| He and Syd Barrett attended the Morley Memorial | | | | the primary songwriter, composing both Animals |
| Junior School on Hills Road, Cambridge, and later | | | | and The Wall largely by himself (though continuing |
| both attended the Cambridge County School for | | | | to collaborate with Gilmour on music). He is the |
| Boys (now Hills Road Sixth Form College), while | | | | sole writer of Pink Floyd's two most successful |
| fellow band member David Gilmour attended The | | | | singles, "Money" and "Another Brick in the Wall, |
| Perse School on the same road [1]. He met Nick | | | | Part II". |
| Mason and Richard Wright while attending the | | | | While usually credited only as a bass guitarist and |
| Regent Street Polytechnic school of architecture. | | | | vocalist, Waters is also known to play electric |
| He was a keen sportsman and was fond of | | | | guitar (as he did on Animals, where he played |
| swimming in the River Cam at Grantchester | | | | rhythm guitar on tracks "Pigs (Three Different |
| Meadows. At 15 he was chair of YCND in | | | | Ones)" and "Sheep") as well as add synthesizer |
| Cambridge. | | | | and tape effects to earlier works. He also plays |
| In 1965, Roger Waters founded Pink Floyd (after | | | | acoustic guitar frequently during his live tours, |
| many different incarnations - see Pink Floyd) along | | | | mostly on tracks from The Final Cut. |
| with Syd Barrett, Richard Wright and Nick Mason. | | | | Waters' band-mates were happy to allow him to |
| Although Barrett initially did most of the | | | | write the band's lyrics and guide its conceptual |
| songwriting for the band, Waters wrote the song | | | | direction while they shared the opportunity to |
| "Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk" on their | | | | contribute musical ideas (Gilmour described |
| debut LP, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. The | | | | Waters as "a very good motivator and obviously |
| album was a critical success and positioned the | | | | a great lyricist,"[2] even at the height of the |
| band for stardom. Barrett's deteriorating mental | | | | acrimony between them in 1995). Some of the |
| health led to increasingly erratic behavior, | | | | band's most popular and beloved songs, including |
| rendering him unable to continue in his capacity as | | | | "Echoes", "Time", "Us and Them", "Wish You |
| Pink Floyd's lead singer and guitarist. Waters | | | | Were Here" and "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", |
| attempted to coerce his friend into psychiatric | | | | feature the strong synergy of Waters' sharp |
| treatment; this proved unhelpful, and the band | | | | lyrical instincts combined with the melodic talent of |
| approached David Gilmour to replace Barrett at | | | | Gilmour, the soft, precise drumming of Nick |
| the end of 1967. Even the band's former | | | | Mason, and atmospheric patterns of keyboardist |
| managers felt that Pink Floyd would not be able | | | | Richard Wright ("Us and Them", for instance, |
| to sustain its initial success without the talented | | | | began as a sweetly melodic Wright keyboard |
| Barrett. Filling the void left by Barrett's departure, | | | | instrumental and gained poignancy when Waters |
| Waters began to chart Pink Floyd's new artistic | | | | added plaintive antiwar lyrics). Unfortunately, this |
| direction. The lineup with Gilmour and Waters | | | | give-and-take relationship began to dissolve: a |
| eventually brought Pink Floyd to prominence, | | | | consequence of the band's collective ennui, |
| producing a series of albums in the 1970s that | | | | according to Waters. Songwriting credits were a |
| remain among the most critically acclaimed and | | | | source of contention in these difficult years; |
| best-selling records of all time. | | | | Gilmour has noted that his contributions to tracks |
| An early picture of Roger Waters with Pink Floyd | | | | like "Another Brick In The Wall, Part II", with its |
| during the 1960sIn 1970, Waters collaborated with | | | | blistering guitar solo, were not always noted in the |
| British composer Ron Geesin (who co-wrote Pink | | | | album credits. Nick Mason addresses the band |
| Floyd's title suite from Atom Heart Mother) on a | | | | in-fighting in his memoir, Inside Out: A Personal |
| soundtrack album, Music from "The Body", which | | | | History of Pink Floyd, characterizing Waters as |
| consisted mostly of instrumentals interspersed | | | | being egomaniacal at times. It was while recording |
| with songs composed by Waters. Within Pink | | | | The Wall that Waters decided to fire Wright, |
| Floyd, Waters became the main lyrical contributor, | | | | after his personal problems began to affect the |
| exerting progressively more creative control over | | | | album production. Wright stayed with the band as |
| the band: he produced thematic ideas that | | | | a paid session musician while Waters led the band |
| became the impetus for concept albums such as | | | | through a complete performance of his opus on |
| The Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were | | | | every night of the brief tour that followed (for |
| Here, for which he wrote all of the lyrics and | | | | which Gilmour acted as musical director). |
| some of the music. After this, Waters became | | | | |