Roger Waters turns 80, the story of the co-founder and former member of Pink Floyd

Roger Waters He turns 80 today. Historical co-founder of Pink Floyd, helped make the group one of the most influential in rock history. Born in Great Bookham, England, on September 6, 1943, he is among the most important and famous bassists of the last century, author and creator of the themes of the most famous albums of the cult band

Time by The Dark Side of The Moon Redux, redone by Roger Waters

A few months after birth, Roger loses his father, Second Lieutenant Eric Fletcher Waters, who died on February 18, 1944 in Aprilia fighting during the Second World War. The suffering for the absence of the father figure will be present in various compositions of the musician and is told in the piece When The Tigers Broke Free. At the faculty of architecture in Cambridge, Waters knows Syd Barrett and with him he starts playing in the Geoff Mott and the Mottoes (Pictured: Pink Floyd)

Syd Barrett, the crazy diamond of Pink Floyd

The two then move to London where they get to know each other Nick Mason And Richard Wright. In 1965, the four give life to what will become one of the most influential bands of all time: the Pink Floyd. The quartet is then added David Gilmour

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In the first period, Roger Waters he is a second-rate figure Syd Barrett, to whom he was bound by deep esteem and friendship. Subsequently, with the removal of the latter from the group due to serious mental problems, the bassist takes on a increasingly important role until he became the undisputed leader of Pink Floyd, for which he wrote most of the lyrics

Pink Floyd has released recordings of 18 concerts from 1972

In 1967 the first album was released, The Piper at the Gates of Dawnfollowed over the next three years by Blackberries, Ummagumma And Atom Heart Mother. From the 70s begins the rise of the groupor who lives the luckiest period of his career marked by the release of The Dark Side of the Moon, best selling album by Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd, the album The Dark Side of the Moon turns 50

The disc turns out to be one of world’s most successful album in the history of music, with an estimated 45 million copies sold. Only for the USA the RIIAA has certified multiple platinum for 15 million copies officially sold from 17 April 1973 to 4 June 1998. Its success is also recorded by Guinness World Recordfor the permanence in the American Billboard, where it remained for 15 years, until July 1988

Two years later the band realizes Wish You Were Hereproduction with clear references to Syd Barrett and his mental problems, which pushed him away from the music scene. A few years later, however, what is considered a real rock manifesto comes out: The Wall. Waters, years later, said that the idea for the album came to him during the 1977 tour in Canada

The bassist spat at a fan who had attempted to take the stage, silencing both the boy and Waters himself. The alienation and frustration he had felt had given him the idea of ​​doing a rock concert with the building a wall. In fact, the themes of the disc revolve around the concepts of loneliness and lack of communication due to the presence of a wall between people

During the concerts of the album promotion tour, a wall is erected, which first gradually hides the band and then is torn down at the end of the evening. In 1989, the album is also associated with Fall of the Berlin Wall, with a concert, in July 1990, on the border between East and West Berlin. A film was later made from the album, Pink Floyd The Walldirected by Alan Parker

The latest album by Roger Waters with Pink Floyd is The Final Cut from 1983. With this disc, the artist concludes the highly intimate experience with the band. The musician decides to leave the group, but the story follows a Legal dispute because the bassist asks that his teammates be prevented from continuing to use the Pink Floyd name. The court, however, rejected Waters’ request

Waters then continues with his solo career and, in 1984, realizes The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hikingin which it plays with Eric Claptonwhich follows KAOS radio. Precisely to celebrate the fall of the Berlin wall, Waters organizes the aforementioned concert in the German capital where he presents the entire album again The Wall with the participation of many famous artists such as Scorpions, Bryan Adams, Sinead O’Connor

In 1992 he published Amused to Deathin 2017 Is This The Life We Really Want and, finally, in 2022 it arrives The Lockdown Sessions. A busy artist with a tumultuous private life, Roger Waters married well 4 times. The first marriage is with childhood friend Judith Trim from ’69 to ’75

The year after the divorce he marries the daughter of a marquis, Caroline Christie, with whom he has two children. However, the union ends in 1992. Third marriage from 1993 to 2001 with Priscilla Phillips with whom he has another child. Finally, from 2012 to 2015 he was married to the film producer Laurie Durning

In 1996 Waters was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fameas a member of Pink Floyd, and during the Live Aid of 2005 reunited after many years with the other members of the band. Pacifist and with left-wing political sympathies, he has never hidden his convictions by defining himself as a socialist and a staunch voter of the Labor Party

His activism also pours into the lyrics of his songs, for example, in Not now John use very strong words against Margaret Thatcher, criticizing military intervention in the Falkland Islands, while in Leaving Beirut targets the former US president George Bush and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Strongly opposed to any war and antimilitaristWaters has also used music as a tool of expression and social and humanitarian commitment

Roger Waters on David Gilmour: “His solos among the best in rock”