Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British
psychedelic
Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips").Pollan, Michael (2018). ''How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of ...
groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philosophical lyrics and elaborate
live shows
Live may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Live!'' (2007 film), 2007 American film
* ''Live'' (2014 film), a 2014 Japanese film
*'' ''Live'' (Apocalyptica DVD)
Music
*Live (band), American alternative rock band
* List of albums ...
. They became a leading band of the
progressive rock
Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...
genre, cited by some as the greatest progressive rock band of all time.
Pink Floyd were founded in 1965 by
Syd Barrett
Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett (6 January 1946 – 7 July 2006) was an English singer, songwriter, and musician who co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd in 1965. Barrett was their original frontman and primary songwriter, becoming known for his ...
(guitar, lead vocals),
Nick Mason
Nicholas Berkeley Mason, (born 27 January 1944) is an English drummer and a founder member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. He is the only member to feature on every Pink Floyd album, and the only constant member since its formation in ...
(drums),
Roger Waters
George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. In 1965, he co-founded the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. Waters initially served as the bassist, but following the departure of singer-so ...
(bass guitar, vocals), and
Richard Wright (keyboards, vocals). Under Barrett's leadership, they released two charting singles and the successful debut album ''
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
''The Piper at the Gates of Dawn'' is the debut studio album by English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 5 August 1967 by EMI Columbia. It is the only Pink Floyd album made under the leadership of founding member Syd Barrett (lead vocals, g ...
'' (1967). Guitarist and vocalist
David Gilmour
David Jon Gilmour ( ; born 6 March 1946) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and member of the rock band Pink Floyd. He joined as guitarist and co-lead vocalist in 1967, shortly before the departure of founding member Syd Barrett. P ...
joined in December 1967; Barrett left in April 1968 due to deteriorating mental health. Waters became the primary lyricist and thematic leader, devising the
concepts
Concepts are defined as abstract ideas. They are understood to be the fundamental building blocks of the concept behind principles, thoughts and beliefs.
They play an important role in all aspects of cognition. As such, concepts are studied by sev ...
behind the band's peak success with the albums ''
The Dark Side of the Moon
''The Dark Side of the Moon'' is the eighth studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 1 March 1973 by Harvest Records. The album was primarily developed during live performances, and the band premiered an early version of ...
'' (1973), ''
Wish You Were Here Wish You Were Here may refer to:
Film, television, and theater Film
* ''Wish You Were Here'' (1987 film), a British comedy-drama film by David Leland
* ''Wish You Were Here'' (2012 film), an Australian drama/mystery film by Kieran Darcy-Smith ...
'' (1975), ''
Animals
Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals consume organic material, breathe oxygen, are able to move, can reproduce sexually, and go through an ontogenetic stage in ...
'' (1977) and ''
The Wall
''The Wall'' is the eleventh studio album by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released on 30 November 1979 by Harvest/EMI and Columbia/CBS Records. It is a rock opera that explores Pink, a jaded rock star whose eventual self-imp ...
'' (1979). The
musical film
Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve merely as breaks ...
based on ''The Wall'', ''
Pink Floyd – The Wall
''Pink Floyd – The Wall'' is a 1982 British live-action/animated psychological musical drama film directed by Alan Parker, based on Pink Floyd's 1979 album of the same name. The screenplay was written by Pink Floyd vocalist and bassist R ...
'' (1982), won two
BAFTA Awards
The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cere ...
. Pink Floyd also composed several
film score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...
s.
Following personal tensions, Wright left Pink Floyd in 1979, followed by Waters in 1985. Gilmour and Mason continued as Pink Floyd, rejoined later by Wright. They produced two more albums—''
A Momentary Lapse of Reason
''A Momentary Lapse of Reason'' is the thirteenth studio album by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released in the UK on 7 September 1987 by EMI and the following day in the US on Columbia. It was recorded primarily on guitarist ...
'' (1987) and ''
The Division Bell
''The Division Bell'' is the fourteenth studio album by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released on 28 March 1994 by EMI Records in the United Kingdom and on 4 April by Columbia Records in the United States.
The second Pink Flo ...
'' (1994)—and toured in support of both before entering a long hiatus. In 2005, all but Barrett reunited for a one-off performance at the global awareness event
Live 8. Barrett died in 2006, and Wright in 2008. The last Pink Floyd studio album, ''
The Endless River
''The Endless River'' is the fifteenth studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released in November 2014 by Parlophone Records in Europe and Columbia Records in the rest of the world. It was the third Pink Floyd album recorded under ...
