Editing Roger Waters (section)

==1965–1985: Pink Floyd==
{{main|Pink Floyd}}

===Formation and Barrett-led period===
[[File:Roger waters leeds 1970.jpg|thumb|upright=.75|left|Waters performing with Pink Floyd at [[Leeds University]] in 1970|alt=A monochrome image of Roger Waters playing bass guitar. He has shoulder-length hair, black attire, and is standing in front of a microphone.]]

By September 1963, Waters and Mason had lost interest in their studies and moved into the lower flat of Stanhope Gardens, owned by Mike Leonard, a part-time tutor at the Regent Street Polytechnic.<ref>{{harvnb|Blake|2008|p=40}}: (secondary source); {{harvnb|Mason|2005|p=20}}: (primary source).</ref> Waters, Mason and Wright first played music together in late 1963, in a band formed by the vocalist Keith Noble and bassist Clive Metcalfe.<ref>{{harvnb|Manning|2006|p=13}}: (secondary source); {{harvnb|Mason|2005|p=17}}: (primary source).</ref> They usually called themselves Sigma&nbsp;6, but also used the name the Meggadeaths.{{sfn|Povey|2008|p=13}} Waters played rhythm guitar, Mason played drums, Wright played any keyboard he could arrange to use, and Noble's sister Sheilagh provided occasional vocals.{{sfn|Mason|2005|pp=17–18}} In the early years the band performed during private functions and rehearsed in a [[tearoom]] in the basement of Regent Street Polytechnic.{{sfn|Mason|2005|pp=13–18}}

When Metcalfe and Noble left to form their own group in September 1963, the remaining members asked Barrett and the guitarist [[Bob Klose]] to join.<ref>{{harvnb|Mason|2005|p=18}}: (primary source); {{harvnb|Povey|2008|p=14}}: (secondary source).</ref> Waters switched to the bass. By January 1964, the group became known as the Abdabs, or the Screaming Abdabs.{{sfn|Povey|2008|p=14}} During late 1964, the band used the names Leonard's Lodgers, Spectrum Five, and eventually, the Tea Set.{{sfn|Povey|2008|pp= 18, 28}} In late 1965, the Tea Set had changed their name to the Pink Floyd Sound, later the Pink Floyd Blues Band and, by early 1966, Pink Floyd.<ref>{{harvnb|Mason|2005|pp=30–37}}: (primary source); {{harvnb|Povey|2008|p=32}}: (secondary source).</ref>

By early 1966, Barrett was Pink Floyd's frontman, guitarist, and songwriter.{{sfn|Mason|2005|p=87}} He wrote or co-wrote all but one track of their debut LP ''[[The Piper at the Gates of Dawn]]'', released in August 1967.{{sfn|Mason|2005|pp= 87–107}} Waters contributed the song "[[Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk]]" (his first sole writing credit) to the album.{{sfn|Blake|2008|p= 91}} By late 1967, Barrett's deteriorating mental health and increasingly erratic behaviour{{sfn|Blake|2008|pp=90–114}} rendered him "unable or unwilling"{{sfn|Mason|2005|p=129}} to continue in his capacity as Pink Floyd's songwriter and lead guitarist.{{sfn|Mason|2005|pp=87–107}} In early March 1968, to discuss the band's future, Barrett, Mason, Waters, and Wright met with the band's managers, [[Peter Jenner]] and [[Andrew King (music manager)|Andrew King]], of the rock music management company they had all founded, [[Blackhill Enterprises]]. Barrett agreed to leave Pink Floyd, and the band "agreed to Blackhill's entitlement in perpetuity" regarding "past activities".{{sfn|Mason|2005|p=105}} Their new manager, [[Steve O'Rourke]], made a formal announcement about the departure of Barrett and the arrival of Gilmour in April 1968.{{sfn|Mason|2005|p=106}}

===Waters-led period===
[[File:DarkSideOfTheMoon1973.jpg|thumb|alt=A monochrome image of Pink Floyd performing on a concert stage. Each band member is illuminated from above by bright spotlights|A live performance of ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' at [[Earls Court Exhibition Centre]], shortly after its release in 1973: (l–r) David Gilmour, Nick Mason, [[Dick Parry]], Roger Waters]]

After Barrett's departure in March 1968, Waters began to chart Pink Floyd's artistic direction.{{sfn|Mason|2005|pp=106–107, 160–161, 265, 278}} In 1970, he composed – in collaboration with [[Ron Geesin]] –  ''[[Music from The Body]]'', a soundtrack for [[Roy Battersby]]'s documentary ''[[The Body (1970 film)|The Body]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.roger-waters.com/musicfromthebody.php|title=Roger Waters discography|website=rogerwaters.com|access-date=18 November 2019|archive-date=2 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170902131056/http://www.roger-waters.com/musicfromthebody.php|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.headheritage.co.uk/unsung/thebookofseth/ron-geesin-roger-waters-music-from-the-body|title=Ron Geesin/Roger Waters – Music from The Body|access-date=18 November 2019|date=November 2001|website=Head Heritage|archive-date=5 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191105033701/https://www.headheritage.co.uk/unsung/thebookofseth/ron-geesin-roger-waters-music-from-the-body|url-status=live}}</ref>

