The album was a commercial success, topping the US charts for 15 weeks and reaching number three in the UK. It initially received mixed reviews from critics, many of whom found it overblown and pretentious, but later received accolades as one of the greatest albums of all time and one of the band's finest works.
Bassist Roger Waters conceived The Wall during Pink Floyd's 1977 In the Flesh tour, modelling the character of Pink after himself and former bandmate Syd Barrett. Producer Bob Ezrin helped to refine the concept and bridge tensions during recording, as the band members were struggling with personal and financial issues at the time. The Wall was the last album to feature Pink Floyd as a quartet; keyboardist Richard Wright was fired by Waters during production but stayed on as a salaried musician.
Three singles were issued from the album: "Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2" , "Run Like Hell", and "Comfortably Numb". In 1982, The Wall was adapted into a feature film for which Waters wrote the screenplay.
The Wall is one of the best-known concept albums. With over 30 million copies sold, it is the second best-selling album in the band's catalogue , the best selling double-album of all time, and one of the best-selling albums of all time overall. Some of the outtakes from the recording sessions were used on the group's next album, The Final Cut . From 2010 to 2013, Waters staged a new Wall live tour that became the highest-grossing tour by a solo musician.
In 1977, Pink Floyd played the In the Flesh Tour. Bassist and singer-songwriter Roger Waters despised the experience, feeling the audience was not listening and that many were too far away to see the band. In July 1977, on the final date at the Montreal Olympic Stadium, a group of noisy and excited fans near the stage irritated Waters so much that he spat on one of them.
Guitarist and singer-songwriter David Gilmour refused to perform a final encore and sat at the soundboard, leaving the band, with backup guitarist Snowy White, to improvise a slow, sad 12-bar blues, which Waters announced to the audience as "some music to go home to".
