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Pink Floyd to reunite for London Live 8 concert
Mon, 13 Jun 2005
Psychedelic 1970s rock group Pink Floyd will reunite to perform at the upcoming Live 8 concert in London, organizers said Sunday.
"Like most people I want to do everything I can to persuade the G-8 leaders to make huge commitments to the relief of poverty and increased aid to the third world," guitarist David Gilmour said in a statement on the group's official website.
"It's crazy that America gives such a paltry percentage of its GNP to the starving nations," he said.
The last time bass player Roger Waters joined Gilmour, drummer Nick Mason and keyboard player Richard Wright on stage was in 1981.
Founded in 1965, original members of the influential band include Waters, Wright, Mason and frontman Syd Barrett, who was replaced by Gilmour when he started to suffer mental health problems.
The band found international fame with its 1973 album Dark Side of the Moon, considered one of the defining albums of the decade, but split in the early 1980s when Waters left the group. The bassist sued the other three members for continuing to perform and record as Pink Floyd until the 1990s.
"Any squabbles Roger and the band have had in the past are so petty in this context. And if reforming for this concert will help focus attention, then it's got to be worthwhile," Gilmour said.
Pink Floyd will join previously announced acts such as Paul McCartney, Elton John, U2, Madonna and organizers Bob Geldof and Midge Ure at the London event in Hyde Park on July 2. Live 8 concerts will also take place in Philadelphia, Berlin, Paris and Rome.
The original Live Aid was also the scene of several rock reunions: the massive London-Philadelphia benefit concert in 1985 saw the reunions of Black Sabbath, the Who and Led Zeppelin (with Phil Collins sitting in for late drummer John Bonham).
Mon, 13 Jun 2005
Psychedelic 1970s rock group Pink Floyd will reunite to perform at the upcoming Live 8 concert in London, organizers said Sunday.
"Like most people I want to do everything I can to persuade the G-8 leaders to make huge commitments to the relief of poverty and increased aid to the third world," guitarist David Gilmour said in a statement on the group's official website.
"It's crazy that America gives such a paltry percentage of its GNP to the starving nations," he said.
The last time bass player Roger Waters joined Gilmour, drummer Nick Mason and keyboard player Richard Wright on stage was in 1981.
Founded in 1965, original members of the influential band include Waters, Wright, Mason and frontman Syd Barrett, who was replaced by Gilmour when he started to suffer mental health problems.
The band found international fame with its 1973 album Dark Side of the Moon, considered one of the defining albums of the decade, but split in the early 1980s when Waters left the group. The bassist sued the other three members for continuing to perform and record as Pink Floyd until the 1990s.
"Any squabbles Roger and the band have had in the past are so petty in this context. And if reforming for this concert will help focus attention, then it's got to be worthwhile," Gilmour said.
Pink Floyd will join previously announced acts such as Paul McCartney, Elton John, U2, Madonna and organizers Bob Geldof and Midge Ure at the London event in Hyde Park on July 2. Live 8 concerts will also take place in Philadelphia, Berlin, Paris and Rome.
The original Live Aid was also the scene of several rock reunions: the massive London-Philadelphia benefit concert in 1985 saw the reunions of Black Sabbath, the Who and Led Zeppelin (with Phil Collins sitting in for late drummer John Bonham).
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