Ice-T was over the moon that he managed to get former Pink Floyd bandmates David Gilmour and Roger Waters to agree to Body Count’s cover of ‘Comfortably Numb‘ – despite their longstanding feud.
The legendary prog rock group’s former stars have been locked in a war of words since the 1980s, and the 66-year-old rapper thought there was no chance the band behind the seminal album ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ would approve his cover of their 1980 classic. ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ remains one of the best-selling albums of all time, with over 45 million copies sold worldwide.
“We lay it out and then I just don’t think about the politics. So they go, ‘Okay, you gotta send this to Pink Floyd to get it approved,’ and everybody’s like, ‘That’s not gonna happen,'” Ice-T recalled during his appearance on ‘The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon’ this week.
Ice-T thought it was “dead in the water” when Pink Floyd’s publishers refused their request and he was prepared to abandon the cover altogether. The publishing rights to Pink Floyd’s catalog are among the most valuable in rock history.
That was until, Body Count’s manager reached out to guitarist Gilmour, 78, and he was “blown away” by the moving lyrics about the state of the world today, including: “Human animals, we roam the earth in search of blood / Hope for humanity? I don’t think there ever was / We’re in perpetual war, that’s the only law / Can I change it? I doubt it / So I write songs about it.”
They then asked former lead singer Waters, 81, and were surprised he said yes. Waters’ approval was particularly significant given his notorious reputation for being selective about Pink Floyd’s musical legacy.
Getting Gilmour and Waters, to agree on something with their history was a big deal for Ice-T. The rapper’s Body Count project has been known for pushing boundaries since its formation in 1990.
“He [Gilmour] said, ‘I totally approve it’,” he recounted. “So now you’ve got two people on opposites sides that approved the song, which made me feel really good, ’cause that means that the song is honest and real.”
Tensions began to rise between Gilmour and Waters in the mid-1980s over creative differences about their album ‘The Final Cut’. The album would become the last Pink Floyd record to feature Waters.
Waters left Pink Floyd back in 1985 and launched a legal battle in a bid to get his former bandmates to stop using the group’s name without him. The lawsuit lasted several years and cost both parties millions in legal fees.
And in October this year, Gilmour admitted the feud is still boiling away and dismissed any lingering hopes of a reunion by insisting he will never share a stage with his former friend again because he can’t stand his political opinions.
In an interview with the Guardian newspaper, Gilmour was asked if he will ever perform on stage with Waters again and replied: “Absolutely not. I tend to steer clear of people who actively support genocidal and autocratic dictators like [Russian president Vladimir] Putin and [Nicolas] Maduro [President of Venezuela].”
“Nothing would make me share a stage with someone who thinks such treatment of women and the LGBT community is OK. On the other hand, I’d love to be back on stage with [late Pink Floyd keyboardist] Rick Wright, who was one of the gentlest and most musically gifted people I’ve ever known.” Wright passed away in 2008, leaving an indelible mark on Pink Floyd’s signature sound.
The pair last shared a stage back in 2011 when Gilmour made a special appearance onstage at one of Waters’ solo performances of ‘The Wall’. The performance was part of Waters’ worldwide tour of the iconic album, which grossed over $450 million.
Body Count’s version of ‘Comfortably Numb’ represents a unique intersection of musical genres, combining the band’s heavy metal style with Pink Floyd’s progressive rock masterpiece. The cover has already garnered significant attention on streaming platforms, introducing the classic song to a new generation of listeners.
