Roger Waters and David Gilmour disagree on plenty. One “brilliant” songwriter has always united them

Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters and David Gilmour often clashed over the band’s creative direction, but both have named Leonard Cohen as a major influence. Their shared admiration highlights Cohen’s reach across contrasting musical styles and his impact on how they approached songwriting.

Gilmour praised Cohen’s guitar playing and called him one of the best lyricists he knew, after covering three of his songs in a pandemic livestream. Waters said Cohen and Bob Dylan helped open a path between poetry and song lyrics, and singled out “Bird on the Wire” as one of his favourite songs.