Britain, UK news from The Times and The Sunday Times - Times Online

Pink Floyd and now possibly the Spice Girls on the same bill?!

Britain, UK news from The Times and The Sunday Times - Times Online:

Pigs really can fly – Pink Floyd get back together for big gig in the park
By Adam Sherwin, Media Reporter
RESCUING Africa from poverty is one thing, but persuading Pink Floyd to drop the most acrimonious feud in rock history could arguably be Bob Geldof’s greatest achievement yet.

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To get to this point, bassist Roger Waters, the creative force behind The Wall, has broken a 20-year silence to speak to his former schoolfriend David Gilmour, Pink Floyd’s guitarist and singer.

The four shareholders in Pink Floyd Music Ltd have conducted business via lawyers and faxes since Waters sued his colleagues for continuing to use the band’s name when he walked out in 1985.

But at Geldof’s insistence, the acrimony will be forgotten for 20 minutes at Hyde Park in front of a global TV audience of millions. The Africa campaigner starred in a 1982 feature film of The Wall, and told the feuding duo that the band had to unite for Live 8. ...

Gilmour, who is said to be worth £60 million and recently gave the homeless charity Crisis the reported £4.5 million proceeds from selling his London house to Earl Spencer, said: “Any squabbles Roger and the band have had in the past are so petty in this context, and if reforming for this concert will help focus attention, then it’s got to be worthwhile.”

Syd Barrett, the “genius” founding guitarist who left the music business in the late 1960s after an LSD-induced mental breakdown, is not expected to return.

Despite this success, Geldof has still to convince the Spice Girls to reform. He has asked members of the group individually to resolve outstanding differences but a Live 8 appearance has yet to be confirmed.