David Gilmour Will “Absolutely Not” Perform With Roger Waters Ever Again
Pink Floyd just sold their catalog and name/likeness rights to Sony for several Scrooge McDuck vaults worth of money, which theoretically ends the dispute between David Gilmour and Roger Waters about the liner notes in the long-delayed Animals reissue. The sale does not, however, resolve the longstanding conflict between the former bandmates. Gilmour, who is promoting the new solo album Luck And Strange — including with a performance with his daughter at a local open mic night — has a new interview in The Guardian today, in which he expresses an abiding hostility towards Waters and his political affiliations.
In the feature, Gilmour answers questions submitted by Guardian readers, one of whom asked whether he’ll ever perform with Waters again. Gilmour’s response:
Absolutely not. I tend to steer clear of people who actively support genocidal and autocratic dictators like Putin and Maduro [president of Venezuela]. Nothing would make me share a stage with someone who thinks such treatment of women and the LGBT community is OK. On the other hand, I’d love to be back on stage with [late Pink Floyd keyboardist] Rick Wright, who was one of the gentlest and most musically gifted people I’ve ever known.
Waters’ political views have been loud and contentious for years. He did indeed endorse the autocrat Maduro, and he has critiqued Ukraine and NATO in regards to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He has also staunchly, sometimes aggressively supported Palestine and the boycott, divestment, sanctions movement against Israel for many years. BMG reportedly ended his publishing deal this year due to his comments on Israel.
It seems like the only thing Gilmour and Waters can agree on, besides the fact that they should sell off Pink Floyd’s legacy for heaps of money, is that Body Count’s “Comfortably Numb” remake is A-OK.