Roger Waters rarely shies away from sharing his opinions on everything from Israel’s foreign policy to the merits of other artists. Now, the former Pink Floyd principal has taken on some new opponents. In a recent interview with The Globe and Mail, he asserted that he’s “far, far, far more important” than The Weeknd and Drake “will ever be.”
Waters was seemingly ticked off that the Toronto newspaper didn’t cover his July 8-9 concerts at the city’s Scotiabank Arena, stating, “What’s interesting about you being here with me now is that none of the newspapers in Toronto sent anybody to review my shows. What I’d like to know, what I’d like you to ponder on, and maybe ask your readers, is if they have any theories as to why that may be?”
“I hate to get in the way of a good conspiracy theory, but your concert wasn’t the biggest in town that night,” journalist Brad Wheeler responded. He explained that he was sent to report on The Weeknd’s July 8 show at Rogers Centre in Toronto, which wound up being canceled due to a widespread internet outage in Canada.
“But the Weeknd was cancelled,” Waters said. “And my show was for two nights. I have no idea what or who the Weeknd is, because I don’t listen to much music. People have told me he’s a big act. Well, good luck to him. I’ve got nothing against him. Would it not have been possible to review his show one night and my show another night?”
Wheeler explained that The Globe doesn’t report on as many concerts as they used to and that he requested an interview with Waters before the two Toronto shows that wasn’t granted.
“Good, I’m glad to hear that, and I look forward to reading this in the pages of your newspaper,” Waters said. “I’m not trying to make a personal attack. I’m just saying it seemed odd. And, by the way, with all due respect to the Weeknd or Drake or any of them, I am far, far, far more important than any of them will ever be, however many billions of streams they’ve got. There is stuff going on here that is fundamentally important to all of our lives.”
Waters is on the road on his COVID-postponed This Is Not a Drill tour. He’ll be back in the U.S. on June 20 in Albany, NY, and will tour North America until October.
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