Pink Floyd's Roger Waters has insisted he's 'far more important' than the Weeknd and Drake.
The English rock band's bass guitarist and vocalist is currently travelling around the world as part of his 'This Is Not A Drill' tour and he visited Toronto's Scotiabank Arena on Friday 8 and Saturday 9, July.
However, the 78-year-old has since called out news outlets in the major Canadian city for not sending 'anybody' to review his performances.
When asked by The Globe and Mail what his relationship is like with audiences today, Waters reflected on how 'interesting' it was that no newspaper in Toronto 'sent anybody to review [his] shows'.
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In response to being reminded the Weeknd was also playing in Toronto, Waters argued the 'Blinding Lights' singer's show was cancelled and that his show was on 'for two nights'.
The 78-year-old added: "With all due respect to the Weeknd or Drake or any of them, I am far, far, far more important than any of them will ever be, however many billions of streams they’ve got. There is stuff going on here that is fundamentally important to all of our lives."
Waters also stated he has 'no idea what or who the Weeknd is'. However, the musician urged he has 'nothing against him' and wishes him 'good luck'.
"I’m not trying to make a personal attack, I’m just saying it seemed odd," he said.
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While Waters didn't feel supported by news outlets during his Toronto visit, he reflected fondly on the relationship he has with his fans.
He may still play 'a lot of 'The Dark Side of the Moon', to some extent against [his] better judgment' because he's 'under pressure from all those people to actually deliver some of that to them,' but the musician noted how his audience is now 'far more attentive to what [he has] to say'.
Waters' concerts aren't 'a sing-along party of old hits' where his audience is just filled with listeners who are '100 years old' and 'a dying breed'. Instead, his performances voice his political and personal opinions and provoke a 'sense of community'.
Waters concluded: "A number of years ago I was working on my opera, Ça Ira, with Étienne Roda-Gil. I must have asked him a philosophical question, because he looked at me and said, 'Roger, I was here, I felt something, and I was not alone.' I feel the same way. It gives me hope.
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"That’s the sense of community that I described to the audiences in Toronto, that perhaps we’re not alone. And that’s perhaps the community that I sensed the existence of in that room in those people that night."
Neither the Weeknd or Drake have publicly responded to Waters' comments.
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Topics: Drake, Music, The Weeknd, Canada