Roger Waters

Roger Waters Bassist, founding member
Background information
Born	September 6, 1943
Birthplace	Great Bookham, Surrey, England
Occupations	Songwriter • musician • singer
Years active	1964 - present
Spouses	Judith Trim Carolyne Christie Priscilla Phillips Laurie Durning Kamilah Chavis
Children	Harry Waters India Waters Jack Fletcher
Genres	Progressive rock • psychedelic rock • art rock • blues rock
Instruments	Vocals • bass • guitar
Labels	Capitol • Columbia • Sony • Harvest
Formerly of	Pink Floyd

George Roger Waters (born 6 September, 1943) is an English musician, singer-songwriter, and activist. He was the bassist for Pink Floyd from its formation in 1965 to his departure from the group in 1985. After former chief songwriter Syd Barrett was ousted from the band due to mental health difficulties, Waters became the chief lyricist for the band and co-lead vocalist alongside guitarist David Gilmour. With time, he would grow to become Pink Floyd's lead songwriter and conceptual visionary, planning and directing all the band's concept albums from The Dark Side of the Moon in 1973 until his final record with the band, The Final Cut ten years later in 1983.

Since his departure from Pink Floyd, Waters has released four major solo albums and led a highly successful career as a touring musician, playing many tracks from both his tenure with Pink Floyd and his time as a solo artist. In 1990, to commemorate the teardown of the Berlin Wall, Waters staged The Wall - Live in Berlin to a live attendance of 450,000 people in one of the largest rock concerts ever performed. From 2010 to 2013, he toured The Wall Live; at the time of the tour's conclusion, it was the most commercially successful tour by a solo musician until the late 2010s.

Early years

Roger Waters was born on September 6, 1943, in Great Bookham, Surrey. Five months after Waters' birth, his father was killed during the Battle of Anzio in World War II, a subject that would later inspire much of his songwriting and lyrics. Such songs include "Free Four", "Us And Them", "Another Brick In The Wall (Part I)", "When The Tigers Broke Free" and the 1983 album "The Final Cut".

After his father's death, he moved to Cambridge with his mother, Mary Waters. Waters attended Morley Memorial Junior School with Syd Barrett and later both attended the Cambridgeshire High School for Boys. During this period, he would meet David Gilmour who lived in the same area and went to a nearby school. Later, he met Nick Mason and Richard Wright at the Regent Street Polytechnic School of Architecture.

Pink Floyd Era

See Pink Floyd.

Songs solely credited to Waters

• "Brain Damage"
• "Biding My Time"
• "Cirrus Minor"
• "Corporal Clegg"
• "The Crying Song"
• "Cymbaline"
• "Eclipse"
• "Free Four"
• "Grantchester Meadows"
• "Green is the Colour"
• "Have a Cigar"
• "If"
• "Julia Dream"
• "Let There Be More Light"
• "Money"
• "The Nile Song"
• "San Tropez"
• "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun"
• "Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict"
• "Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk"
• "Welcome to the Machine"
• All tracks from Animals except for "Dogs".
• All tracks from The Wall except for "Young Lust", "Comfortably Numb", "Run Like Hell", and "The Trial".
• All tracks from The Final Cut.

Discography

With Pink Floyd

• The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967)
• A Saucerful of Secrets (1968)
• More (1969)
• Ummagumma (1969)
• Atom Heart Mother (1970)
• Meddle (1971)
• Obscured by Clouds (1972)
• The Dark Side of the Moon (1973)
• Wish You Were Here (1975)
• Animals (1977)
• The Wall (1979)
• The Final Cut (1983)

Solo career

Studio albums

• The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking (1984)
• Radio K.A.O.S. (1987)
• Amused to Death (1992)
• Is This the Life We Really Want? (2017)
• Igor Stravinsky's The Soldier's Tale (2018)
• The Lockdown Sessions (2022)
• The Dark Side of the Moon Redux (2023)

Soundtracks

• Music from the Body (1970, with Ron Geesin)
• When the Wind Blows (1986)

Operas

• Ça Ira (2005)

Compilations

• Flickering Flame: The Solo Years Volume 1 (2002)

Live albums

• The Wall - Live in Berlin (1990)
• In the Flesh - Live (2000)
• Roger Waters: The Wall (2015)
• Roger Waters: Us + Them (2020)

Other albums

• Pros and Cons (The Interviews)

Video albums

• The Wall - Live in Berlin (1990)
• In the Flesh - Live (2000)
• Roger Waters: The Wall (2015)
• Roger Waters: Us + Them (2020)