Why Did Roger Waters Leave Pink Floyd in 1985? The Lawsuit That Followed

Roger Waters figured Pink Floyd was done after The Final Cut (1983). He saw the band as creatively exhausted — that album had been a Waters-dominated project anyway, and the tension with David Gilmour was unbearable. So in 1985, Waters declared Pink Floyd dead and told the record company he was leaving.

The other members, especially Gilmour and Nick Mason, didn’t agree. They wanted to keep making music under the Pink Floyd name. Waters responded by filing a lawsuit in the High Court to dissolve the partnership and block them from using the name. His argument: Pink Floyd was his concept, and without him it was a fraud.

The judge disagreed. He ruled that the name “Pink Floyd” had commercial value built by all members, not just Waters. An out-of-court settlement gave Waters the rights to The Wall and The Final Cut visuals, while Gilmour and Mason kept the band name and its trademark. Waters lost control, but he got a hefty payout — and years later admitted the fight was more about ego than principle.