Roger Waters Admits He ‘Regrets’ Rift With Pink Floyd After Leaving the Band

Looking Back on a Difficult Split

Roger Waters has admitted that the bitter fallout between himself and the rest of Pink Floyd is something he now “regrets.” The bassist, who left the group in 1985, has often been at odds with David Gilmour, Nick Mason, and the late Richard Wright. While they briefly reunited for a special Live 8 performance in 2005, Waters reflected on how negative the circumstances around his departure had been.

In a recent interview, Waters explained that his actions at the time were motivated by a desire to protect the meaning of the band’s work, but he now sees that approach differently. “I don’t think any of us came out of the years from 1985 with any credit, really. It was a bad, negative time, really. And I regret my part in that negativity,” he said.

 

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Protecting the Band’s Legacy

Waters admitted he felt more deeply connected to the philosophy and politics behind Pink Floyd than his bandmates, particularly Gilmour. “I was actually more attached to the philosophy and politics of Pink Floyd than the others were — certainly more so than David was. In a way, whatever I did I did in a way to protect the integrity of what I saw as being important about the work that the four of us did together.”

At the time, he believed leaving and attempting to direct the band’s future from the outside would preserve that integrity. Looking back, he realizes it was unrealistic. “I realise now that move was doomed to failure … and why should I have imposed my feelings about the work and what it was worth on the others if they didn’t feel the same? I was wrong in attempting to do that.”

Live 8 Reunion and Reconciliation

The 2005 Live 8 concert offered a rare chance for Waters to reconnect with his former bandmates. For him, the event was a way to repair old wounds, at least temporarily. “It was just… really good. I was very moved to be on stage with Dave, Nick and Rick that night,” he said. “I felt at ease and glad to be given the opportunity to let bygones be bygones.”

Waters described the reunion as a moment of maturity and peace. “Although we’ve had our difficulties in the past, we are grown men who understand that rapprochement is possible even in the face of differing points of view. It was really good to transcend all the crap and say, ‘Well, fuck it, let’s just get up onstage. It’s been a long while. We can agree to disagree about all the old stuff and stand up here and play these three or four songs and it can be fun, it can be good.’”