In the realm of rock band infighting, Pink Floyd’s squabbles throughout the years rank right up there with the most acrimonious. And they reached the peak of that animosity when Roger Waters left the band in 1985.
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Lawsuits and sniping in the press accompanied this kerfuffle. Many thought at the time Waters leaving meant the end of the venerable band. But Floyd proved to have substantial life still left in them even after his departure.
Waters Rising
Roger Waters composed all of Pink Floyd’s lyrics over the course of an entire album for the first time in 1973. That album? None other than Dark Side Of The Moon, a record-breaking LP that vaulted the band to superstardom. Needless to say, they saw the wisdom in letting Waters keep running with the words.
With each new LP, however, Waters also started to take over more of the band’s artistic direction. It meant that other members were less and less involved in writing the music. Waters also staked out the concepts that would drive each project.
On the 1979 album The Wall, Waters included bits of his own autobiography in the story while dominating everything from conception to execution. During that project, longtime keyboardist Rick Wright departed the band, in part because of squabbles with Waters. More than ever, the remaining members of Pink Floyd (guitarist David Gilmour and drummer Nick Mason) seemed like little more than Mason’s backing band.
‘Cut’ to the Quick
In 1983, after several years of seeing the stage shows and a film of The Wall through to fruition, Pink Floyd returned with a new studio album called The Final Cut. Well, they sort of returned. By all accounts, this was a solo effort by Waters (even credited as such on the packaging), with Gilmour and Mason helping with the occasional instrumental flourish.
The Final Cut lacked the commercial clout of the previous Waters-led Floyd projects. On top of that, the relationship between Waters and Gilmour, never exceedingly chummy, had deteriorated to the point that the two men were hardly even on speaking terms. Something had to give.
Technically, it was a fight over management that spurred Waters to leave Pink Floyd. But the writing had been on the wall for some time that Waters thought that he could get it done solo without the help of Gilmour and Mason. To Waters’ surprise, Gilmour still had plans for the band.
Floyd Rolls On
In 1985, shortly after announcing his decision to leave, Waters tried to legally prevent David Gilmour and Nick Mason from performing again as Pink Floyd. Gilmour’s decision to revive the brand came after he wrote some songs that sounded like they’d be a good fit for the banner. He recruited Mason to play on a few tracks. Rick Wright even returned and played briefly on the sessions.
Waters’ legal fight ended with a settlement in 1987. Earlier that year, Pink Floyd released the album Momentary Lapse Of Reason. With Gilmour writing all the music and getting help from a rotating group of lyricists, the album returned Floyd to sounds like their Dark Side Of The Moon era.
Roger Waters would reunite with Pink Floyd for a brief set at Live 8 in 2005. That represented a small oasis of amity in the desert of friction between him and his former band over the years since he first skedaddled.
Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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