Roger Waters has aired his issues with former Pink Floyd bandmate David Gilmour online.
The songwriter and bassist, who co-founded Pink Floyd in 1965, says he’s been “banned” from the band’s website and social media channels by lead guitarist Gilmour.
An announcement from me. And when I mention the @pinkfloyd website, I also mean the Facebook page and all the rest. pic.twitter.com/x9T8CIAAMp
— Roger Waters (@rogerwaters) May 19, 2020
It seems that after his virtual remake of The Wall’s “Mother” — recorded with his solo band — failed to earn a spot on Pink Floyd’s social media, Waters decided to involve the band’s fans.
Just a bit of backstory for you — Roger Waters left Pink Floyd in 1985. He was under the impression that his exit would signal the end of the band forever. David Gilmour and drummer Nick Mason — who now own the name — decided to carry on with then-ousted, late co-founder and keyboardist Richard Wright once again joining on as a salaried employee. A long and bitter lawsuit was settled with Gilmour and Mason owning and controlling the Floyd brand.
Obviously, in the case of reissues or vault releases, Roger Waters is consulted and his approval is deemed necessary before any box sets or retrospectives can get the green light. However, due to the legalities, “Pink Floyd” is ultimately — and legally — a vehicle for David Gilmour, just as “Roger Waters” is one for himself. Two completely different brands.
In a five-minute video that Waters posted titled “An announcement from Roger,” he explained that there was a recent band summit in which he tried to find a way forward with his former bandmates, to no avail. He attempted to plead his case to fans saying, “Nothing from me is on the website. I am banned by David Gilmour from the website. I suggested that because whoever the 30 million of you are who subscribe to the webpage, you do so because of the body of work that the five of us created. That’s Syd (Barrett), me, Rick (Wright), and Nick (Mason), and David.”
Before going on to slam David Gilmour for promoting his wife — and Pink Floyd lyricist — Polly Samson‘s work on official Floyd platforms, Roger Waters went on to accuse Gilmour of the very things his former bandmates accused him of towards the end of their tenure in the early-1980’s saying “David thinks he owns it. I think he thinks that because I left the band in 1985, that he owns Pink Floyd, that he is Pink Floyd — that really, I’m irrelevant and I should just keep my mouth shut. Alright. We’re all welcome to our opinions.”
