Pink Floyd icon, David Gilmour, has given his three-word verdict on whether the legendary ’70s rock band would ever reunite. David, 79, and his wife, Polly Samson, 63, spoke about their 31-year marriage, photography and Pink Floyd. However, despite Oasis’ odds-defying reunion last year and subsequent tour, it seems that Pink Floyd fans won’t be seeing the band reunite any time soon. During an interview with The Telegraph, the guitarist was asked on whether he could rectify his long-standing feud with his bandmate, Roger Waters, and reunite the group, to which he affirmed there was “no possible way” that could happen.
Roger Waters, 82, and David Gilmour were two of the creative forces driving Pink Floyd. However, the two have famously feuded since Roger left Pink Floyd in 1985. And, despite reuniting temporarily in 2008, according to David, there is no chance at a reunion: “There is no possible way that I would do that,” he told The Telegraph.
Roger Waters and David Gilmour’s feud
The band behind one of rock’s most seminal records, Dark Side of the Moon, is no stranger to the same kinds of feuds that plague many other acts. David Gilmour and Roger Waters’ decades-long dispute kicked off after the obliterating commercial success of their 1973 record The Dark Side of the Moon. The band continued to release a string of generation-defining records, including The Wall, Wish You Were Here and Animals.
However, by 1985, Roger and David’s ongoing creative disagreements saw Roger quit the band to pursue a solo career. During this time, Roger attempted to formally dissolve Pink Floyd, a move that was rejected by the High Court. From then until Pink Floyd’s one-off reunion in 2005, Dave and Roger’s feud remained largely private until almost a decade later.
In a 2018 interview with Rolling Stone, Pink Floyd’s drummer Nick Mason commented on the feud, saying: “It’s a really odd thing in my opinion. But I think the problem is Roger doesn’t really respect David. He feels that writing is everything and that guitar playing and the singing are something that, I won’t say anyone can do, but that everything should be judged on the writing rather than the playing. I think it rankles with Roger that he made a sort of error in a way – that he left the band assuming that, without him, it would fold.”
© RedfernsThe feud was once again reignited publicly in 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, when Roger criticised Dave and Nick’s decision to release a protest song with Ukrainian musician Andrij Chlywnjuk. “Pink Floyd is a name I used to be associated with. That was a huge time in my life, a very big deal. To associate that name now with something like this … proxy war makes me sad. I mean, they haven’t made the point of demanding, ‘Stop the war, stop the slaughter, bring our leaders together to talk!’ It’s just this content-less waving of the blue and yellow flag,” Roger wrote at the time.
© Getty ImagesDavid’s wife Polly Samson took to X (known as Twitter at the time) to respond, writing: “Sadly @rogerwaters you are anti-Semitic to your rotten core. Also a Putin apologist and a lying, thieving, hypocritical, tax-avoiding, lip-synching, misogynistic, sick-with-envy, megalomaniac. Enough of your nonsense.” Dave retweeted the statement adding, “Every word demonstrably true.”
© Getty ImagesWhen Polly was asked if her position on Roger had changed in the three years since she had posted her tweet, she replied saying: “No, no.” David echoed his wife’s sentiments, saying: “Exactly the same. Every word demonstrably true,” he repeated, referring to his own response to his former bandmate from 2022.