Waters said he wanted to "drag [Pink Floyd] kicking and screaming back from the borders of space, from the whimsy that Syd was into, to my concerns, which were much more political and philosophical".<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Epstein|first=Dan|date=1 March 2018|title=Pink Floyd's 'Dark Side of the Moon': 10 Things You Didn't Know|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/feature/pink-floyds-dark-side-of-the-moon-10-things-you-didnt-know-201743/|access-date=6 October 2021|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|archive-date=6 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211006181328/https://www.rollingstone.com/feature/pink-floyds-dark-side-of-the-moon-10-things-you-didnt-know-201743/|url-status=live}}</ref> He became a dominant songwriter and the band's principal lyricist, sharing lead vocals with Gilmour and sometimes Wright. Throughout the late 1970s, he was the band's dominant creative figure until his departure in 1985.{{sfn|Mason|2005|pp= 106–107, 160–161, 265, 278}} He wrote most of the lyrics to the five Pink Floyd albums preceding his departure, starting with ''[[The Dark Side of the Moon]]'' (1973) and ending with ''[[The Final Cut (album)|The Final Cut]]'' (1983), while exerting progressively more creative control. Every Waters studio album from ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' onwards has been a [[concept album]].{{sfn|Blake|2008|pp= 3, 9, 113, 156, 242, 279, 320, 398}}

With lyrics entirely by Waters, ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' is one of the most successful rock albums ever. It spent 736 consecutive weeks on the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]] chart—until July 1988—and sold over 40 million copies worldwide. As of 2005, it continued to sell over 8,000 copies a week.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/58524/floyds-dark-side-celebrates-chart-milestone|title=Floyd's ''Dark Side'' Celebrates Chart Milestone|last1=Titus|first1=Christa|last2=Waddell|first2=Ray|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|year=2005|access-date=24 October 2011|archive-date=30 March 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130330033818/http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/58524/floyds-dark-side-celebrates-chart-milestone|url-status=live}}</ref> According to the Pink Floyd biographer Glenn Povey, ''Dark Side of the Moon'' is the world's second-bestselling album and the United States' 21st-bestselling album.{{sfn|Povey|2008|p=345}} In 2006, asked if he felt his goals for ''Dark Side'' had been accomplished, Waters said his wife wept the first time he played it for her: "You then hear it with fresh ears when you play it for somebody else. And at that point I thought to myself, 'Wow, this is a pretty complete piece of work,' and I had every confidence that people would respond to it.<ref>{{cite web |title=Roger Waters Revisits The 'Dark Side' |url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/58519/roger-waters-revisits-the-dark-side |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190614130915/https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/58519/roger-waters-revisits-the-dark-side |archive-date=14 June 2019 |access-date=28 April 2019 |website=Billboard.com}}</ref>

Waters's thematic ideas became the impetus for the concept albums ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' (1973), ''[[Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd album)|Wish You Were Here]]'' (1975), ''[[Animals (Pink Floyd album)|Animals]]'' (1977) and ''[[The Wall]]'' (1979) — written largely by Waters — and ''The Final Cut'' (1983), written entirely by him.{{sfn|Mason|2005|pp= 265–269}} The cost of war and the loss of his father became a recurring theme, from "[[Corporal Clegg]]" (''[[A Saucerful of Secrets]]'', 1968) and "[[Free Four]]" (''[[Obscured by Clouds]]'', 1972) to "[[Us and Them (song)|Us and Them]]" from ''The Dark Side of the Moon'', "[[When the Tigers Broke Free]]", first used in the feature film ''[[Pink Floyd – The Wall|The Wall]]'' (1982), later included with "[[The Fletcher Memorial Home]]" on ''The Final Cut'', an album dedicated to his father.{{sfn|Blake|2008|p=294}} The theme and composition of ''The Wall'' was influenced by his upbringing in an English society depleted of men after World War II.{{sfn|Blake|2008|pp= 294–295, 351}}

''The Wall'', written almost entirely by Waters, is largely based on his life story.{{sfn|Blake|2008|p= 260}} Having sold over 23&nbsp;million [[RIAA certification|RIAA certified units]] in the US as of 2013, is tied for sixth-most certified album of all time in America.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?tab_active=awards_by_album#search_section |publisher=Recording Industry Association of America |title=RIAA GOLD & PLATINUM Top Albums |access-date=24 February 2021 |archive-date=25 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130225031458/http://riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH_RESULTS#search_section |url-status=live }}</ref> Pink Floyd hired [[Bob Ezrin]] to co-produce the album and cartoonist [[Gerald Scarfe]] to illustrate the sleeve art.{{sfn|Blake|2008|pp=260–261}} They embarked on [[The Wall Tour (1980–81)|The Wall Tour]] of Los Angeles, New York, London, and [[Dortmund]], Germany. The last Pink Floyd performance of ''The Wall'' was on 17 June 1981, at Earls Court London, and this was Pink Floyd's last appearance with Waters until the band's brief reunion at 2 July 2005 [[Live 8 concert, London|Live 8 concert]] in London's [[Hyde Park, London|Hyde Park]], 24 years later.{{sfn|Povey|Russell|1997|p= 185}}

