A new generation of fans has left Roger Waters surprised, as he “never expected” Pink Floyd would be as long-lasting as this.
The veteran songwriter says he is “thrilled” by the response new listeners have for hits like The Wall, The Dark Side of the Moon, and Wish You Were Here. Waters says he is “extremely glad” the work he made with David Gilmour, Richard Wright, Nick Mason, and earlier in their career with Syd Barrett, has stood the test of time. The Amused to Death creator shared as much in an interview with Word Magazine, where he explained how Pink Floyd’s influence had continued across generations of music lovers. The influence on “electronic music” was noted by the interviewer at the time, which gave Waters a chance to praise those still connecting with the music.
Waters would single out those old enough to “start getting rebellious” as those who had connected with Pink Floyd’s music most of all. Decades after the release of Animals and The Final Cut, Waters said: “I’m thrilled. It’s very edifying.
“I get people saying, ‘My 11-year-old is really into you,’ but it’s usually when puberty kicks in! When people start getting rebellious and having ‘different feelings’ and ‘what’s the meaning of life?’ I love it. I never expected it to last this long, but I am extremely glad that it has.”
It should come as no surprise that the likes of Wish You Were Here, Money, and Comfortably Numb are as influential now as they were on first release. The band would reunite just once with the Waters, Wright, Mason, and Gilmour line-up. Waters left the group in 1985, just two years after the release of The Final Cut.
Though Gilmour would take over as frontman until the group disbanded in 1994, the four did play together again in 2005. The one-off, twenty-minute performance was part of a stacked Live Aid line-up.
Despite hopes for a reunion tour from the band, and a lucrative $250million offer to do so, the band turned it down and went their separate ways. The four brains behind The Dark Side of the Moon would never play again, with Wright dying in 2008.
Waters has shed some light on the offer given to Pink Floyd, which was presented before they had even taken to the Live 8 stage. He said: “If some other opportunity arose, I could even imagine us doing The Dark Side of the Moon again – you know, if there was a special occasion. It would be good to hear it again. Live 8 was so great.
“A good reason. I don’t know. Something with a political or charitable connection. The day they announced the Pink Floyd were to play Live 8, I went out to dinner with a friend and an offer arrived – literally bang on the dinner table – for the four of us, the Pink Floyd, to tour again. An offer of $250 million. Guaranteed.”
Much to the dismay of the new generation of fans, the band has not reunited since, and twenty years on from their Live 8 performance, it looks unlikely they ever will.
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