(Credits: Far Out / Alamy)
Mon 15 September 2025 15:15, UK
It’s time that everyone comes to grips with one universal truth: There was a band named Pink Floyd once upon a time.
They managed to reinvent prog and show people the limits of what rock and roll could be, but given the state of David Gilmour and Roger Waters’s relationship, there’s no reason to think that they would ever try to kiss and make up. And while Waters did leave the door open for a little bit, he was at peace knowing that he had closed that chapter of his life properly.
Granted, getting all four of the classic members together on one stage felt like a pipe dream by the time Waters had left. He had already dropped Richard Wright from the group altogether, and while they were eventually able to bury the hatchet after years apart, there would have to be more than pig balloons flying before Gilmour felt that it was time to let Waters back into the studio for another record.
And it didn’t help when Waters proceeded to badmouth a lot of what Gilmour was doing. He already lambasted both Floyd records that he wasn’t a part of, and since he had put on an entire performance of The Wall with a star-studded cast of musicians, it was clear that he was content with moving on with his life.
But even if everyone in the group was happy, the fans were bound to feel cheated. There was no opportunity for them to say goodbye to their favourite group, and while ‘High Hopes’ did put a fine bow on their mainline discography, it wasn’t going to be the same unless they had the original lineup back together. Getting Syd Barrett back was never going to happen, but if Bob Geldof could get Gilmour and Waters in the same venue for Live Aid in the 1980s, he knew he could probably do something similar for Live 8 in the 2000s.
Geldof was already a good friend of both Waters and Gilmour, and even if the guitarist was most hesitant to the idea, it was a much easier sell for him to play a couple of songs than to make an entire reunion tour. All that they would need is a few minutes onstage, and when all four of them managed to step out and sound great together playing tunes like ‘Comfortably Numb’, it felt like all that ice seemed to melt away for a few seconds.
While Waters admitted to having a blast that day, he was also quick to say that any chance of a reunion was probably never going to happen again, saying, “David didn’t want to do anything at all. Pink Floyd is David Gilmour and Nick Mason. The two of them own the name. I know that after Live 8, David definitely didn’t want to do anything. And that’s fine, it’s okay, not a problem. I’d be happy to do something. But I think it’s extremely unlikely. I don’t think David is even faintly interested in doing [anything].”
And, really, the entire aura of Pink Floyd would be snuffed out when Wright passed away later that decade. He may not have been as integral to the songwriting or anything, but listening to his work on every one of their best records, Wright’s was the key to their sound. People like Jon Carin do a serviceable job taking over for him on Gilmour’s solo tours, but it’s never going to be the same without Wright and Gilmour harmonising together like they used to do on ‘Echoes’ back in the day.
Any Pink Floyd reunion from here on out would only be wishful thinking, and since Waters and Gilmour have only grown colder over the years, there’s a good chance that they will keep those resentments going for the rest of their lives. But if there’s one silver lining to all of this, it’s that we happen to live in a world where the four members were able to lay down their arms for a moment and embrace arm-in-arm with each other during that final curtain call at Live 8.
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