Pink Floyd's Nick Mason compares departure of Roger Waters to death of Stalin

The drummer said it took a number of years for the band to recover

Nick Mason (AFP/Getty )

Pink Floyd’s Nick Mason has compared Roger Waters’ Eighties departure from the band to the death of Joseph Stalin.

The drummer said it took several years for the “Comfortably Numb” singers to adjust to the change because Waters was such a central figure.

Mason told Mojo: “It must have been the same when Stalin died.

“It took quite a while [to recover], it was a three or four year period.”

His over-the-top analogy refers to the Russian leader’s death in 1953, which created a power struggle in the Soviet Union.

Mason also spoke about the specific moment in 1984 that Waters unveiled his plans to leave. “Roger thought we were all going to call it a day, and David [Gilmour] and I thought Roger was going to call it a day and we were going to carry on,” he said

Waters, who officially left the band in 1985, earlier this month issued a firm statement on Facebook telling fans to “get a grip” after he was questioned about his role in the forthcoming – and last ever – Pink Floyd album.

“I don’t have an album coming out,” he said.

“David Gilmour and Nick Mason have an album coming out. It's called Endless River. David and Nick constitute the group Pink Floyd.”

Two weeks before its release, the new album has been named Amazon's most pre-ordered album of the year.