Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy recently shared his thoughts on Pink Floyd, declaring Roger Waters as the true heart of the band over David Gilmour. During the discussion, Portnoy explained why he believes Waters was the most important part of Pink Floyd, despite his controversial reputation in recent years.
When asked to choose between Roger Waters’ concepts and lyrics and David Gilmour’s sound and emotion to determine who is essential to what makes Pink Floyd, Portnoy shared his perspective.
“Roger,” Portnoy said. “Well, I could tell you because, for instance, in 1987, Pink Floyd puts out A Momentary Lapse of Reason and Roger Waters puts out Radio K.A.O.S. I saw both bands in ’87. I saw Roger do the Radio K.A.O.S. show, at which he’s playing Pink Floyd songs, and I saw Pink Floyd with Dave, Rick, and Nick all still in the band. And to me, the Waters show was the true Pink Floyd show.”
He then discussed the division of the band’s assets and creative rights following their split.
“David got the band name, and he got the flying pig, and he got the round screen, but beyond that, Roger got The Wall,” Portnoy continued. “Like, Pink Floyd was not allowed to go out and play The Wall in its entirety without Roger. In the divorce, Roger Waters got the right to The Wall. That’s why he was able to go out and do it on tour for the last couple of years that he did.”
Portnoy also admitted that while he supports Waters creatively, his feelings have become more complicated recently.
“I’m team Roger Waters,” he added. “Less and less to the last couple of years. He’s becoming difficult to like the last few years. Beyond that, creatively, my favorite albums were The Wall and Animals and Roger’s solo albums, whereas the stuff when Gilmour took over, you know, the stuff in the ’80s and ’90s, eh, not my thing.”
Despite his preference, Portnoy made sure to emphasize his deep respect for David Gilmour’s contributions and talent.
“But that being said, I mean, David Gilmour was still one of my biggest guitar heroes of all time,” Portnoy concluded. “So, I don’t want to act like I don’t, you know, just because I was on Team Waters, I still love David. And you look at the biggest hits on this album. He’s singing, David’s singing ‘Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2.’ He’s singing the choruses of ‘Comfortably Numb.’ He’s singing ‘Run Like Hell.’ He’s singing ‘Hey You.’ All the songs you were hearing on this album, ‘Young Lust.’ All the songs you were hearing on the radio from this album, they were all sung by David, as much as this was Roger’s album.”
Portnoy’s remarks tap into a debate that has followed Pink Floyd for nearly four decades. The split he describes did not happen overnight, and it was settled only after a bitter legal fight over the band’s name, its catalog and its most famous stage production.
The dispute ended with a deal that gave Pink Floyd the rights to carry on while Waters kept the rights to The Wall along with various stage effects and films. Mason and Gilmour retained the right to use the Pink Floyd name in perpetuity, while Waters received exclusive rights to The Wall, among other assets. The settlement was reached on Christmas Eve 1987 at a meeting on Gilmour’s houseboat, more than two years after Waters had quit the group.
That dispute mattered so much because The Wall had become one of the band’s defining achievements. The album released in November 1979 sold more than 30 million copies and became the best-selling double album ever, and it was also the best-selling album of 1980. the record topped the US charts for 15 weeks and reached number three in the UK. Its scale explains why control of the Wall concept became such a central point of the split.
Waters has continued to return to that material long after the band’s separation. He was able to take The Wall back on the road in later years, staging the album in full for audiences around the world. The same outlet notes that Waters has remained a deeply polarizing figure, a reputation that Portnoy himself referenced when he said the bassist has become “difficult to like” in recent years.
The 1987 albums Portnoy mentioned also turned into a direct commercial contest between the two camps. Radio K.A.O.S. barely reached the US Top 50 and limped to number 25 in the UK. A Momentary Lapse of Reason debuted at number 43 in the United States and went on to climb as high as number three. That contrast showed where the wider public leaned at the time, even if Portnoy’s personal preference went the other way.
Taken together, the history explains why the question of who was truly essential to Pink Floyd still sparks arguments among fans and musicians. Portnoy’s answer places him firmly on Waters’ side creatively, while still leaving room for the admiration he holds for Gilmour as a guitarist and singer.
