Roger Waters Biography

Roger Waters earned a spot in 1996 in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as the bass player, vocalist and lyricist for the band Pink Floyd. Waters was a founding member of the band in 1965, along with Syd Barrett (guitar and vocals), Nick Mason (drums) and Rick Wright (keyboards). By 1968 the band had had success in the U.K., but Barrett’s unpredictable behavior led to the addition of guitarist David Gilmour, and soon enough Barrett was out of the band altogether. Waters took over the duties of songwriter and singer, and after continuing with experimental psychedelic music for a few years, the band released the 1973 album The Dark Side of the Moon. The record spawned a number one hit, “Money,” and went on to become one of the best selling albums of all time, famously squatting on Billboard’s Top 200 chart for the next fourteen years. During the 1970s Pink Floyd was one of the top musical acts in the world, on the strength of “concept” albums driven by Waters’s bleak lyrics and Gilmour’s soulful, spacey guitar, as well as elaborate stage shows and frequent tours. Their albums Wish You Were Here (1975), Animals (1977) and The Wall (1979) kept them on the charts, but in the 1980s personal squabbles took their toll and the band dissolved after 1983’s The Final Cut. By 1985 the original band was officially broken up and Waters had released a solo album, The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking (1984). The next year Waters sued to prevent Mason and Gilmour from using the name Pink Floyd, but Waters lost. While Pink Floyd continued to tour and record, Waters went his own way and released Radio K.A.O.S. (1987). He has since released Amused to Death (1992), appeared at numerous fundraising concerts, toured extensively (1999-2002, and again in 2006-07) and published an opera, Ca Ira (2005).