor that lies at the heart of every band and that isn’t referenced enough is conflict. Every band goes through turbulent periods; some come out of the other side of them, and others break upon impact. Pink Floyd is one group with more than their fair share of musical and personal disputes embedded within their music.
Pink Floyd was originally formed in 1965 and was comprised of Syd Barrett, Roger Waters, Nick Mason and Richard Wright. Barrett instigated getting the band together, as he had started playing music following his father passing away, using performing as a means to cope. While it helped, his mental health never quite got over it, and it wasn’t long before the band looked to replace him with David Gilmour.
There was an adjustment period once Barrett left the band, as he had formerly been Pink Floyd’s chief songwriter. When Gilmour and Waters attempted to write music that was similar to Barrett’s, they realised they weren’t the same kind of musicians. This led to an awkward period where they churned out some lacklustre material, but it also helped them come to the realisation that the future of the band involved elongated concept albums rather than three-minute radio-friendly hits.
This ushered in a period of Pink Floyd, which most people are familiar with. When the band released Dark Side of the Moon, it was a real statement, showing the world not just a great album but a new way to approach music altogether. Waters continued this trajectory with the album The Wall, but while the band were making excellent music, there were also tensions underneath the surface, and a split was imminent.
It was clear to David Gilmour that the band (in its current form) was coming to an end, as it was becoming more and more evident that he and Waters couldn’t work together. “I think things like ‘Comfortably Numb’ were the last embers of mine and Roger’s ability to work collaboratively together,” he said.
Waters eventually left the band and expected the original members of Pink Floyd to follow suit; however, that wasn’t the case. Waters was left to fend for himself, and Nick Mason and David Gilmour kept Pink Floyd alive, continuing to make music and tour under the name.
“It’s one of the few times that the legal profession has taught me something,” admitted Waters. “Because when I went to these chaps and said, ‘Listen, we’re broke, this isn’t Pink Floyd anymore’, they went, ‘What do you mean? That’s irrelevant, it is a label and it has commercial value. You can’t say it’s going to cease to exist… you obviously don’t understand English jurisprudence’.”
A court battle eclipsed the band as the remaining members continued to use the name Pink Floyd, but Waters didn’t believe they should be entitled to. It was found that the legal entity Pink Floyd was still allowed to exist under Gilmour and Mason; however, the court battle that led to such a decision caused a rift in the band that Gilmour doesn’t believe will ever be fixed.
“I’m not very good at holding grudges for a very long time, but he’s done some terrible things,” said Gilmour when discussing his and Waters’ relationship. “Honesty is not one of the things that he will let get in the way of his pursuit of power. All we did was thwart his plan to go off round the world doing a huge grand show, calling it Roger Waters of Pink Floyd in huge letters, and take over the name himself by us not being on the scene.”
