罗杰·沃特斯
乔治·罗杰·沃特斯（；）是一个英国词曲作者、歌手、贝斯手和作曲家。1965年他与鼓手尼克·梅森、键盘手理查德·赖特和兼任吉他手、歌手和词曲作者的西德·巴雷特共同组成了前卫摇滚乐队平克·弗洛伊德。沃特斯最初担任贝斯手，但1968年西德·巴雷特离开后，沃特斯也成为了他们的作词者、共同主唱和概念领袖。
平克·弗洛伊德凭借概念专辑《月之暗面》、《愿你在此》、《动物》和《迷墙》获得了国际性成功。到20世纪80年代初，他们已经成为流行音乐中最受好评和商业成功的团体之一；到2013年，他们已经在全世界取得了超过2.5亿的专辑销量。由于乐队成员之间创作理念的差异，沃特斯于1985年离开乐队并与其余乐队成员在歌曲版权和乐队名称的使用权产生了纠纷。纠纷于1987年以个人形式解决。
沃特斯的个人作品包括录音室专辑《》（1984年）、《》（1987年）、《欢愉至死》（1992年）和《这是我们真正想要的生活吗？》（2017年）。在2005年，他发行了一部歌剧，翻译自和纳丁·罗达-吉尔（Nadine Roda-Gil）关于法国大革命的歌剧剧本。
在1990年，沃特斯举办了历史上规模最大的摇滚音乐会之一的《迷墙 - 柏林现场》，演出参加人数达45万人。作为平克·弗洛伊德的成员之一，他分别在1996年和2005年被选入美国摇滚名人堂和英国音乐名人堂。2005年晚些时候，他与平克·弗洛伊德成员梅森、赖特和吉尔摩在现场八方全球意识活动中重新团聚，这是自1981年以来乐队首次和沃特斯一起出现。1999年以来，他进行了广泛的单人表演；他在2006-2008世界巡演中完整地演出了《月之暗面》，并在2010年开始了迷墙现场巡演，这是史上最畅销的个人现场演出。
沃特斯1943年9月6日生于英国萨里郡大布克姆，是玛丽（née Whyte；1913–2009）和埃里克·弗莱彻·沃特斯（1914–1944）的第二个儿子。他的父亲是煤矿工人和工党活动家的儿子，是一名教师，一位虔诚的基督教徒和一名共产党员。在第二次世界大战的早期，他的父亲是一名在闪电战期间驾驶救护车的良心拒服兵役者。
沃特斯的父亲后来改变了他的和平主义立场，参加了英国陆军预备役部队并被委任到第8营，1943年9月11日在皇家燧发枪团担任一名少尉。他于5个月后的1944年1月18日在鹅卵石行动期间于阿普里利亚被杀，罗格斯此时五个月大。他安葬在卡西诺战争公墓，作为纪念。2014年2月18日，沃特斯公布了他父亲和阿普利亚里的其他战争伤亡者的纪念碑，并成为安济奥的荣誉公民。
在丈夫去世后，亦是一位老师的玛丽·沃特斯带着两个儿子前往剑桥，并将他们抚养在那里。罗杰·沃特斯最早的记忆是第二次世界大战对日战争胜利纪念日。
沃特斯参加了莫利纪念小学并在之后和西德·巴雷特在剑桥男子高中学习，而他未来的音乐搭档大卫·吉尔摩住在该市的米尔路附近，并且在佩斯学校就读。在15岁时，沃特斯担任剑桥核裁军青年运动（YCND）的主席，设计了其宣传海报并参与了其组织。
虽然他是一个热衷运动的人，也是高中板球和橄榄球队的一个备受推崇的队员，但他不喜欢他的教育经历; 根据沃特斯的说法，“除了游戏之外，我讨厌在其中每一秒钟。学校的政权是一个压迫人的政权。那些容易受到其他孩子欺负的的孩子同样也容易受到老师的欺凌。”沃特斯在童年时在剑桥认识巴雷特和吉尔莫，在伦敦摄政理工学院（之后的威斯敏斯特大学）建筑系遇见了未来平克·弗洛伊德创团成员尼克·梅森和理查德·赖特。沃特斯于1962年就读于此，经过一系列适应性测试表明他非常适合该领域。他最初考虑过机械工程的职业。 到1963年9月，沃特斯和梅森对他们的学习失去了兴趣并搬到了摄政街理工学院兼职导师迈克·伦纳德拥有的斯坦霍普花园的低层公寓。沃特斯、梅森和赖特于1963年底首次在主唱基斯诺布尔和贝司手克莱夫·梅特卡夫组成的乐队中一起演奏音乐。
他们通常称自己为西格玛6（Sigma 6），但也使用过the Meggadeaths这个名字。沃特斯和梅森分别演奏节奏吉他和鼓，赖特在他可以安排使用的任何键盘上演奏，而诺布尔的姐姐希拉格偶尔提供声乐伴奏。早年，乐队在私人演出时表演，并在摄政街理工学院地下室的一个茶室里排练。