'' (2014), was based on unreleased material from the ''Division Bell'' recording sessions. In 2022, Gilmour and Mason reformed Pink Floyd to release the song "
Hey, Hey, Rise Up!
"Hey, Hey, Rise Up!" (also written "Hey Hey Rise Up") is a song by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on digital platforms on . It is based on a 1914 Ukrainian anthem, " Oh, the Red Viburnum in the Meadow", and features vocals in Ukrain ...
" in protest of the
Russo-Ukrainian War
The Russo-Ukrainian War; uk, російсько-українська війна, rosiisko-ukrainska viina. has been ongoing between Russia (alongside Russian separatist forces in Donbas, Russian separatists in Ukraine) and Ukraine since Feb ...
.
By 2013, Pink Floyd had sold more than 250 million records worldwide, making them one of the
best-selling music artists of all time. ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' and ''The Wall'' were inducted into the
Grammy Hall of Fame
The Grammy Hall of Fame is a hall of fame to honor musical recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance. Inductees are selected annually by a special member committee of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of ...
, and these albums and ''Wish You Were Here'' are among the
best-selling albums of all time. Four Pink Floyd albums topped the US
Billboard 200
The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of art ...
, and five topped the
UK Album Chart
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...
. Pink Floyd's hit singles include "
See Emily Play
"See Emily Play" is a song by English rock band Pink Floyd, released as their second single in June 1967. Written by original frontman Syd Barrett, it was released as a non-album single, but appeared as the opening track of the U.S. edition of ...
" (1967), "
Money
Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money are as ...
" (1973), "
Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2" (1979), "
Not Now John
"Not Now John" is a song by the progressive rock band Pink Floyd, written by Roger Waters. It appears on the album '' The Final Cut'' (1983). The track is the only one on the album featuring the lead vocals of David Gilmour, found in the verses, ...
" (1983), "
On the Turning Away
"On the Turning Away" is a song from Pink Floyd's 1987 album, ''A Momentary Lapse of Reason''.
The song was a staple of live shows from the 1987–89 world tours in support of ''A Momentary Lapse of Reason'' and was one of the songs in rotation d ...
" (1987) and "
High Hopes" (1994). They were inducted into the US
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and othe ...
in 1996 and the
UK Music Hall of Fame
The UK Music Hall of Fame was an awards ceremony to honour musicians, of any nationality, for their lifetime contributions to music in the United Kingdom. The hall of fame started in 2004 with the induction of five founder members and five mor ...
in 2005. In 2008, Pink Floyd were awarded the
Polar Music Prize
The Polar Music Prize is a Swedish international award founded in 1989 by Stig Anderson, best known as the manager of the Swedish band ABBA, with a donation to the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. The award is annually given to one contemporary ...
in Sweden for their contribution to modern music.
History
1963–1965: Formation
Preceding the band
Roger Waters
George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. In 1965, he co-founded the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. Waters initially served as the bassist, but following the departure of singer-so ...
and
Nick Mason
Nicholas Berkeley Mason, (born 27 January 1944) is an English drummer and a founder member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. He is the only member to feature on every Pink Floyd album, and the only constant member since its formation in ...
met while studying architecture at the
London Polytechnic
, mottoeng = The Lord is our Strength
, type = Public
, established = 1838: Royal Polytechnic Institution 1891: Polytechnic-Regent Street 1970: Polytechnic of Central London 1992: University of Westminster
, endowment = £5.1 million ...
at
Regent Street
Regent Street is a major shopping street in the West End of London. It is named after George, the Prince Regent (later George IV) and was laid out under the direction of the architect John Nash and James Burton. It runs from Waterloo Place ...
. They first played music together in a group formed by fellow students Keith Noble and Clive Metcalfe, with Noble's sister Sheilagh.
Richard Wright, a fellow architecture student, joined later that year, and the group became a sextet, Sigma 6. Waters played lead guitar, Mason drums, and Wright rhythm guitar (since there was rarely an available keyboard). The band performed at private functions and rehearsed in a
tearoom
A teahouse (mainly Asia) or tearoom (also tea room) is an establishment which primarily serves tea and other light refreshments. A tea room may be a room set aside in a hotel especially for serving afternoon tea, or may be an establishment whic ...
in the basement of the Regent Street Polytechnic. They performed songs by
the Searchers
''The Searchers'' is a 1956 American Technicolor VistaVision epic Western film directed by John Ford and written by Frank S. Nugent, based on the 1954 novel by Alan Le May. It is set during the Texas-Native American wars, and stars John Wa ...
and material written by their manager and songwriter, fellow student Ken Chapman.
