Why Roger Waters Wasn't on 'The Endless River' (And If He Was Asked)

David Gilmour never asked Roger Waters to contribute to The Endless River. The album was built around keyboard parts Rick Wright recorded during the 1993–94 Division Bell sessions, and Gilmour has said it was intended as a farewell tribute to Wright, who died in 2008. Waters wasn’t part of that era—he’d left Pink Floyd in 1985—and Gilmour felt no need to bring in someone who had no connection to those original tapes.

Waters has confirmed he wasn’t contacted. He told Rolling Stone in 2014 that he heard about the album through the press, and that he wouldn’t have participated anyway. For Gilmour, the project was about closing the circle with Wright, not reopening old battles.