在1963年9月，当梅特卡夫和诺布尔离开自建组合时，剩余的乐队成员要求巴雷特和吉他手鲍勃·克罗斯加入。沃特斯转为演奏贝斯并且在1964年1月，乐队开始被称为the Abdabs（或者叫the Screaming Abdabs）。在1964年后期乐队还使用了伦纳德的寄宿者（Leonard's Lodgers）、频谱五（Spectrum Five）、最终（and eventually）、茶具（the Tea Set）四个名称。在1965年末的某个时候，茶具开始自称为平克·弗洛伊德声音（Pink Floyd Sound），后来改称为平克·弗洛伊德蓝调（Pink Floyd Blues），直到1966年初称为平克·弗洛伊德。
到1966年初，巴雷特成为平克弗洛伊德的领头人、吉他手和词曲作者。他写了或合作写了除了一首曲目以外的他们的第一张LP唱片《黎明门前的风笛手》，专辑在1967年8月发行。沃特斯为这张专辑贡献了歌曲《黎明门前的风笛手》。到1967年末，巴雷特心理健康状况日益恶化，行为越来越不稳定，使他“无法或不愿意”继续担任平克·弗洛伊德的主创歌手和主音吉他手的身份。在1968年3月，
平克·弗洛伊德会见了经理人皮特·詹那和布莱克希尔企业的安德鲁·金洽谈乐队的未来。巴雷特同意离开平克·弗洛伊德，并且乐队“同意布莱克希尔的永久授权”对“过去活动”。乐队的新经理人制作了一份关于巴雷特离队和1968年4月大卫·吉尔摩的入队的正式声明。
为了填补巴雷特离开所产生的领导空白，1968年3月，沃特斯开始主导平克·弗洛伊德的艺术创作方向。他成为了主要的作曲者、作词者以及联合主唱（与吉尔摩一起，有时与赖特），并且在其1985年离开之前一直作为乐队的首要创作者。从《月之暗面》 (1973) 到《最终乐章》(1983)，在沃特斯离开乐队之前，他为平克·弗洛伊德的五张专辑担任作曲，与此同时，他在创作上对乐队和其音乐的逐步发挥更重要的作用。从 《月之暗面》起，每张沃特斯经手的录音室专辑都是概念专辑。完全由沃特斯作词的专辑《月之暗面》是有史以来在商业最成功的摇滚专辑之一。它达到了公告牌二百强专辑榜的第一名并持续了一周，并在1973年到1988年在排行榜上停留了741周，在全球共卖出了超4000万份。截至2005年，该专辑仍然持续每周卖出超8000份。根据平克·弗洛伊德的传记作者Glen Povey的描述，《月之暗面》是世界上第二畅销的专辑，也是美国21世纪最畅销的专辑 Waters produced thematic ideas that became the impetus for the Pink Floyd concept albums "The Dark Side of the Moon" (1973), "Wish You Were Here" (1975), "Animals" (1977) and "The Wall" (1979)—written largely by Waters—and "The Final Cut" (1983)—written entirely by Waters. He referred or alluded to the cost of war and the loss of his father throughout his work, from "Corporal Clegg" ("A Saucerful of Secrets", 1968) and "Free Four" ("Obscured by Clouds", 1972) to "Us and Them" from "The Dark Side of the Moon", "When the Tigers Broke Free", first used in the feature film, "The Wall" (1982), later included with "The Fletcher Memorial Home" on "The Final Cut", an album dedicated to his father. The theme and composition of "The Wall" was influenced by his upbringing in an English society depleted of men after the Second World War.
