Roger Waters was born in 1943 in Great Bookham, England. His parents were schoolteachers. Roger’s father died during WWII when the boy was just 5 months old. His mother moved to Cambridge and brought Roger and his older brother up on her own.
Waters attended junior and high school in Cambridge. In high school, he met Syd Barrett and David Gilmour, who later became a part of a famous group Pink Floyd. While studying, Waters was into sports, playing rugby and cricket. The young man was part of the pacifist movement. The artist remembers his school years with some sadness, noting considerable bullying among students and teachers. After graduating high school, Rogers enrolled at a university in London to study architecture. At the university, he met Pink Floyd’s future co-founders Nick Mason and Richard Wright.
In 1963, Waters, Mason, and Wright worked with Keith Noble and Clive Metcalfe to form a band called Sigma 6, which performed at local private events. The band rehearsed in the university basement. By the end of the year, Noble and Metcalfe left. Barret joined the group. After several name changes, the group was dubbed Pink Floyd.
In August 1967, the group released its first LP, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, for which Waters wrote one song, “Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk”. At the beginning of 1968, Barret left the group, and David Gilmour joined it. After the lineup changes, Roger Waters became the leader of the group. He wrote the majority of songs for such albums as The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals, The Wall, and Final Cut.
The LP The Wall, which came out in 1979, was a big success, reaching the third spot on the UK Albums Chart and topping Billboard 200. Waters worked hard on that album. After the release, the group went on a concert tour. However, the relationship between the members was worsening.
