Roger Waters: happy birthday Mr. Floyd

Roger Waters, 6 September 1943,  co-founder  of Pink Floyd with Nick Mason, Rick Wright and   Syd Barrett, turns 75.

Waters, initially served as the group's bassist, but following the departure of Barrett in 1968, Withe the upcoming David Gilmour, he also became their lyricist, conceptual leader and co-lead vocalist. Waters had the 9th widest vocal range on a list of over 150 contemporary Rock & Pop singers, with a total range of B1-C7, with the magazine commenting "He's not a tenor, he's a mutation."

Waters became well-known for being an intense perfectionist and his controlling nature alienated the rest of the band. "The Final Cut", released in 1983, was essentially a Roger Waters solo album "performed by Pink Floyd" as the credits stated. This would be the group's last album together. David Gilmour decided to carry

on with Pink Floyd, without Waters. Waters, believing that Pink Floyd was a "non-entity" without him, sued the rest of the band to retire the Pink Floyd name. His lawsuit ultimately failed, and Pink Floyd released two more studio albums (each followed by a double live album) without him. In 2014 Pink Floyd released another studio album - the endless river - based on the recordings of the album the

Waters asserted a heavy degree of creative control for 1973's Dark Side of the Moon, penning all the lyrics, creating the concept, and receiving music writing credits on all but three of the songs.

Dark Side turned out to be the pivotal album in Pink Floyd's career, an instant hit that turned into an enduring blockbuster. Two years later, the band delivered Wish You Were Here -- a concept loosely based on the departed Barrett -- and the dystopian Animals followed in 1977. During the supporting tour for Animals, Waters felt himself retreating from his audience, and he used this as an inspiration for writing the semi-autobiographical rock opera The Wall.

AT Live 8  Pink Floyd were restricted, like all of the other artists performing at Live 8, to a short, 20-minute set. Even a reunion 24 years in the making was only a mere portion of the larger production. So the band settled on four songs: “Breathe” and “Money” from 1973’s The Dark Side of the Moon, “Wish You Were Here” from the 1975 album of the same name and “Comfortably Numb” from 1979’s The Wall, Pink Floyd’s penultimate recording with Waters. They left aside music from the two Gilmour-led Pink Floyd albums that followed the acrimonious split.