The double album "The Wall" was written almost entirely by Waters and is largely based on his life story. Having sold over 23 million RIAA certified units in the US as of 2013, is one of the top three best-selling albums of all time in America, according to RIAA. Pink Floyd hired Bob Ezrin to co-produce the album and cartoonist Gerald Scarfe to illustrate the sleeve art. The band embarked on The Wall Tour of Los Angeles, New York, London, and Dortmund. The last band performance of "The Wall" was on 16 June 1981, at Earls Court London, and this was Pink Floyd's last appearance with Waters until the band's brief reunion at 2 July 2005 Live 8 concert in London's Hyde Park, 24 years later.
In March 1983, the last Waters–Gilmour–Mason collaboration, "The Final Cut", was released. The album was subtitled: "A requiem for the post-war dream by Roger Waters, performed by Pink Floyd". Waters wrote all the album's lyrics as well as the music. His lyrics were critical of the Conservative Party government of the day and mention Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher by name. At the time Gilmour did not have any new material, so he asked Waters to delay the recording until he could write some songs, but Waters refused. According to Mason, after power struggles within the band and creative arguments about the album, Gilmour's name "disappeared" from the production credits, though he retained his pay. "Rolling Stone" magazine gave the album five stars, with Kurt Loder describing it as "a superlative achievement" and "art rock's crowning masterpiece". Loder viewed the work as "essentially a Roger Waters solo album".
Amidst creative differences, Waters left Pink Floyd in 1985 and began a legal battle with the band regarding their continued use of the name and material. In December 1985, Waters issued a statement to EMI and CBS invoking the "Leaving Member" clause in his contract. In October 1986, he initiated High Court proceedings to formally dissolve the Pink Floyd partnership. In his submission to the High Court he called Pink Floyd a "spent force creatively". Gilmour and Mason opposed the application and announced their intention to continue as Pink Floyd. Waters claims to have been forced to resign much like Wright some years earlier, and decided to leave Pink Floyd based on legal considerations, stating: "if I hadn't, the financial repercussions would have wiped me out completely." In December 1987, Waters and Pink Floyd reached an agreement. According to Mason:
Waters was released from his contractual obligation with O'Rourke, and he retained the copyrights to the "Wall" concept and the inflatable "Animals "pig. Pink Floyd released three studio albums without him: "A Momentary Lapse of Reason" (1987), "The Division Bell" (1994) and "The Endless River" (2014). In 2005, Waters said of their almost twenty years of animosity: "I don't think any of us came out of the years from 1985 with any credit ... It was a bad, negative time, and I regret my part in that negativity." In 2013, he said he regretted the lawsuit, saying:
Following the release of "The Final Cut", Waters embarked on a solo career. In 1984, he released his first solo album, "The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking", a project about a man's dreams across one night that dealt with Waters' feelings about monogamy and family life versus "the call of the wild". In the end the character, Reg, chooses love and matrimony over promiscuity. The album featured guitarist Eric Clapton, jazz saxophonist David Sanborn, and artwork by Gerald Scarfe. Kurt Loder described "The Pros And Cons of Hitch Hiking" as a "strangely static, faintly hideous record". "Rolling Stone" rated the album a "rock bottom one star." Years later, Mike DeGagne of AllMusic praised the album for its, "ingenious symbolism" and "brilliant use of stream of consciousness within a subconscious realm", rating it four out of five stars.
