Roger Waters Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Over the two-plus decades from 1999-2022, 58 acts have headlined the Coachella Music and Arts Festival (59 if you count Tupac’s hologram).

Roger Waters has said he will play in Frankfurt despite a planned performance there being cancelled over claims of anti-Semitism.The former Pink Floyd frontman was supposed to play at the publicly owned Festhalle on May 28, but the council called off the performance over the musician’s views on Israel. They later described him as “one of the world’s most widely-known anti-Semites”.According to Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the cancellation notice cited Waters’ boycott of Israel – also known as the BDS campaign – as well as the musician’s talks with Hamas-affiliated media, comparisons of Israel to apartheid South Africa and what many see as anti-Semitic imagery at shows.It also referenced the sensitivity surrounding the venue, which was used as a detention centre for some 3000 Jewish people who were then deported to concentration camps in 1938.Now, however, Waters has suggested he’s “coming anyway” despite the cancellation.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor While an official announcement is not expected until later in the week, multiple sources tell Variety that Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Ozzy Osbourne, AC/DC, Tool and Iron Maiden headline a new festival called Power Trip from Coachella founders Goldenvoice. The sources say the festival will take place at Coachella’s home base, Empire Polo Field in Indio, Calif., in October. The news was previously reported by Hits, Desert Sun and the music blog the Scenestar, and a remarkably unsubtle teaser campaign apparently from the organizers. Despite the Coachella connection, the festival is more like a hard rock version of Goldenvoice’s 2016 Desert Trip festival, which featured a classic-rock dream team of Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, the Who and Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters.

Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason has shared his thoughts on Roger Waters’ re-recording of ‘Dark Side Of The Moon’ – hailing it as “absolutely brilliant”.Waters announced that he would be re-recording the iconic Pink Floyd LP without his former bandmates earlier this year. The original release – which first debuted in 1973 – is lauded as one of the greatest records of all time, and celebrates its 50th anniversary this month.Now, drummer Nick Mason has shared his opinion on his bandmate’s upcoming release, and confirmed that he has already heard snippets of the project.“I heard the rumour that Roger was working on his own version of it,” he said when speaking at a playback of ‘The Dark Side Of The Moon’, at London’s Dolby Atmos Immersive Studio.

Roger Waters from performing in Frankfurt, Germany.The former Pink Floyd member was set to perform in the city on May 28 as part of his This Is Not A Drill tour – however the show was pulled by the officials at Frankfurt City Council following accusations of anti-Semitism.Now, famous faces including Eric Clapton, Rage Against The Machine‘s Tom Morello and Pink Floyd’s own Nick Mason have rallied behind Waters, and backed a Change.org petition aiming to have the decision overturned.Brian Eno, Peter Gabriel and Soft Machine founder Robert Wyatt have also shown their solidarity, as well as actors Susan Sarandon and Julie Christie, and film director Ken Loach. Currently, the petition has more than 10,000 signatures.“Waters’ criticism of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians is part of his long-term advocacy on behalf of human rights across the globe,” reads the description alongside the petition.

Roger Waters may take legal action against the motion to cancel upcoming performances in Germany – something which he believes to be “unjustifiable” and an attempt to “silence him”.The news follows an announcement last month, in which the German government decided to halt one of the songwriter’s upcoming shows, following allegations of anti-Semitism.

Roger Waters has released the first snippet of music from his upcoming rework of Pink Floyd‘s seminal album ‘The Dark Side Of The Moon’, which marked its 50th anniversary on March 1.Waters has shared a 52-second clip on YouTube, showing him listening to the first verse of a reworked ‘Us and Them’ in the studio. Waters accompanied the clip with a lengthy statement in its description, acknowledging, “it’s not a replacement for the original which, obviously, is irreplaceable”.Watch the clip below.He continued: “But it is a way for the seventy nine year old man to look back across the intervening fifty years into the eyes of the twenty nine year old and say, to quote a poem of mine about my Father, “We did our best, we kept his trust, our Dad would have been proud of us”.

