John Lennon Once Received High Praise From Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters

Few music fans would argue that John Lennon and The Beatles changed everything about popular music. John helped the Fab Four push pop music to the top of the charts and then felt his life was a trap because of the fame that came along with it. The Beatles ignited the trend of creating intricate studio albums, and Pink Floyd followed suit. Few people would confuse the two bands, but Floyd bassist Roger Waters once gave John high praise.

John Lennon called ‘John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band’ the best thing he’d ever done

John wrote several chart-topping songs and rewrote the pop music rulebook with The Beatles. He flexed his songwriting muscle in every Fab Four era. 

John wrote a slew of No. 1 songs, including “Ticket to Ride” and “Eight Days a Week” during the early years and “All You Need is Love” and “Come Together” from the studio era. Paul McCartney wrote more No. 1 songs with The Beatles, but not by much.

Yet for all his success in the band, John said his first post-Beatles record, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, was the best thing he’d ever done. The deeply personal collection of songs found a big fan in Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters, who praised John with one flattering compliment.

Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters once gave John the ultimate compliment

Pink Floyd didn’t make the same kind of cultural impact as the Fab Four, but the band still left its mark. Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon sold better than any Beatles record. The band created another all-time classic with 1979’s The Wall.

Waters became the creative driving force for Pink Floyd, particularly in their 1970s heyday. He developed into an accomplished songwriter, but Waters gave John high praise with one simple, flattering comment, writes Nicholas Schaffner in Saucerful of Secrets:

“If I were to list fifty songs I wish I had written, very few of them would not be by Dylan or Lennon.”

Roger Waters’ praise for John Lennon

Schaffner writes that, like John, Waters had a soft spot for John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. One of the bassist’s favorite songs ever is “Isolation,” the album’s fifth track.

John and The Beatles crossed paths with Pink Floyd

The careers of The Beatles and Pink Floyd didn’t overlap very much. The Fab Four called it a day several years before Floyd released Dark Side. Yet the bands crossed paths in the few years they overlapped.

Schaffner writes in Saucerful of Secrets that John and Paul McCartney attended an early Pink Floyd gig in a London club. Floyd recorded their debut album, Piper at the Gates of Dawn, next door to The Beatles as they made Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band at Abbey Road Studios.

Floyd tapped Paul for some help as it recorded its magnum opus, but the band didn’t use his contribution to Dark Side. The Beatles and Pink Floyd rarely crossed paths, but John Lennon received massive praise from Roger Waters, who greatly appreciated John’s songwriting skills.

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