Waters began touring in support of the album, aided by Clapton, a new band, new material, and a selection of Pink Floyd favourites. Waters débuted his tour in Stockholm on 16 June 1984. Poor ticket sales plagued the tour, and some of the larger venues had to be cancelled. By his own estimate, he lost £400,000 on the tour. In March 1985, Waters went to North America to play smaller venues with the Pros and Cons Plus Some Old Pink Floyd Stuff—North America Tour 1985. "The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking" has been certified Gold by the RIAA.
In 1986, Waters contributed songs and a score to the soundtrack of the animated movie "When the Wind Blows", based on the Raymond Briggs book of the same name. His backing band featuring Paul Carrack was credited as "The Bleeding Heart Band". In 1987, Waters released "Radio K.A.O.S.", a concept album based on a mute man named Billy from an impoverished Welsh mining town who has the ability to physically tune into radio waves in his head. Billy first learns to communicate with a radio DJ, and eventually to control the world's computers. Angry at the state of the world in which he lives, he simulates a nuclear attack. Waters followed the release with a supporting tour also in 1987.
In November 1989, the Berlin Wall fell, and in July 1990 Waters staged one of the largest and most elaborate rock concerts in history, "The Wall – Live in Berlin", on the vacant terrain between Potsdamer Platz and the Brandenburg Gate. The show reported an official attendance of 200,000, though some estimates are as much as twice that, with approximately one billion television viewers. Leonard Cheshire asked him to do the concert to raise funds for charity. Waters' group of musicians included Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Cyndi Lauper, Bryan Adams, Scorpions, and Sinéad O'Connor. Waters also used an East German symphony orchestra and choir, a Soviet marching band, and a pair of helicopters from the U.S. 7th Airborne Command and Control Squadron. Designed by Mark Fisher, the Wall was 25 metres tall and 170 metres long and was built across the set. Scarfe's inflatable puppets were recreated on an enlarged scale, and although many rock icons received invitations to the show, Gilmour, Mason, and Wright, did not. Waters released a live double-album of the performance, which has been certified platinum by the RIAA.
In 1990, Waters hired manager Mark Fenwick and left EMI for a worldwide deal with Columbia. He released his third studio album, "Amused to Death", in 1992. The record is heavily influenced by the events of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 and the Gulf War, and a critique of the notion of war becoming the subject of entertainment, particularly on television. The title was derived from the book "Amusing Ourselves to Death" by Neil Postman. Patrick Leonard, who worked on "A Momentary Lapse of Reason", co-produced the album. Jeff Beck played lead guitar on many of the album's tracks, which were recorded with a cast of musicians at ten different recording studios. It is Waters' most critically acclaimed solo recording, garnering comparison to his work with Pink Floyd. Waters described the record as, a "stunning piece of work", ranking the album with "Dark Side of the Moon" and "The Wall" as one of the best of his career. The album had one hit, the song "What God Wants, Pt. 1", which reached number 35 in the UK in September 1992 and number 5 on "Billboard"s Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in the US. "Amused to Death" was certified Silver by the British Phonographic Industry. Sales of "Amused to Death" topped out at around one million and there was no tour in support of the album. Waters would first perform material from it seven years later during his In the Flesh tour. In 1996, Waters was inducted into the US and UK Rock and Roll Halls of Fame as a member of Pink Floyd.
In 1999, after a 12-year hiatus from touring and a seven-year absence from the music industry, Waters embarked on the In the Flesh tour, performing both solo and Pink Floyd material. The tour was a financial success in the US and though Waters had booked mostly smaller venues, tickets sold so well that many of the concerts were upgraded to larger ones. The tour eventually stretched across the world and would span three years. A concert film was released on CD and DVD, named "In the Flesh – Live". During the tour, he played two new songs "Flickering Flame" and "Each Small Candle" as the final encore to many of the shows. In June 2002, he completed the tour with a performance in front of 70,000 people at the Glastonbury Festival of Performing Arts, playing 15 Pink Floyd songs and five songs from his solo catalogue.