In September 1963, Waters and Mason moved into a flat at 39 Stanhope Gardens near
Crouch End
Crouch End is an area of North London, approximately from the City of London in the western half of the borough of Haringey. It is within the Hornsey postal district (N8). It has been described by the BBC as one of "a new breed of urban villag ...
in London, owned by Mike Leonard, a part-time tutor at the nearby
Hornsey College of Art
Hornsey College of Art (a.k.a. Hornsey School of Art) was a college in Crouch End in the London Borough of Haringey, England. The HCA was "an iconic British art institution, renowned for its experimental and progressive approach to art and design ...
and the Regent Street Polytechnic. Mason moved out after the 1964 academic year, and guitarist
Bob Klose
Rado Robert Garcia Klose (born 1945) is an English musician, photographer and printmaker. Between 1964 and July 1965, he was the lead guitarist of the rock band the Tea Set, a group that would later become Pink Floyd. Although he recorded a f ...
moved in during September 1964, prompting Waters's switch to bass. Sigma 6 went through several names, including the Meggadeaths, the Abdabs and the Screaming Abdabs, Leonard's Lodgers, and the Spectrum Five, before settling on the Tea Set. In 1964, as Metcalfe and Noble left to form their own band, guitarist
Syd Barrett
Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett (6 January 1946 – 7 July 2006) was an English singer, songwriter, and musician who co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd in 1965. Barrett was their original frontman and primary songwriter, becoming known for his ...
joined Klose and Waters at Stanhope Gardens. Barrett, two years younger, had moved to London in 1962 to study at the
Camberwell College of Arts
Camberwell College of Arts is a public tertiary art school in Camberwell, in London, England. It is one of the six constituent colleges of the University of the Arts London. It offers further and higher education programmes, including postgra ...
. Waters and Barrett were childhood friends; Waters had often visited Barrett and watched him play guitar at Barrett's mother's house. Mason said about Barrett: "In a period when everyone was being cool in a very adolescent, self-conscious way, Syd was unfashionably outgoing; my enduring memory of our first encounter is the fact that he bothered to come up and introduce himself to me."
Noble and Metcalfe left the Tea Set in late 1963, and Klose introduced the band to singer Chris Dennis, a technician with the
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
(RAF). In December 1964, they secured their first recording time, at a studio in West Hampstead, through one of Wright's friends, who let them use some down time free. Wright, who was taking a break from his studies, did not participate in the session. When the RAF assigned Dennis a post in Bahrain in early 1965, Barrett became the band's frontman. Later that year, they became the resident band at the Countdown Club near
Kensington High Street
Kensington High Street is the main shopping street in Kensington, London, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.
Kensington High Street is the continuation of Kensington Road and part ...
in London, where from late night until early morning they played three sets of 90 minutes each. During this period, spurred by the group's need to extend their sets to minimise song repetition, the band realised that "songs could be extended with lengthy solos", wrote Mason. After pressure from his parents and advice from his college tutors, Klose quit the band in mid-1965 and Barrett took over lead guitar.
1965–1967: Early years
Pink Floyd
The group rebranded in late 1965, first referring to themselves as the Pink Floyd Sound. They would later be referred to as the Pink Floyd and later simply Pink Floyd. Barrett created the name on the spur of the moment when he discovered that another band, also called the Tea Set, were to perform at one of their gigs. The name is derived from the given names of two
blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
musicians whose
Piedmont blues
Piedmont blues (also known as East Coast, or Southeastern blues) refers primarily to a guitar style, which is characterized by a fingerpicking approach in which a regular, alternating thumb bass string rhythmic pattern supports a syncopated melo ...
records Barrett had in his collection,
Pink Anderson
Pinkney "Pink" Anderson (February 12, 1900 – October 12, 1974) was an American blues singer and guitarist.
Life and career
Anderson was born in Laurens, South Carolina, and raised in nearby Greenville and Spartanburg. He joined Dr. William ...
and
Floyd Council
Floyd Council (September 2, 1911 – May 9, 1976) was an American blues guitarist, mandolin player, and singer. He was a practitioner of the Piedmont blues, which was popular in the southeastern United States in the 1920s and 1930s. He was ...
. By 1966, the group's repertoire consisted mainly of
rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...
songs, and they had begun to receive paid bookings, including a performance at the
Marquee Club
The Marquee Club was a music venue first located at 165 Oxford Street in London, when it opened in 1958 with a range of jazz and skiffle acts. Its most famous period was from 1964 to 1988 at 90 Wardour Street in Soho, and it finally closed whe ...
in December 1966, where
Peter Jenner
Peter Julian Jenner (born 3 March 1943) is a British music manager and a record producer. Jenner, Andrew King and the original four members of Pink Floyd were partners in Blackhill Enterprises.
