Roger Waters Might Jeopardize Pink Floyd’s $500 Million Catalog Sale

It was in Pink Floyd’s spirit to address political issues, but even as a solo artist Roger Waters continues to be quite vocal in sharing his political beliefs. So, it wasn’t surprising that the musician recently chatted with Rolling Stone and discussed various political conspiracies and claims. However, it was reported that this controversial interview might affect Pink Floyd’s huge catalog sale.

It’s pretty common, especially since the COVID-19 outbreak, for established artists to sell their music catalogs to private companies or major records. These sales bring vast amounts of profit to anyone involved. So, it wasn’t shocking to hear that the cult band was engaging with potential buyers to sell their collection for $500 million.

Yet, the interested parties might have changed their minds due to Waters’ recent political comments. The musician has been outspoken on the matter of the Russo-Ukrainian War. He even shared open letters to Olena Zelenska and Vladimir Putin and asked both sides to put a halt to this conflict.

Waters’ controversial remarks were discussed once again during a conversation with Rolling Stone. The musician claimed that whenever he received criticism for his ideology, he would check where the comment originated from. Roger claimed that it was always the Ukrainian websites that targeted him. In his opinion, he was subjected to Western propaganda and criticism.

Waters’ remarks on being criticized by Ukrainian websites:

“When I read stuff, which I have done in blogs and things, criticizing me for my political beliefs… I always go and look and see where it came from. And it’s amazing how often when I’ve done the hunt and hunted it down, it is da, da, da.ukraine.org.”

The musician continued by addressing various other claims and conspiracies. The chat enabled Roger to express himself, yet, his former bandmates might not be so relieved about it. It was reported by Variety that some of the potential buyers weren’t pleased with Waters’ recent commentary.

The magazine stated that Waters’ interview had made at least one interested company rethink their position as buyers. Waters’ radical opinions regarding such topics, from Israel and Palestine to the U.S.’s internal affairs, might have jeopardized Pink Floyd’s upcoming offers and damaged the sale’s future.

Variety’s report on Waters’ interview and the concern of potential buyers:

“Sources say an explosive new interview with founding member, main songwriter, and stakeholder Roger Waters, in which he makes extensive remarks about Israel, Ukraine, Russia, the U.S., and other political matters that one could politely characterize as controversial, is giving at least one potential buyer cold feet and seems likely to lead others to rethink their positions.”

His political statements and activism have defined Roger Waters’ music career. The musician has been put on the cross for his controversial remarks, but the last interview with Rolling Stone might have also affected Pink Floyd’s profits. Only time will tell whether this incident will further jeopardize the catalog sale.