In March 1983, the last Pink Floyd album with Waters, ''The Final Cut'', was released. It was subtitled, "A requiem for the post-war dream by Roger Waters, performed by Pink Floyd".{{sfn|Povey|2008|p=230}} Waters wrote all the album's lyrics and music. His lyrics were critical of the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] government of the day and mention Prime Minister [[Margaret Thatcher]] by name.{{sfn|Blake|2008|pp= 294–299}} At the time Gilmour did not have any new material, so he asked Waters to delay the recording until he could write some songs, but Waters refused.{{sfn|Blake|2008|p= 295}} According to Mason, after power struggles within the band and creative arguments about the album, Gilmour's name "disappeared" from the production credits, though he retained his pay.{{sfn|Mason|2005|pp= 264–270}} ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' gave the album five stars, with [[Kurt Loder]] describing it as "a superlative achievement" and "art rock's crowning masterpiece".<ref>{{harvnb|Blake|2008|p=300}}: "art rock's crowning masterpiece"; {{harvnb|Schaffner|1991|p=262}}: "a superlative achievement".</ref> Loder viewed the work as "essentially a Roger Waters solo album".<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Loder|first=Kurt|author-link=Kurt Loder|title=Pink Floyd: ''The Final Cut'' (Toshiba)|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/the-final-cut-19830414|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|date=14 April 1983|access-date=6 May 2012|archive-date=22 June 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080622041133/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/pinkfloyd/albums/album/107472/review/5943392/the_final_cut|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Departure and legal battles===
Amidst creative differences, Waters left Pink Floyd in 1985 and began a legal battle with the band regarding their continued use of the name and material.{{sfn|Povey|2008|pp=240–241}} In December 1985, Waters issued a statement to EMI and CBS invoking the "Leaving Member" clause in his contract. In October 1986, he initiated [[High Court of Justice|High Court]] proceedings to formally dissolve the Pink Floyd partnership. In his submission to the High Court he called Pink Floyd a "spent force creatively."{{sfn|Povey|2008|pp=221, 237, 240–241, 246}} Gilmour and Mason opposed the application and announced their intention to continue as Pink Floyd. Waters said he had been forced to resign like Barrett had been years earlier, and decided to leave the band based on legal considerations, saying: "If I hadn't, the financial repercussions would have wiped me out completely."{{sfn|Blake|2008|pp= 312–313}}

Waters did not want the band to use the name Pink Floyd without him. He said later: "I would be distressed if [[Paul McCartney]] and [[Ringo Starr]] made records and went on the road calling themselves [[the Beatles]]. If [[John Lennon]]'s not in it, it's sacrilegious ... To continue with Gilmour and Mason, getting in a whole bunch of other people to write the material, seems to me an insult to the work that came before."<ref name="Simmons-1999">{{Cite journal |last=Simmons |first=Sylvie |date=December 1999 |title=Danger! Demolition in progress |journal=[[Mojo (magazine)|Mojo]]}}</ref> In December 1987, Waters and Pink Floyd reached an agreement.{{sfn|Povey|2008|pp=240–241}} Waters was released from his contractual obligation with O'Rourke, and he retained the copyrights to the ''Wall'' concept and the inflatable ''Animals ''pig.{{sfn|Manning|2006|pp= 139}} Pink Floyd released three studio albums without him: ''[[A Momentary Lapse of Reason]]'' (1987), ''[[The Division Bell]]'' (1994) and ''[[The Endless River]]'' (2014).<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/roger-waters-reminds-curious-fans-i-am-not-part-of-pink-floyd-20141002|title=Roger Waters Reminds Fans: 'I Am Not Part of Pink Floyd'|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=1 April 2018|archive-date=1 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180401212740/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/roger-waters-reminds-curious-fans-i-am-not-part-of-pink-floyd-20141002|url-status=live}}</ref> According to a 1999 interview with Gilmour, Waters declined an invitation to perform ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' with Pink Floyd at [[Earls Court Exhibition Centre|Earls Court]], London.<ref name="Simmons-1999" />

In 2005, Waters said the period of his departure had been a "bad, negative time", and that he regretted his part in the negativity: "Why should I have imposed my feeling 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."{{sfn|Blake|2008|p=395}} In 2013, Waters said he regretted the lawsuit and had failed to appreciate that the Pink Floyd name had commercial value independent of the band members.<ref>{{Cite web |date=19 September 2013 |title=Pink Floyd star Roger Waters regrets suing band |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-24160584 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160228034159/http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-24160584 |archive-date=28 February 2016 |access-date=10 March 2016 |work=[[BBC News]]}}</ref>