Miramax announced in mid-2004 that a production of "The Wall" was to appear on Broadway with Waters playing a prominent role in the creative direction. Reports stated that the musical contained not only the original tracks from "The Wall", but also songs from "Dark Side of the Moon", "Wish You Were Here" and other Pink Floyd albums, as well as new material. On the night of 1 May 2004, recorded extracts from the opera, including its overture, were played on the occasion of the "Welcome Europe" celebrations in the accession country of Malta. Gert Hof mixed recorded excerpts from the opera into a continuous piece of music which was played as an accompaniment to a large light and fireworks display over Grand Harbour in Valletta. In July 2004, Waters released two new tracks on the Internet: "To Kill the Child", inspired by the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and "Leaving Beirut", an anti-war song "inspired by his travels in the Middle East as a teenager".
In July 2005, Waters reunited with Mason, Wright, and Gilmour for their final performance together at the 2005 Live 8 concert in London's Hyde Park, Pink Floyd's only appearance with Waters since their final performance of "The Wall" at Earls Court London 24 years earlier. They played a 23-minute set consisting of "Speak to Me/Breathe"/"Breathe (Reprise)", "Money", "Wish You Were Here", and "Comfortably Numb". Waters told the Associated Press that while the experience of playing with Pink Floyd again was positive, the chances of a bona fide reunion would be "slight" considering his and Gilmour's continuing musical and ideological differences. Though Waters had differing ideas about which songs they should play, he "agreed to roll over for one night only". In November 2005, Pink Floyd were inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame by Pete Townshend of the Who.
In September 2005, Waters released ' (pronounced , French for "it will be fine"; Waters added the subtitle, "There is Hope"), an opera in three acts translated from the late Étienne Roda-Gil's French libretto based on the historical subject of the French Revolution. ' was released as a double CD album, featuring baritone Bryn Terfel, soprano Ying Huang and tenor Paul Groves. Set during the early French Revolution, the original libretto was co-written in French by Roda-Gil and his wife Nadine Delahaye. Waters had begun rewriting the libretto in English in 1989, and said about the composition: "I've always been a big fan of Beethoven's choral music, Berlioz and Borodin ... This is unashamedly romantic and resides in that early 19th-century tradition, because that's where my tastes lie in classical and choral music." Waters appeared on television to discuss the opera, but the interviews often focused instead on his relationship with Pink Floyd, something Waters would "take in stride", a sign Pink Floyd biographer Mark Blake believes is "a testament to his mellower old age or twenty years of dedicated psychotherapy". "" reached number 5 on the "Billboard" Classical Music Chart in the United States.
In June 2006, Waters commenced The Dark Side of the Moon Live tour, a two-year, world-spanning effort that began in Europe in June and North America in September. The first half of the show featured both Pink Floyd songs and Waters' solo material, while the second half included a complete live performance of the 1973 Pink Floyd album "The Dark Side of the Moon", the first time in over three decades that Waters had performed the album. The shows ended with an encore from the third side of "The Wall". He used elaborate staging by concert lighting designer Marc Brickman complete with laser lights, fog machines, pyrotechnics, psychedelic projections, and inflatable floating puppets (Spaceman and Pig) controlled by a "handler" dressed as a butcher, and a full 360-degree quadraphonic sound system was used. Nick Mason joined Waters for "The Dark Side of the Moon" set and the encores on select 2006 tour dates. Waters continued touring in January 2007 in Australia and New Zealand, then Asia, Europe, South America, and back to North America in June.