Rogers Waters show in Frankfurt, Germany has been cancelled after the city council described the Pink Floyd musician as “one of the world’s most widely-known antisemites”.The gig was due to be held on May 28 at Festhalle in Frankfurt, a publicly owned venue. However the municipal government announced that the gig would be cancelled over the musician’s views on Israel.According to Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the cancellation notice cited Waters’ boycott of Israel – also known as the BDS campaign – talks with Hamas-affiliated media, comparisons of Israel to apartheid South Africa and anti-semitic imagery at shows.It also referenced the sensitivity surrounding the venue, which was used as a detention centre for some 3000 Jewish people before being deported to concentration camps in 1938.Waters has not yet officially commented on the cancellation, but he re-shared a TikTok video of US-Palestinian journalist Ramzy Baroud who defended the musician as an “anti-racist”.“Thanks Ramzy! You tell’em my brother,” Waters said, with three Palestinian flag emojis and a dove.

Roger Waters has criticised a “grubby little” article that insinuated that he didn’t like the music of his former Pink Floyd bandmate David Gilmour.In a new piece by Stuart Maconie in The New Statesman titled ‘The war within Pink Floyd’, the author referenced Waters’ current project of re-recording the band’s iconic album ‘The Dark Side Of The Moon’.The article discussed the process, saying: “Parts of this will involve him removing, as quote in Spain’s El Pais newspaper, Gilmour’s ‘horrible guitar solos.'”In a Facebook post Waters took exception to the quote, calling the story “the usual, shit stirring, ill informed nonsense” and criticising what he called the “unearned condescending authority” of the piece.He wrote: “There is a crappy article in The New Statesman, written, if you can call it writing, by a chap called Stuart Maconie. It’s the usual, shit stirring, ill informed nonsense.“However, there is, in the article, something upon which I need to set the record straight.

Syd Barrett is to be the subject of a new documentary titled Have You Got It Yet? The Story of Syd Barrett And Pink Floyd.According to Deadline, the upcoming film was co-directed by Roddy Bogawa and the late graphic designer Storm Thorgerson. The latter was the co-founder of Hipgnosis, the London-based firm that specialised in creating album cover art for rock acts.The company made the iconic artwork for Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side Of The Moon’ (1973), ‘Wish You Were Here’ (1975) and more.

Pink Floyd‘s Roger Waters says he “couldn’t care less about AC/DC or Eddie Van Halen” in an explosive new interview with Joe Rogan.Waters, who has recently been criticised for comments about Russia’s war on Ukraine among other topics, sat down for a three-hour conversation on The Joe Rogan Experience, where he detailed some of his musical hates.“[I’m] not really interested in loud rock ‘n’ roll — which some people are and they love it, but I couldn’t care less about AC/DC or Eddie Van Halen or any of that stuff,” he told Rogan.“It’s just, who? I don’t go, ‘Who?’ because obviously I know the name. And I’m sure Eddie’s brilliant and a great guitar player and wonderful.

Roger Waters has shared his belief that he is on a “kill list” of enemies of Ukraine, as well as dismissing evidence of Russian forces’ alleged war crimes in the country as “propaganda”.Speaking to Rolling Stone in an interview published today (October 4), the former Pink Floyd frontman and co-founder said that, “as a taxpayer in the United States,” America was “the most evil of all [countries] by a factor of at least 10 times”, adding: “We kill more people. We interfere in more people’s elections.

Russo-Ukraine war. The 79-year-old English rocker dropped the bombshell conspiracy theory during a recent interview with Rolling Stone.“Don’t forget, I’m on a kill list that is supported by the Ukrainian government,” declared Waters, who has repeatedly blamed Ukraine and the West for instigating the conflict.

Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters had his tour dates in Poland cancelled amid outrage over his stance on Russia’s war against Ukraine, according to Polish media and statements from the artist.

