David Gilmour claims that sustaining Pink Floyd without Roger Waters was to ‘prove’ one thing

Though lyricist Roger Waters quit Pink Floyd in 1985, the band remained active for nearly a decade.

David Gilmour, who replaced Waters as frontman, has recently revealed why he kept the Wish You Were Here band intact. The guitarist has later revealed that one of the reasons for keeping Pink Floyd alive was to “prove” something. Pink Floyd would record two albums without Waters, A Momentary Lapse of Reason and The Division Bell, before Gilmour disbanded the band. They’ve only performed once since then, alongside Waters at Live 8. The Endless River is the title of the group’s final album, which was published in 2014. Gilmour was questioned why the band continued to exist without Waters, who left two years after the band published The Final Cut.

In an interview with Q Magazine in 1990, Gilmour acknowledged that one of the reasons he kept the band together was to prove he could still perform without Waters. He was asked the following question: “Was part of the motivation to come back bigger and better to lay any doubt to rest that the new, Roger-less Floyd was but a shadow of the past?”

The legendary guitarist said, “Exactly. That’s why we decided to make a solid album, put on a spectacular show, and embark on a year-long tour. We wanted to make it clear that we were still in business and’meant’ business, and no one was going to stop us. I am confident that our tour paved the path for many others.

“Our mentality of getting it perfect with the best PA and lighting system has influenced many other people, including The Who and the Rolling Stones. There is a current trend of individuals not going out as haphazardly as they used to. They organize it like a military campaign and think large; if you spend a lot of money, you’ll make a lot of money–and have a lot more fun.”

Waters departed the band following the “absolute misery” of recording The Final Cut, believing Pink Floyd had accomplished everything it could as a group.

He explained, “We were all fighting like cats and dogs. We had finally realized, or accepted, if you will, that there was no band. It was really pressed upon us that we were not a band and had not been in agreement for a long time.

“Not since 1975, when we recorded Wish You Were Here. Even yet, there were significant differences on material and how to put the album together.

“But making The Final Cut was agony. We did not work together at all. I had to execute it mostly on my own, with Michael Kamen as a co-producer. That is one of the few things the ‘guys’ and I agreed on. But nobody else would do anything about it.”