Roger Waters

A founding member of the legendary British rock band Pink Floyd, Roger Waters was its primary songwriter for most of its four-decade existence, penning such enduring material as the Dark Side of the Moon (1973) and The Wall (1979), as well as such songs as "Wish You Were Here" (with guitarist David Gilmour), "Money" and "Another Brick in the Wall." Waters assumed control of the band in the late 1960s, following the departure of its founding member, the brilliant but troubled Syd Barrett. Under his aegis, Pink Floyd transformed from a psychedelic/improvisational unit to one of the most successful progressive rock acts of the '70s, with a reputation for massive, elaborate live shows. Waters anchored the band around a series of concept albums, penned largely by him, which addressed themes of loneliness, alienation and entropy, inspired in part by his own troubled childhood. But his exacting control over the band's sound and focus sharply divided its members, resulting in Waters' departure in 1985. He would enjoy a moderately successful solo career during the 1980s before revisiting his best work with Pink Floyd in concert throughout the 1990s, while his long-standing feud with his former bandmates appeared to end with a 2005 reunion. Though his history with Pink Floyd was often marked by contention, there was no question that Waters was the primary architect of the band's greatest work during its most accomplished period in the 1970s.