Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour Says He Won’t Perform With Roger Waters

David Gilmour has shut down any suggestions that he and his former Pink Floyd bandmate will perform together again.

In a new interview with The Guardian, Gilmour declared he would “absolutely not” perform with Waters ever again. Gilmour has previously stated as much, citing Waters’ political beliefs and controversial comments about Israel, Ukraine and the United States.

“I tend to steer clear of people who actively support genocidal and autocratic dictators like [president of Russia Vladimir] Putin and  [president of Venezuela Nicolás] Maduro,” Gilmour told the publication. “Nothing would make me share a stage with someone who thinks such treatment of women and the LGBT community is OK. On the other hand, I’d love to be back on stage with [late Pink Floyd keyboardist] Rick Wright, who was one of the gentlest and most musically gifted people I’ve ever known.”

Among many other provocative statements, Waters has compared Israel to Nazi Germany and said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was “not unprovoked.” Gilmour’s wife, writer Polly Samson, crtized Waters on X, writing, “You are anti-Semitic to your rotten core.” Gilmour chimed in, agreeing with his wife, adding “Every word demonstrably true.” Waters refuted their comments as “incendiary and wildly inaccurate.”

BMG, a German-based music publishing company, also parted ways with Waters due to his political comments. Waters was scheduled to release a newly recorded version of Pink Floyd’s epochal 1973 album “Dark Side of the Moon” last year, but Thomas Coesfeld exited the deal after becoming CEO of BMG in July of last year. The album ultimately came out through U.K.-based Cooking Vinyl. 

Waters’ comments also played a part in the delay of Pink Floyd’s multi-million dollar deal with Sony Music. The company bought the rights to the band’s recorded-music and name-and-likeness for approximately $400 million.