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The “protest” singer Roger Waters called “the best rock”
Roger Waters identified blues and folk musician Lead Belly as the source of what he considered rock and roll’s finest qualities. The article argues that this view reflects Waters’s belief that meaningful, socially conscious music matters more than conventional pop appeal, and links that outlook to his work with Pink Floyd.
Waters said his musical interests reached back to early 20th-century artists and the protest songs emerging from the blues, despite also admiring Elvis Presley. He argued that later artists, including Neil Young on Rust Never Sleeps, had not moved far from the traditions of Bessie Smith and Lead Belly; the article also notes Lead Belly’s influence on musicians such as Kurt Cobain.
In short
- Waters saw Lead Belly as central to rock’s strongest tradition.
- He valued protest songs rooted in the blues.
- He linked later rock back to early blues artists.
Explained simply
Roger Waters, the musician behind the influential rock band Pink Floyd, has long been interested in the historical roots of rock music. He traces rock and roll's finest qualities back to early protest traditions within blues and folk music, rather than viewing the genre as something that began with later commercial artists.
Lead Belly was an African American blues musician from the early 20th century whose songs addressed social hardship and injustice. His work would prove influential on numerous later artists, from folk musicians to modern rock figures like Kurt Cobain and Neil Young, who similarly used their music to engage with social and political themes.
Waters's position reflects a particular understanding of what rock music can and should do. Rather than seeing it primarily as entertainment, he considers the most significant rock music to be that which carries forward the tradition of socially conscious songwriting established by earlier blues and folk artists.