In March 2007, the Waters song, "Hello (I Love You)" was featured in the science fiction film "The Last Mimzy". The song plays over the film's end credits. He released it as a single, on CD and via download, and described it as, "a song that captures the themes of the movie, the clash between humanity's best and worst instincts, and how a child's innocence can win the day". He performed at California's Coachella Festival in April 2008 and was to be among the headlining artists performing at Live Earth 2008 in Mumbai, India in December 2008, but that concert was cancelled in light of the 26 November terrorist attacks in Mumbai.
In April 2008, Waters confirmed the possibility of an upcoming solo album which "might be called" "Heartland", and has said he has numerous songs written (some already recorded) that he intends to release when they are a complete album. In June 2010, Waters released a cover of "We Shall Overcome", a protest song rewritten and arranged by Guy Carawan and Pete Seeger. He performed with David Gilmour at the Hoping Foundation Benefit Evening in July 2010. The four-song set included: "To Know Him Is to Love Him", which was played in early Pink Floyd sound checks, followed by "Wish You Were Here", "Comfortably Numb", and "Another Brick in the Wall (Part Two)".
In September 2010, Waters commenced the Wall Live tour, an updated version of the original Pink Floyd shows, featuring a complete performance of "The Wall". Waters told the Associated Press that The Wall Tour will likely be his last, stating: "I'm not as young as I used to be. I'm not like B.B. King, or Muddy Waters. I'm not a great vocalist or a great instrumentalist or whatever, but I still have the fire in my belly, and I have something to say. I have a swan song in me and I think this will probably be it." At The O2 Arena in London on 12 May 2011, Gilmour and Mason once again appeared with Waters and Gilmour performing "Comfortably Numb", and Gilmour and Mason joining Waters for "Outside the Wall". For the first half of 2012, Waters' tour topped worldwide concert ticket sales having sold more than 1.4 million tickets globally. As of 2013, The Wall Live is the highest-grossing tour of all time by a solo artist. Waters performed at at Madison Square Garden on 12 December 2012. On 24 July 2015, Waters headlined the Newport Folk Festival in Newport, Rhode Island. Waters was accompanied by the band My Morning Jacket and two singers from the group Lucius.
On 3 May 2016, Waters was announced as one of the headline performers at the Desert Trip music festival and performed twice on 9 and 16 October 2016. In October 2016, Waters announced that he would return to North America in 2017 with a new tour, ""Us + Them"", a mixture of his Pink Floyd and solo material. The tour title is derived from the track "Us and Them," from "The Dark Side of the Moon".
On 16 February 2017, Waters announced his fourth solo album, "Is This the Life We Really Want?". It was released on 2 June 2017, his first solo album since "Amused to Death" almost 25 years earlier. The album was produced by Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich; Godrich was critical of Waters' earlier solo work, and encouraged him to make a concise album showcasing his lyrics.
1969年，沃特斯与陶艺家兼童年情人结婚，；特里姆曾在原始版的专辑《》插页上出现，但在随后补发的CD中被删除。他们没有孩子并且在1975年离婚。特里姆在2001年去世。
1976年，沃特斯与第三届泽特兰侯爵的侄女卡洛丽娜·克里斯蒂结婚。他与克里斯蒂生下了一个儿子哈里·沃特斯，是一个音乐家，他从2002年起就和父亲的巡回乐队一起弹奏键盘，还有一个作为模特儿女儿的印第安·沃特斯。克里斯蒂和沃特斯于1992年离婚。
1993年，沃特斯与普里西拉·菲利普斯结婚；他们有一个儿子杰克·弗莱彻。他们的婚姻在2001年结束。 2004年，沃特斯和女演员兼电影制片人劳瑞·德宁（生于1963年）; 两人于2012年1月14日结婚并于2015年9月提出离婚。
沃特斯是无神论者。
在2004年印度洋地震和随后的海啸灾难之后，沃特斯在美国NBC网络的一场音乐会上与埃里克·克莱普顿一起表演了《愿你在此》 。他直言不讳地反对英国2004年的《狩猎法案》，并为举办了一场音乐会并参加了游行。沃特斯解释说，无论他是否支持狩猎，重要的是保护它作为一种权利。他很快就离开了英国。他在2005年10月澄清说，他并没有放弃抗议该国狩猎立法，而是出于家庭原因，他经常返回英国。
在离开英国后，他和他未婚妻劳瑞·德宁搬到纽约的长岛。在2007年6月，沃特斯成为一个帮助消除极端贫困和疟疾的非营利组织的发言人。
After leaving Britain, he moved to Long Island in New York with his fiancé Laurie Durning. In June 2007, Waters became a spokesman for Millennium Promise, a non-profit organisation that helps fight extreme poverty and malaria. He wrote an opinion piece for CNN in support of the topic. In July, he participated in the American leg of the Live Earth concert, an international multi-venue concert aimed at raising awareness about global climate change, featuring the Trenton Youth Choir and his trademarked inflatable pig. Waters told David Fricke why he thinks "The Wall" is still relevant today:
In 2012, Waters led a benefit for United States military veterans called Stand Up for Heroes. He invited a music group of combat wounded veterans called MusiCorps to perform with him. In June 2013, Waters and numerous other celebrities appeared in a video showing support for Chelsea Manning.