Early career
Peter Jenner is the son of Willia ...
, a lecturer at the
London School of Economics
, mottoeng = To understand the causes of things
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £240.8 million (2021)
, budget = £391.1 millio ...
, noticed them. Jenner was impressed by the sonic effects Barrett and Wright created and, with his business partner and friend
Andrew King, became their manager. The pair had little experience in the
music industry
The music industry consists of the individuals and organizations that earn money by writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling recorded music and sheet music, presenting concerts, as well as the organizations that aid, train, ...
and used King's inheritance to set up
Blackhill Enterprises
Blackhill Enterprises was a rock music management company, founded as a partnership by the four original members of Pink Floyd ( Syd Barrett, Nick Mason, Roger Waters and Richard Wright), with Peter Jenner and Andrew King.
Blackhill were th ...
, purchasing about £1,000 () worth of new instruments and equipment for the band. It was around this time that Jenner suggested they drop the "Sound" part of their band name, thus becoming Pink Floyd. Under Jenner and King's guidance, the group became part of London's
underground music
Underground music is music with practices perceived as outside, or somehow opposed to, mainstream popular music culture. Underground music is intimately tied to popular music culture as a whole, so there are important tensions within underground ...
scene, playing at venues including All Saints Hall and the Marquee. While performing at the Countdown Club, the band had experimented with long instrumental excursions, and they began to expand them with rudimentary but effective light shows, projected by coloured slides and domestic lights. Jenner and King's social connections helped gain the band prominent coverage in the ''
Financial Times
The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...
'' and an article in the ''
Sunday Times
''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...
'' which stated: "At the launching of the new magazine ''
IT'' the other night a pop group called the Pink Floyd played throbbing music while a series of bizarre coloured shapes flashed on a huge screen behind them ... apparently very psychedelic."
In 1966, the band strengthened their business relationship with Blackhill Enterprises, becoming equal partners with Jenner and King and the band members each holding a one-sixth share. By late 1966, their set included fewer R&B standards and more Barrett originals, many of which would be included on their first album. While they had significantly increased the frequency of their performances, the band were still not widely accepted. Following a performance at a Catholic youth club, the owner refused to pay them, claiming that their performance was not music. When their management filed suit in a small claims court against the owner of the youth organisation, a local magistrate upheld the owner's decision. The band was much better received at the
UFO Club
The UFO Club ( ') was a short-lived British counter-culture nightclub in London in the 1960s. The club was established by Joe Boyd and John "Hoppy" Hopkins. It featured light shows, poetry readings, well-known rock acts such as Jimi Hendrix, ...
in London, where they began to build a fan base. Barrett's performances were enthusiastic, "leaping around ... madness ... improvisation ...
nspiredto get past his limitations and into areas that were ... very interesting. Which none of the others could do", wrote biographer
Nicholas Schaffner
Nicholas Schaffner (January 28, 1953 – August 28, 1991) was an American non-fiction author, journalist, and singer-songwriter.
Biography
Schaffner was born in Manhattan to John V. Schaffner (1913–1983), a literary agent whose clients includ ...
.
Signing with EMI
In 1967, Pink Floyd began to attract the attention of the music industry. While in negotiations with record companies, ''IT'' co-founder and UFO club manager
Joe Boyd
Joe Boyd (born August 5, 1942) is an American record producer and writer. He formerly owned Hannibal Records. Boyd has worked on recordings of Pink Floyd, Fairport Convention, Sandy Denny, Richard Thompson, Nick Drake, The Incredible String Band ...
and Pink Floyd's booking agent
Bryan Morrison
Bryan Morrison (14 August 1942 – 27 September 2008) was an English businessman, music publisher and polo player.
Career
He served as representative for musicians such as Pink Floyd. His company, the Bryan Morrison Agency, became one of th ...
arranged and funded a recording session at
Sound Techniques
Sound Techniques was a recording studio in Chelsea, London that was operational between 1965 and 1976. Housed in a former dairy, it was founded by recording engineers Geoff Frost and John Wood. The studio became well known as the place where man ...
in
Kensington
Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London.
The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...
. Three days later, Pink Floyd signed with EMI, receiving a £5,000 advance (). EMI released the band's first single, "
Arnold Layne
"Arnold Layne" is a song by English rock band Pink Floyd. Released on 10 March 1967, it was the band's first single release. It was written by Syd Barrett.
Lyrics
The song's title character is a transvestite whose strange hobby is stealing wo ...
