About Roger Waters:
Bass guitarist and vocalist George Roger Waters was born on September 6, 1943, in Great Bookham, England. He was the youngest of two sons born to Eric Fletcher Waters and his wife, Mary Waters. Eric Fletcher Waters was a member of the British air force fighting in World War II. Just a few months after Roger was born, his father was killed in action in the battle of Anzio, Italy. Mary Waters was a piano teacher. One of her students was Syd Barrett, who became friends with Roger.
Roger reportedly had unhappy experiences at school. He would later call on those experiences to write the lyrics for what would become some of the most memorable Pink Floyd songs. As a teenager, Roger took an interest in music. Yet after graduation from Cambridge High School for Boys, he enrolled at Regent Street Polytechnic School in London in 1962 to study architecture. Waters rented a house from an architecture professor. Barrett, his childhood buddy, was in London studying art. They become roommates for a while. Waters soon grew more interested in music than in architecture, and he often jammed with Barrett and other friends. Waters taught himself bass guitar since Barrett was a better guitarist.
After Barret left Pink Floyd, Waters became the band's main lyricist. His sources of inspiration included the friend he lost to drugs and mental illness, and the heroic father he never knew.
For more about Rogers Waters and the band, Pink Floyd, check our book Pink Floyd: The Rock Band, an unauthorized biography from our Rebels of Rock series.
