Roger Waters is a talented musician, singer, composer, poet, activist. Despite a long career, his name is still associated with the team Pink Floyd. At one time he was the ideologist of the team and the author of the most famous LP The Wall.
Childhood and youthful years of the musician
He was born in early September 1943. He was born in Cambridge. Roger was lucky to be brought up in a traditionally intelligent family. Waters' parents realized themselves as educators.
The mother and the head of the family remained avid communists until the end of their days. The mood of the parents left the typos on Roger's mind. He advocated for world peace, and in his teenage years shouted slogans for the prohibition of nuclear weapons.
The boy was left without father's support early. The head of the family died during World War II. Later, Roger will remember his father more than once in his musical works. The theme of the death of the head of the family sounds in the songs The Wall and The Final Cut.
Mom, who was left without support, tried her best to give her son a decent upbringing. She spoiled him, but at the same time tried to be fair.
Like all children, he attended elementary school. By the way, Syd Barrett and David Gilmour studied at the school. It is with these guys that in a couple of years Roger will create the Pink Floyd group.
In his spare time, Waters listened to blues and jazz music. Like all teenagers in his neighborhood, he loved football. He grew up as an incredibly athletic young man. After leaving school, Roger entered the Polytechnic Institute, choosing the Faculty of Architecture for himself.
Then many students created musical groups. Roger was no exception. He received a scholarship that allowed him to purchase his first guitar. Then he began to take music lessons, and after a while he found like-minded people with whom he “put together” his own project.
The creative path of Roger Waters
In the mid-60s of the last century, the team was founded, from which Roger Waters began his journey. Pink Floyd - brought the musician the first portion of popularity and world fame. In one of the interviews, the artist admitted that he did not expect such a result.
Entering the arena of heavy music turned out to be successful for every member of the team. Exhausting tours, a series of concerts and constant work in a recording studio. Then, it seemed that this would be going on forever.
But Sid was the first to give up. By that time, he was addicted to drugs. Soon the musician began to ignore the rules of working in the group, and then completely left it.
The place of the retired artist was taken by David Gilmour. During this period of time, Roger Waters became the undisputed leader of the team. Most of the tracks belong to him.
Roger Waters leaving Pink Floyd
In the mid-70s, relations between the band members gradually began to deteriorate. Mutual claims to each other - formed within the team is not the most favorable atmosphere for creativity. In 1985, Roger decided to say goodbye to Pink Floyd. The musician commented that the group's creativity has completely exhausted itself.
The musician was sure that the band would not "survive" after his departure. But, David Gilmour took the furrows of government into his own hands. The artist invited new musicians, persuaded them to return to Wright, and soon they began recording a new LP.
Waters seemed to have lost his mind at the time. He was trying to regain the right to use the Pink Floyd name. Roger sued the guys. The litigation went on for several years. At this time, both sides behaved as incorrectly as possible. In the late 80s, while the band was touring, Gilmour, Wright, and Mason wore T-shirts that said, "Who is this Waters?"
In the end, the former colleagues found a compromise. The artists apologized to each other, and in 2005 they tried to assemble a "golden composition" in the group.
At the same time, Roger held a series of concerts with Pink Floyd musicians. But, beyond the joint appearance on the stage, things did not move. Gilmour and Waters were still on different wavelengths. They often argued and could not come to a compromise. When Wright died in 2008, the fans lost their last hope for reanimating the band.
Solo work of the artist
Since leaving the band, Roger has released three studio LPs. After the release of the first album, critics suggested that he would not repeat the success he found in Pink Floyd. In his musical works, the musician often touched on acute social issues.
In the new century, the release of the record Ça Ira took place. The collection is an opera in several acts, based on an original libretto by Étienne and Nadine Roda-Gille. Alas, this major work was left without due attention of critics and "fans". The experts were right in their judgments.
Roger Waters: details of his personal life
Roger never denied that he adores beautiful women. Perhaps that is why his personal life was as rich as his creative one. He was married four times.
He first married at sunset in the 60s. His wife was the charming Judy Trim. This union did not lead to anything good, and soon the couple broke up. In the 70s, he was in a relationship with Caroline Christie. Two children were born in this family, but they did not save the family from collapse.
He spent over 10 years with Priscilla Phillips. She gave birth to the artist's heir. In 2012, the musician married secretly. His wife was a girl named Lori Durning. When the society learned that he was married, the musician commented that he had never been so happy. Despite this, the couple divorced in 2015.
Rogers is rumored to be getting married for the fifth time in 2021. According to Pagesix, the musician, during a dinner in the Hamptons, introduced his companion to his friend, with whom he ate in a restaurant, as a "bride". True, the name of the new lover is not specified.
According to the media, this is the same girl who accompanied the artist at the Venice Fest 2019 during the presentation of his concert film "We + Them".
Roger Waters: Today
In 2017, Is This the Life We Really Want? was released. The artist commented that he had been working on the record for two years. He then embarked on the Us + Them Tour.
In 2019, he joined Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets. He provided vocals on the track Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun.
On October 2, 2020, the live album Us + Them was released. The recording took place during a performance in Amsterdam in June 2018. Based on this concert, a tape was also created, directed by Waters and Sean Evans.
In 2021, he released a new video for the re-recorded piece of music The Gunner's Dream. The track was released on the Pink Floyd album The Final Cut.
The news in 2021 did not end there. David Gilmour and Roger Waters have agreed on a plan to release an expanded edition of the Pink Floyd Animals record. The musician noted that the new edition will contain new stereo and 5.1 mixes.
