The 1993 London Meeting Where Roger Waters Proposed a Pink Floyd Reunion

In early 1993, Roger Waters, David Gilmour, and Nick Mason met at a hotel in London — the first real conversation between Waters and the band since his 1985 departure. Waters pitched an idea for a Pink Floyd reunion tour, but his conditions were steep: he wanted equal billing and a full share of the profits, plus control over the setlist and stage design. Gilmour, who had just finished the Division Bell sessions with Mason and Rick Wright, wasn’t interested in going backward. He felt the band was in a good creative place and didn’t want to rehash old wounds for a cash grab.

The meeting fell apart because neither side budged. Waters saw the reunion as a way to reclaim his legacy; Gilmour saw it as an unnecessary detour. Nick Mason later wrote in his memoir that the meeting was “brief and uncomfortable” and that he left thinking there was “no chance” of a reconciliation. A few months later, Pink Floyd released The Division Bell without Waters, and the dream of a full reunion faded for another twelve years — until Live 8 finally put them on the same stage.