Roger Waters calls U2’s Bono “disgusting” and “a shit”

19 February, 2024

Bono and Roger Waters in 2023

Roger Waters has lashed out at U2 frontman Bono, describing him as “disgusting” and “a shit”.

The comments against the Irish rock singer arose in a new interview with Waters, and saw the Pink Floyd musician criticise the former for his previous comments on the Israel-Hamas war.

Speaking during one of their Sphere residency shows in Las Vegas, Bono used the performance to pay his respects to those killed during the October 7 attack at the Israeli music festival Supernova.

“In the light of what’s happened in Israel and Gaza, a song about non-violence seems somewhat ridiculous, even laughable, but our prayers have always been for peace and for non-violence,” he told the crowd before launching into a performance of ‘Pride (In The Name Of Love)’. “But our hearts and our anger, you know where that’s pointed. So sing with us… and those beautiful kids at that music festival.”

He then played the song with altered lyrics, singing “Early morning, Oct. 7, the sun is rising in the desert sky… Stars of David, they took your life but they could not take your pride,” in place of the original lines.

Now, Waters – who has been a longtime critic of the State of Israel – has taken aim at the musician for his comments during a new interview with Al Jazeera (via Clash) , and branded the comments made at the live show “disgusting”.

“My mother told me, when faced with difficult problems, the first thing to do is to read—read, read, read. Then, the next part is easy: do the right thing,” he told the outlet, referring to his own family background that saw his father killed in the Second World War.

“Anybody who knows Bono should go and pick him up by his ankles and shake him… until he stops being an enormous shit.”

“We have to start saying to these people, your opinion is so disgusting and so degrading… sticking up for the Zionist entity,” he added. “What he did a couple of weeks ago in the Sphere in Las Vegas, singing about the Stars of David, was one of the most disgusting things I’ve ever seen in my life.”

This is far from the first time that Waters has openly criticised Israel. Over recent months, the outspoken former Pink Floyd member has been in the news for his comments on the conflict in Palestine and accusations of anti-Semitism.

He has repeatedly denied all accusations of anti-Semitism and explained that his disdain is towards Israel, not Judaism. He also accused Israel of “abusing the term anti-Semitism to intimidate people like me into silence”.

He was recently the subject of a documentary, The Dark Side Of Roger Waters, which was produced by the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism and collates various incidents of alleged anti-Semitism levelled against the musician.

Rogers spoke out against the documentary with a post to his official website, dismissing the project as “a flimsy, unapologetic piece of propaganda”. He later claimed that it “indiscriminately mixes things I’m alleged to have said or done at different times and in different contexts, in an effort to portray me as an anti-Semite, without any foundation in fact”.

Roger Waters performs on stage at The O2 Arena during the 'This is Not A Drill' tour, on June 06, 2023 in London, England
Roger Waters performs on stage at The O2 Arena during the ‘This is Not A Drill’ tour, on June 06, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Jim Dyson/Getty Images)

The documentary highlights a controversial concert in Germany back in May 2023, which was criticised by the US State Department who described it as “deeply offensive to Jewish people”. The gig saw him appear on stage wearing a black trench coat with a swastika-like emblem. At the time the musician defended the choice, claiming that the segment was a statement against fascism, injustice and bigotry and called criticism of it “disingenuous and politically motivated”.

In April, Waters won a legal battle to play a concert in Frankfurt after it was initially cancelled over claims of anti-Semitism, and last month it was reported that he had been dropped by his label BMG over his comments on Israel.

As for U2, over the weekend the Irish rock band once again used their residency shows in Las Vegas to make a political statement – using their Saturday show to pay tribute to the Russian opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, who was imprisoned in a Russian penal colony and suddenly died on Friday (February 16).

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