Pink Floyd bassist Roger Waters says fans received “a different perspective” on why he left the group following their reunion.
Waters would leave Pink Floyd in 1985, just two years after they released The Final Cut. Guitarist David Gilmour would take on the band for another eight years before they disbanded for good in 1994. Pink Floyd reunited for just one show with their classic line-up, featuring Waters, Gilmour, Nick Mason, and Richard Wright. The Live 8 show that the four-piece performed, Waters says, gave fans a new context for why he left the group. Speaking to Uncut Magazine about the reason he left the group and whether he would do it again, Waters said the reunion offered him and fans the chance to see he was not a “grumpy guy who left in a huff” and that he “thoroughly enjoyed” performing with his former bandmates.
He said: “There’s no question that when we got back together and did Live 8, things took on a slightly different perspective. A huge number of people saw us on TV, and I think it gave them an opportunity to say, ‘Aha, that’s the guy who wrote the songs’ and to make that connection.
“I think through the years after I left the band in ’85 and when they toured in ’87 and in ’94, I was perceived as the grumpy guy who left in a huff. After Live8 I think they went “Well, maybe he’s not so grumpy after all”. I thoroughly enjoyed Live8. I came to it with a very open mind and a very open heart and decided to just get on with it and do it. So maybe that changed people’s perceptions, to some extent.”
Waters would also say he “loved” performing with the band as they all “seemed to be able to play a bit and sing.” He added: “I don’t think you can generalise about it. It’s hard for bands. Often half of them are dead. I’m not really keen on the reunion when there’s only one bloke left standing. However if everybody’s alive and enthusiastic about doing it I think they’re great. The Live 8 thing was quite extraordinary.
“Even at our advanced years we all still seemed to be able to play a bit and sing. I thought those songs we did sounded great. It was very moving for me personally to hear those four musical voices joined together again onstage. And equally very moving to experience the enormous waves of love that were coming off the field at us. It was just fantastic. I loved it.”
The performance was a smash hit with promoters too, who believed there could be a lucrative deal that would tempt Pink Floyd into touring properly. This tour never came to be, but Waters claimed there was a $250million offer on the table for the four-piece.
Speaking to Word Magazine, Waters shared he was open to reuniting with the band, though this stance may have changed since Live 8. He said: “Oh it was terrific. I really loved it. I hope we do it again. It was more than good.
“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.” No such plan came to be and the band has yet to perform since their twenty-minute set at Live 8.
But Waters says it would need to be another “good reason” to get back together if they were to take to the stage. He added: “A good reason. I don’t know. Something with a political or charitable connection.
