Back in 2015, David Gilmour and Nick Mason reconvened for the release of Pink Floyd’s first new album in 20 years, The Endless River. In a subsequent interview, Gilmour said the project was the band’s final hurrah, explaining, “I’ve had 48 years in Pink Floyd – it has run its course, we are done – and it would be fakery to go back and do it again.”
Mason and Roger Waters are singing a different tune, however. This week, the duo made a rare public appearance at an event promoting Pink Floyd’s new exhibit at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Asked if they would consider reuniting the band for a one-off gig such as Glastonbury, both Mason and Waters were genuinely into the idea, as The Telegraph notes.
“It would be nice to add it to the list of things. I’ve never played Glastonbury. It would be fun to do it,” Mason said. Added Waters, “I did Glastonbury once. I think. It was really cold,” he said. “But there were a lot of people and it seemed very jolly and I liked it. Yeah, I would do it again.”
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There is of course one major obstacle from such an event coming to fruition, and his name is David Gilmour. In announcing Pink Floyd’s disbandment in 2015, the guitarist explained, “I’ve had 48 years in Pink Floyd – quite a few of those years at the beginning, with Roger [Waters]. And those years in what is now considered to be our heyday were 95% musically fulfilling and joyous and full of fun and laughter. I certainly don’t want to let the other 5% colour my view of what was a long and fantastic time together.
There’s also the issue of Gilmour’s relationship with Waters (or lack thereof). Though the two have twice reunited onstage since 2000, Waters was noticeably absent from The Endless River. In a 2015 interview, Gilmour said of Waters, “Roger and I don’t particularly get along. We still talk. It’s better than it has been. But it wouldn’t work. People change. Roger and I have outgrown each other, and it would be impossible for us to work together on any realistic basis.”
Despite his and Waters’ willingness, Mason admitted such a reunion was unlikely. “The last I heard, David had retired,” Waters noted. “I heard he retired, then he seemed to unretire,” added Mason.
Either way, Waters is plenty busy with his own projects, as he’s set to embark on a lengthy tour in support of his first solo album in 25 years.
