Why Pink Floyd Brought in Roy Harper to Sing 'Have a Cigar' — and How It Nails the Music Industry’s Empty Hype

The song is a full-blown satire of the record business — a sleazy executive offers the band a cigar and empty promises, treating them like interchangeable products. The narrator can’t even remember the band’s name, but he’s happy to cash in. That cynical, hollow tone needed a voice that didn’t sound like one of the band members. David Gilmour and Roger Waters both tried singing it, but they felt too invested, too close to the target. They wanted a performance that sounded like an outsider — someone who might actually be that executive.

Enter Roy Harper, a folk singer and friend of the band. His raspy, almost unhinged delivery gave the song a sleazy, used-car-salesman energy that Gilmour and Waters couldn’t replicate. Harper later said he just sang it straight, but the slight grit in his voice makes the handshake feel less sincere. It’s one of the few Pink Floyd songs with a guest lead vocalist, and it works because the singer becomes the very character the song is mocking. The band got the distance they needed, and the critique landed harder.