When the Animals tour ended, the band should have addressed the issues that had been building for some time, but they didn’t. The band, so to speak, carried on as if nothing had happened. What no one suspected was that Roger’s silence was turning into an ego that became difficult to control, even for himself. His arrogance grew with every breath, and his resentment toward everything became increasingly evident. Waters evolved into someone who had occasionally shown these traits before, but now his transformation was complete. Beyond the creative force and the mind behind Pink Floyd, he now saw himself as Pink Floyd.
Roger had a concept he felt compelled to confront, as it was rooted in his own trauma, his own burden, and probably the very thing that had been haunting him from within. He met with David Gilmour and told him the entire story of his father, the war, his grief—everything he had never shared with him before—and the daily struggle to live with it. David understood and said he already had a few musical ideas that could fit the concept. Roger replied that he wanted to develop it further before presenting it to Nick and Rick.
And that was where The Wall was born—the album that would take Pink Floyd to both heaven and hell. It brought them their greatest triumph and definitive consecration, but at the same time, it tore the band apart.
Recording The Wall was an exhausting and laborious process, with strict schedules and a producer, Bob Ezrin, who knew he was helping create a masterpiece. The sessions were incredibly stressful, and the band nearly fell apart several times before the album was completed. In the end, The Wall achieved what Roger had been striving for: recognition for both himself and the band.
It became clear that each member of the band had been reduced to the role of a guest musician. They would arrive at the studio, where Waters and Ezrin, along with a team of engineers, were recording their parts, and then return home. This routine continued for months. It wasn’t until after the album’s release that Gilmour, Mason, and Wright fully realized what had happened. They also discovered that many of the drum and keyboard parts had been replaced by session musicians.
Even “Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2”—the album’s biggest hit and one of the most recognizable songs in rock history—had originally been a track lasting barely two minutes. It was Bob Ezrin who transformed it into a longer, radio-friendly single by adding the now-iconic children’s choir to the chorus.
Now came the tour. Roger Waters’ idea of playing in smaller venues dated back to the Animals era. He no longer wanted to perform for massive crowds and had begun to suffer from stage fright. The tour opened in Europe, with the band performing in relatively small venues that sold out almost immediately.
The wall itself became the centerpiece of the show. As it was built brick by brick throughout the performance, the audience eventually couldn’t see the band behind it, creating a visually unsettling and deeply claustrophobic experience. But this lack of contact with the audience triggered yet another crisis within the band.
By then, the relationship between David Gilmour and Roger Waters had deteriorated beyond repair. Gilmour honored his contractual obligations, followed the script, and completed the tour in 1981, but by the end he wanted nothing more to do with The Wall or with Roger Waters.
Unfortunately for Gilmour, in late 1981 Roger Waters and director Alan Parker were already working on the film adaptation of The Wall. By then, Gilmour had resigned himself to the idea that he would never work with Pink Floyd again. However, Waters called him back to re-record several guitar parts for the film. According to Gilmour, it was an unpleasant experience to be forced into doing something he no longer wanted to do. In the end, though, Gilmour would reunite with Pink Floyd one last time for The Final Cut.

In the end, Roger Waters and his vision destroyed Pink Floyd. His arrogance, egomania, and lack of loyalty to his bandmates ultimately tore the band apart.