Roger Waters left Pink Floyd acrimoniously in 1985, paving the way for David Gilmour to lead the group through A Momentary Lapse of Reason in 1987 and The Division Bell in 1994.
Despite Waters’ sharp criticism of the band’s new direction, the classic lineup—Gilmour, Waters, drummer Nick Mason, and keyboardist Richard Wright—did reunite for a one-off performance at Live 8 in 2005, before Wright’s passing from lung cancer in 2008.
As a protest against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Gilmour and Mason brought back the Pink Floyd identity for the spring 2022 song “Hey, Hey, Rise Up!” with vocalist and military reservist Andriy Khlyvnyuk. In a 2023 interview with Berliner Zeitung, Waters, however, rejected the song, labeling it as “content-less… flag waving.”
In response, Gilmour’s wife and co-writer, Polly Samson, took to Twitter, labeling Waters a Putin apologist and a “lying, thieving, hypocritical, tax-avoiding, lip-synching, misogynistic, sick-with-envy megalomaniac.” Gilmour echoed her sentiment in a follow-up tweet, affirming that “every word was demonstrably true.”
Gilmour later spoke to MOJO, explaining that the tension had reached a boiling point, saying, “It had to come out – and I have no regrets about it.” He revealed that he didn’t watch Waters’ interview with Piers Morgan nor listen to Waters’ recent remake of The Dark Side of the Moon.
When asked about his relationship with Waters, Gilmour admitted he found it “wearisome,” reflecting, “Do you know what decade of my life I was in when Roger left our pop group? My thirties. I am now 78. Where’s the relevance?”
In the same interview, Gilmour discussed his new album, Luck And Strange, his third solo LP to reach the top of the UK charts, and his upcoming touring plans. He expressed discomfort with certain Pink Floyd songs, stating, “There are songs from the past that I no longer feel comfortable singing.” While he still loves “Run Like Hell” from The Wall, he described its themes as “terrifying and violent.”
He also noted he wouldn’t perform “Another Brick In The Wall,” which he previously played during the post-Waters era, stating, “I won’t be doing that. I’m going to be sticking with the ones that are essentially my music, and I feel some ownership of—Comfortably Numb, Wish You Were Here, Shine On You Crazy Diamond, maybe…”
