Great artists tend to clash a lot. That’s definitely the case with Pink Floyd’s two leading men: singer/guitarist David Gilmour and bassist/singer Roger Waters. As Far Out Magazine details, Gilmour joined the group in 1968 and saw his influence grow until he and Waters were in open war for creative control. By 1985, the situation had become professionally untenable, and Waters left the band.
But the story wasn’t over. Waters and Gilmour sparred in courtrooms, according to Far Out, due to Waters insisting the band break up in his absence. Gilmour and drummer Nick Mason fought back, alleging they were still trying to make new music. In a 2013 interview with the BBC, Waters admitted fault, saying, “I was wrong.”
But the tension has persisted through the years and various collaborations. “David thinks he owns it,” Waters said on Twitter, according to the same article, referring to the band’s website. “I think he thinks that because I left the band in 1985, that he owns Pink Floyd, that he is Pink Floyd and I’m irrelevant and I should just keep my mouth shut.” He goes on to lament that Gilmour’s wife was permitted to use the site to sell her books, but he can’t use it to promote music.
For his part, Mason thinks it’s all a bit immature. “I think it’s really disappointing that these rather elderly gentlemen are still at loggerheads,” he told Rolling Stone in 2018.
