THEY are one of Britain's most iconic rock groups famed for albums The Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall. But all is not well in the ranks of Pink Floyd amid accusations of anti-semitism and a bitter ensuing row.

All in all…


…it’s just another brick in The Wall, as it were, of Pink Floyd’s turbulent relationships that have played out over time. Formed in London back in 1965 by bassist Roger Waters, the band featured drummer Nick Mason, Keyboard player Rick Wright and lead guitarist Syd Barrett. Guitarist David Gilmour joined later and and legendary tracks include Comfortably Numb, Another Brick in the Wall, Hey You and Money.

So what’s happened?

Polly Samson, the novelist and lyricist wife of Gilmour, launched an attack against his former bandmate Waters on Twitter earlier this week, writing: “Sadly @rogerwaters you are antisemitic to your rotten core. Also a Putin apologist and a lying, thieving, hypocritical, tax-avoiding, lip-synching, misogynistic, sick-with-envy, megalomaniac. Enough of your nonsense.”

Wow, where did that come from?

It came in the wake of an interview Waters gave to a German magazine in which he denounced claims he was an anti-semite and which he shared a link to on his own social media, writing: “THE TRUTH WILL SET US FREE…Against the backdrop of the outrageous and despicable  smear campaign by the ISRAELI LOBBY to denounce me as an ANTI-SEMITE, WHICH I AM NOT, NEVER HAVE BEEN and NEVER WILL BE.”

What did the article say?

Quotes include: “The most important reason for supplying arms to Ukraine is surely profit for the arms industry. And I wonder: is Putin a bigger gangster than Joe Biden and all those in charge of American politics since World War II? I am not so sure. Putin didn't invade Vietnam or Iraq? Did he?”

He also claimed Israel was engaged in “genocide” and made a comparison to Great Britain’s actions “during our colonial period”. He said: 'We believed ourselves to be inherently superior to the indigenous people, just as the Israelis do in Palestine. Well, we weren't and neither are the Israeli Jews.”

What happened next?

A statement was posted on Waters’ Twitter in response to Samson’s remarks: “Roger Waters is aware of the incendiary and wildly inaccurate comments made about him on Twitter by Polly Samson which he refutes entirely. He is currently taking advice on his position.” But then Gilmour waded in, tweeting of his wife’s remarks: “Every word demonstrably true”.

The back story is…?

Days before Russia invaded Ukraine, Waters told Russian TV talk of an invasion was “bull****”. Gilmour, who has Ukrainian family, last year released - under the Pink Floyd name - a song, Hey Hey, Rise Up! to raise funds for Ukrainian humanitarian support.

It’s not been plain sailing?

Waters and Gilmour have had a combative history, with band historians describing a power struggle within the group, while the withdrawal of Waters in 1985 sparked a lengthy legal battle as he felt the group could not continue without him, although Gilmour and Mason opposed this and the matter was eventually settled to allow the group to go on. And in 2005, Waters, Gilmour, Mason and Wright performed together as Pink Floyd for the first time in more than 24 years, at the Live 8/Make Poverty History concert in London's Hyde Park.

Now?

In a new video link speech to the United Nations, Waters said: “The invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation was illegal. I condemn it in the strongest possible terms. Also, the Russian invasion of Ukraine was not unprovoked, so I also condemn the provocateurs in the strongest possible terms.”

He has also re-recorded The Dark Side of The Moon without the rest of Pink Floyd, saying of the original album: “It’s my project and I wrote it.” The 79-year-old also described Ukraine as “not really a country at all” and “a patchy sort of vague experiment”, during an interview with the Daily Telegraph.