After leaving Pink Floyd, Roger Waters called the band ‘rubbish nonsense’. Without him, they still sold 20,000,000 records
After Roger Waters left Pink Floyd following *The Final Cut*, he argued that the band had effectively ended and tried to stop David Gilmour from continuing under its name. Gilmour won the legal dispute and led the group through a new phase, showing that Pink Floyd could still attract a large audience without Waters.
Waters later dismissed the post-split albums as “rubbish”, calling *The Division Bell* “nonsense” and criticising *A Momentary Lapse of Reason* for its lyrics and concepts. Those records sold more than 20 million copies combined, while the article notes that both Waters and Gilmour had successes and shortcomings in their separate careers.
In short
- Waters said Pink Floyd was finished after *The Final Cut*.
- Gilmour won the right to continue using the band’s name.
- The post-Waters albums sold more than 20 million copies.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Waters had a strong artistic case for viewing Pink Floyd as inseparable from the creative direction he had helped shape, and he could reasonably object to the group continuing under a name he believed no longer represented that work. From this perspective, commercial success does not settle whether the later albums preserved the band’s artistic identity or quality.
The case against
Gilmour could argue that Pink Floyd was a shared musical project rather than the property of one departing member, and that the legal outcome allowed its remaining musicians to continue making work audiences valued. The post-split albums’ substantial sales support the view that the group retained a genuine audience and identity, even if Waters disliked the results.
Explained simply
Pink Floyd were a British rock band whose albums and elaborate live shows made them one of the best-known groups of their era. Roger Waters was a singer, bassist and major songwriter, while David Gilmour was the guitarist and another central member.
After Waters left, Gilmour continued the band with other musicians, and the two disputed whether Pink Floyd could carry on under its name. The group’s later albums, including A Momentary Lapse of Reason and The Division Bell, reached a large audience, while Waters pursued a solo career.