Shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, David Gilmour recruited Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason and bassist Guy Pratt for Hey Hey, Rise Up, a new song featuring Ukrainian musician (and soldier) Andriy Khlyvnyuk on vocals.
Gilmour sought to use the Floyd name to raise as much awareness of, and money for, the Ukrainian cause as possible, and in that he certainly succeeded, with the song helping raise over $600,000 for relief efforts. Beyond this one-time effort, though, Gilmour says that he has put Pink Floyd “to bed.”
In a new interview with Guitar Player, Gilmour – while maintaining that he was proud of his work with the band – stated that their journey was over.
“I put the whole Pink Floyd thing to bed many, many years ago,” he said. “I mean, it’s impossible to go back there without Rick [Wright, Floyd's late keyboardist], and I wouldn’t want to. It’s all done.
“I’m very happy and satisfied with the little team I’ve got around me these days. We had a lot of offers to go and tour and so on and so forth, but I’m in this selfishly lucky position of having more than enough money and having had more than enough fame. I just don’t need that stuff these days.”
Though Hey Hey, Rise Up was released in the period between them, Gilmour's comments on the future of Pink Floyd are quite similar to those he made the last time GP sat down with him, in 2020.
“I’m done with it,” he said at the time. “I’ve had a life in Pink Floyd for quite a lot of years, and quite a few of those years at the beginning, with Roger. And those years in what is now considered to be our heyday were 95 percent musically fulfilling and joyous and full of fun and laughter. And I certainly don’t want to let the other five percent color my view of what was a long and fantastic time together.
“But,” he continued, “it has run its course, we are done, and it would be fakery to go back and do it again. And to do it without Rick [Wright] would just be wrong.
“I’m all for Roger doing whatever he wants to do and enjoying himself and getting the joy he must have had out of those [2010-2013] Wall shows. I’m at peace with all of these things. But I absolutely don’t want to go back. I don’t want to go and play stadiums. I’m free to do exactly what I want to do and how I want to do it.”
To read Gilmour's full interview with GP – which covers gear, guitar solos, and the making of his first solo album in nine years – pick up a new issue of the mag at Magazines Direct.
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