In June 2009 he spoke against the Israeli West Bank barrier and later that year, pledged his support to the Gaza Freedom March. In 2011 he announced that he had joined the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel. He has said he is disillusioned with UK foreign policy towards Israel. In October 2016 Waters lost four million dollars in sponsorship after American Express refused to fund his North America tour due to his anti-Israel rhetoric at a previous festival sponsored by the financial company.
In November 2016 Citibank joined American Express in cutting ties to Waters. "Citi is not a sponsor of Roger Waters' upcoming tour," a Citibank official said, noting that the company had "offered a limited time pre-sale of tickets for cardmembers for select shows. ... The pre-sale has ended and we have no plans to work with [Waters] in the future."
The Anti-Defamation League's National Director Abraham H. Foxman has accused him of anti-Semitism as has Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center. Waters stated that Cooper's accusation was bigoted. On 2 October 2015, Waters published an open letter in "Salon" criticising the band Bon Jovi for performing in Tel Aviv, which led Howard Stern to criticise Waters on his radio show. In June 2017 an organization known as "We Don't Need No Roger Waters" started to boycott Waters for his support of the BDS.
Waters' primary instrument in Pink Floyd was the electric bass guitar. He briefly played a Höfner bass but replaced it with a Rickenbacker RM-1999/4001S, until 1970 when it was stolen along with the rest of the band's equipment in New Orleans. He began using Fender Precision Basses in 1968, originally alongside the Rickenbacker 4001, and then exclusively after the Rickenbacker was lost in 1970. First seen at a concert in Hyde Park, London in July 1970, the black P-Bass was rarely used until April 1972 when it became his main stage guitar and as of 2 October 2010, the basis for a Fender Artist Signature model. Waters endorses RotoSound Jazz Bass 77 flat-wound strings. Throughout his career he has used Selmer, WEM, Hiwatt and Ashdown amplifiers but has used Ampeg for the last few tours, also employing delay, tremolo, chorus, stereo panning and phaser effects in his bass playing.
Waters experimented with the EMS Synthi A and VCS 3 synthesisers on Pink Floyd pieces such as "On the Run", "Welcome to the Machine", and "In the Flesh?" He played electric and acoustic guitar on Pink Floyd tracks using Fender, Martin, Ovation and Washburn guitars. He played electric guitar on the Pink Floyd song "Sheep", from "Animals", and acoustic guitar on several Pink Floyd recordings, such as "Pigs on the Wing 1 & 2", also from "Animals", "Southampton Dock" from "The Final Cut", and on "Mother" from "The Wall". A Binson Echorec 2 echo effect was used on his bass-guitar lead track "One of These Days". Waters plays trumpet during concert performances of "Outside the Wall".
According to vintagevinylnews.com, Waters had the 9th widest vocal range on a list of over 150 singers.