Roger Waters has shared an open letter to Russian president Vladimir Putin, urging him to commit to a ceasefire and diplomatic settlement to end the Russia-Ukraine war.In a statement shared on social media, Waters pointed out that he was spurred to write Putin after seeing comments on his letters to Ukraine’s first lady Olena Zelenska, asking why he had only addressed one side of the conflict.The former Pink Floyd bassist has claimed that in the months since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, he has “tried to use [his] small influence to encourage a ceasefire and a diplomatic settlement that addresses the security needs of both Ukraine and The Russian Federation”.Addressing Putin directly, Waters asked: “Would you like to see an end to this war? If you were to reply and say, ‘Yes please.’ That would immediately make things a lot easier. If you were to come out and say, ‘Also the Russian Federation has no further territorial interest beyond the security of the Russian speaking populations of The Crimea, Donetsk and Lubansk [sic].’ That would help too.”Waters went on to address the notion that Putin and his forces “want to overrun the whole of Europe, starting with Poland and the rest of the Baltic states”.

A concert venue in Kraków, Poland has canceled two upcoming shows by onetime Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters following recent comments the singer-songwriter made about the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters has canceled upcoming concerts in Poland over backlash prompted by his beliefs about Russia's war against Ukraine, which he attributes to "extreme nationalists" in Ukraine. Waters was initially planning to perform two concerts at the Tauron Arena in Krakowin in April, but an arena official confirmed the events have been scrapped. "Roger Waters’ manager decided to withdraw ...

Roger Waters has denied reports that he’d cancelled the two Polish dates of his 2023 world tour, instead accusing a councillor in Krakow – the city he’s slated to perform in next April – of attempting to censor the former Pink Floyd leader.Waters is due to perform at Krakow’s Tauron Arena on Friday April 21 and Saturday 22. The dates have been removed from Waters’ website, however, with a report from The Guardian claiming they were cancelled over backlash he’d received after making incendiary comments on the Russia-Ukraine war.In the report, it was said that Lukasz Pytko, a representative for the Tauron Arena, claimed Waters’ management “decided to withdraw [from their scheduled booking] without giving any reason”.

Roger Waters has announced new UK dates for his ‘This Is Not A Drill’ farewell tour – see full details below.The former Pink Floyd frontman is currently on the US leg of the farewell tour, with 2023 dares in Europe announced last week.Now, he has confirmed that he will bring the farewell tour to the UK next year for three shows.The gigs begin in Birmingham on May 31 at the Utilita Arena, before he plays Glasgow’s OVO Hydro on June 2 and London’s The O2 on June 6.“This Is Not A Drill is a groundbreaking new rock and roll/cinematic extravaganza, performed in the round, it is a stunning indictment of the corporate dystopia in which we all struggle to survive, and a call to action to Love, Protect and Share our precious and precarious planet home,” Waters said in a statement.“The show includes a dozen great songs from Pink Floyd’s Golden Era alongside several new ones, words and music, same writer, same heart, same soul, the same man. Could be his last hurrah.

Roger Waters has announced the European dates for his ‘This Is Not A Drill Tour’.The former Pink Floyd frontman kicks off the European leg of his tour in 2023 in Lisbon, Portugal on March 17.Other confirmed cities on what he has been teasing as his “first farewell tour” include Barcelona, Madrid, Milan and Krakow. The European tour finishes up in Prague on May 24.Waters is currently playing shows in the US, continuing the ‘This Is Not A Drill’ tour tomorrow (September 17) in Tacoma, Washington and finishing in Mexico City on October 15.

Roger Waters has penned an open letter to Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, suggesting she persuade her husband to work toward a ceasefire with Russia and “stop the slaughter”.The letter from the former Pink Floyd member comes by way of response to Zelenska’s interview on the BBC program Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, which aired on Sunday (September 4.)In it, Zelenska was asked what message she had for British people regarding the rise in energy bills that has come in part due to the current war between Ukraine and Russia.Zelenska said: “People must understand [rising energy costs] are not coming through the West’s support to Ukraine. The prices are going up in Ukraine as well.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic When Mary McCartney was approached by producer John Battsek (“Searching for Sugar Man,” “One Day in September”) to make a film about the legendary Abbey Road Studios in London, she didn’t immediately leap at the chance, the way almost any other photographer interested in making the leap into documentary filmmaking might have. It’s not difficult to guess at the reason she might have balked at, and then succumbed to, the idea of making “If These Walls Could Sing,” which premiered at the Telluride Film Festival over the weekend and has been picked up for airing on Disney+. “I think because of my surname, I get a little bit oversensitive,” says the daughter of Paul McCartney, sitting at a sidewalk-adjacent table in Telluride. “I used to sort of shy away from anything to do with my family, wanting with my photography to be making a name for myself in my own area. I mean, I’ve always been really proud of my family, but then recently I’ve realized (I should) actually not shy away from it because I feel like I’m being judged. …. Before, I was like, my family’s my family and my career’s my career, and now I’m at the point where I’m confident enough to merge the two.”

