Find out how Roger Waters’ critique of “education” journeyed from imaginative concept to the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame

Although Pink Floyd‘s GRAMMY win at the 37th Annual GRAMMY Awards came without Roger Waters in the lineup, they shared in The Wall‘s 2008 induction to the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame.

Originally released on Nov. 30, 1979, the epic double album was nominated for Album Of The Year and Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal at the 23rd Annual GRAMMY Awards, and was subsequently adapted into the 1982 film Pink Floyd: The Wall. Waters went on to also be nominated individually for the 2014 documentary Roger Waters: The Wall at the 58th GRAMMY Awards.

The high-concept appeal of Waters’ imagination did not impress record executives initially, but over time it’s caught on in a big way. The Wall has been certified 23-times platinum by the RIAA, trailing only the Eagles’ Their Greatest Hits 1971–1975 and Michael Jackson’s Thriller.

The single “Another Brick In The Wall (Part II)” from The Wall became iconic in itself, partly thanks to obnoxious schoolmaster lines such as, “If you don’t eat your meat, you can’t have any pudding! How can you have any pudding if you don’t eat your meat?” Many of the song’s frills were added by Bob Ezrin, making itself a self-contained drama within the album’s wider scope.

The main character Pink in The Wall was partially autobiographical for Waters but also partly based on former Pink Floyd bandmate Syd Barrett, who had originally named the band. The two friends struggled with similar psychological and substance-abuse issues, but Barrett’s prevented him from being able to continue writing and performing. Waters was under immense pressure to step up and deliver creativity that could fill Barrett’s big boots.

The result was The Wall.

The Making Of Pink Floyd’s The Wall

Courtesy by: GRAMMYs