George Roger Waters is known as the grand conceptualist of many successful albums for the well-known music group, Pink Floyd. He was born on 6 September, 1943 in Great Bookham, Surrey. Roger grew up in Cambridge, England where he met his future band mates, Syd Barrett and David Gilmour. He met Nick Mason and Richard Wright while studying architecture at the London Polytechnic (now known as The University of Westminster).
Roger, Nick and Richard were in a group called Sigma 6, and when the bassist and vocalist of that group left, Roger brought in Syd. The band was renamed Pink Floyd and Syd Barrett took on the role as ‘leader.’
At the end of 1967, Syd Barrett’s deteriorating mental health led to increasingly erratic behaviour and he was unable to continue as vocalist and guitarist for the band. David Gilmore was then brought in to replace him and Roger took over as leader of Pink Floyd.
The band’s former managers had said that Pink Floyd would not be able to sustain their initial success without Syd, but Roger proved them wrong. He emerged as a formidable song writer, and took on co-lead vocals for the band. Roger became the driving force behind such albums as Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here and The Wall. Dark Side of the Moon became a pivotal album in Pink Floyd’s career; it was an instant hit and remains popular today.
Many of the songs Roger wrote were in tribute to his father who died five months after his birth, in the Battle of Anzio. Eric Fletcher Waters had spent the early years of the Second World War as a conscientious objector and drove an ambulance during the Blitz, but later changed his stance and joined the Territorial Army as Second Lieutenant in the 8th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers.
Roger officially left the band in 1985 and had filed a lawsuit to get it dissolved, but the suit was subsequently denied. The band performed a reunion show in 2005 at the Live 8 benefit, but despite the rave reviews, decided to stay separated.
Today, Roger Waters is 76, and he still performs; most recently at a rally in support of Wikileaks founder, Julian Assange.
Other famous people with birthdays today include Idris Elba and Pippa Middleton.