If you’re a fan of a particular era of British rock ’n’ roll, this is the right year to be at the Telluride Film Festival. The festival’s opening day brought onetime photographer Anton Corbijn’s “Squaring the Circle,” which looked at the rock design company Hipgnosis through memories from Paul McCartney, Jimmy Page, Roger Waters, Noah Gallagher and many others.

CNN, former Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters offered a defence for his labelling of US President Joe Biden as a war criminal.Waters is currently on tour across North America with his latest stage show, ‘This Is Not A Drill’, having played 15 dates in the region since early July. For the show, Waters’ stage is lined with giant screens, which at one point, display a slideshow of people that Waters has branded as “war criminals”.Biden is shown among the cohort – right after his predecessor, Donald Trump – with a label asserting to concertgoers that the current US President is “just getting started”.Speaking with CNN’s Michael Smerconish (who notes that he’s a fan of Waters’ music, but disagrees with him on some of his political viewpoints), Waters was asked why he considers Biden to be a fit for the inflammatory slideshow.“Well, he’s fuelling the fire in the Ukraine, for a start – that is a huge crime,” the artist answered, rhetorically posing to Smerconish: “Why won’t the United States of America encourage [Volodymyr] Zelenskyy, the [Ukrainian] president, to negotiate, obviating the need for this horrific, horrendous war that’s killing… We don’t know how many Russians.”Smerconish responds by telling Waters that he’s “got it reversed”, and that the artist is erroneously “blaming the party that got invaded”.

Shakira and her lawyers recently declined to reach an agreement with the Spanish Tax Agency. The Spanish government is accusing her of tax fraud of 14,5 million euros.

Pink Floyd‘s Roger Waters has hit out at The Weeknd and Drake, saying that he is “far, far, far more important than any of them will ever be”.In a recent interview with Toronto’s The Globe and Mail, Waters asked the interviewer why his recent shows in the Canadian city weren’t reviewed by the publication or any others in the area.He was then told that The Weeknd was set to open his ‘After Hours ‘Til Dawn’ tour in Toronto on the same night (the show ended up being cancelled due to power outages in the region).Waters then responded: “I have no idea what or who the Weeknd is, because I don’t listen to much music. People have told me he’s a big act.

Disturbed guitarist Dan Donegan has given one of his instruments a custom makeover, emblazoning the words “Fuck Cancel Culture” in the style of the Coca-Cola logo on his guitar.Disturbed frontman David Draiman shared an image of the guitar on his Twitter account yesterday (July 7), saying he “couldn’t be more proud” of his bandmate. He continued: “Because I believe in freedom of speech and expression, even from those I disagree with.”Predictably, the post has attracted mixed responses.

Pink Floyd will release a remastered version of their 10th studio album, 1977’s ‘Animals’, this September.Dubbed the ‘2018 Remix’ edition of ‘Animals’, the album will land on September 16 via Sony. The physical release will include both standard CD and SACD formats, 12-inch vinyl and Blu-Ray.

Roger Waters was the musical guest on last night’s (June 21) episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert – watch him perform a medley of songs below.The former Pink Floyd frontman appeared on the show backed by a full band, a pianist and some backing singers. The medley included ‘The Happiest Days Of Our Lives’, ‘Another Brick In The Wall, Part 2’ and ‘Another Brick In The Wall, Part 3’ from Pink Floyd’s 1979 album ‘The Wall’.The performance comes ahead of his ‘This Is Not A Drill’ tour, which was originally set to begin in 2020 but was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.“This Is Not A Drill is a groundbreaking new rock & roll/cinematic extravaganza, performed in the round,” Waters wrote in a statement (via Rolling Stone).

Bloomberg reported, adding that reps for the band have reached out to potential buyers. The report said the process began in early May but it’s too early to know what the outcome of the talks will be.