", with the B-side "
Candy and a Currant Bun
"Candy and a Currant Bun" is the B-side to Pink Floyd's first single, "Arnold Layne".
Its lyrical content is about drugs and casual sex.
Lyric change
When performed live in 1967, the song was known as "Let's Roll Another One" and contained the ...
", on 10 March 1967 on its
Columbia label. Both tracks were recorded on 29 January 1967. "Arnold Layne"'s references to
cross-dressing
Cross-dressing is the act of wearing clothes usually worn by a different gender. From as early as pre-modern history, cross-dressing has been practiced in order to disguise, comfort, entertain, and self-express oneself.
Cross-dressing has play ...
led to a ban by several radio stations; however, creative manipulation by the retailers who supplied sales figures to the music business meant that the single peaked in the UK at number 20.
EMI-Columbia released Pink Floyd's second single, "
See Emily Play
"See Emily Play" is a song by English rock band Pink Floyd, released as their second single in June 1967. Written by original frontman Syd Barrett, it was released as a non-album single, but appeared as the opening track of the U.S. edition of ...
", on 16 June 1967. It fared slightly better than "Arnold Layne", peaking at number 6 in the UK. The band performed on the BBC's ''Look of the Week'', where Waters and Barrett, erudite and engaging, faced tough questioning from
Hans Keller
Hans (Heinrich) Keller (11 March 19196 November 1985) was an Austrian-born British musician and writer, who made significant contributions to musicology and music criticism, as well as being a commentator on such disparate fields as psychoana ...
. They appeared on the BBC's ''
Top of the Pops
''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...
'', a popular programme that controversially required artists to mime their singing and playing. Though Pink Floyd returned for two more performances, by the third, Barrett had begun to unravel, and around this time the band first noticed significant changes in his behaviour. By early 1967, he was regularly using
LSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), also known colloquially as acid, is a potent psychedelic drug. Effects typically include intensified thoughts, emotions, and sensory perception. At sufficiently high dosages LSD manifests primarily mental, vi ...
, and Mason described him as "completely distanced from everything going on".
''The Piper at the Gates of Dawn''
Morrison and EMI producer
Norman Smith negotiated Pink Floyd's first recording contract. As part of the deal, the band agreed to record their first album at
EMI Studios
Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music co ...
in London. Mason recalled that the sessions were trouble-free. Smith disagreed, stating that Barrett was unresponsive to his suggestions and constructive criticism. EMI-Columbia released ''
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
''The Piper at the Gates of Dawn'' is the debut studio album by English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 5 August 1967 by EMI Columbia. It is the only Pink Floyd album made under the leadership of founding member Syd Barrett (lead vocals, g ...
'' in August 1967. The album peaked at number 6, spending 14 weeks on the UK charts. One month later, it was released under the
Tower Records
Tower Records is an international retail franchise and online music store that was formerly based in Sacramento, California, United States. From 1960 until 2006, Tower operated retail stores in the United States, which closed when Tower Records ...
label. Pink Floyd continued to draw large crowds at the UFO Club; however, Barrett's mental breakdown was by then causing serious concern. The group initially hoped that his erratic behaviour would be a passing phase, but some were less optimistic, including Jenner and his assistant,
June Child, who commented: "I found
arrettin the dressing room and he was so ... gone. Roger Waters and I got him on his feet,
ndwe got him out to the stage ... The band started to play and Syd just stood there. He had his guitar around his neck and his arms just hanging down".
Forced to cancel Pink Floyd's appearance at the prestigious
National Jazz and Blues Festival
The National Jazz and Blues Festival was the precursor to the Reading Rock Festival and was the brainchild of Harold Pendleton, the founder of the prestigious Marquee Club in Soho.
History
Initially called The National Jazz Festival, it was ...
, as well as several other shows, King informed the music press that Barrett was suffering from nervous exhaustion. Waters arranged a meeting with psychiatrist
R. D. Laing
Ronald David Laing (7 October 1927 – 23 August 1989), usually cited as R. D. Laing, was a Scottish psychiatrist who wrote extensively on mental illnessin particular, the experience of psychosis. Laing's views on the causes and treatment o ...
, and though Waters personally drove Barrett to the appointment, Barrett refused to come out of the car. A stay in
Formentera
Formentera (, ) is the smallest and most southerly island of the Pityusic Islands group (comprising Ibiza and Formentera, as well as various small islets), which belongs to the Balearic Islands autonomous community (Spain). It covers an area of ...
with
Sam Hutt
Samuel Hutt, known by the stage name Hank Wangford (born 15 November 1940), is an English country and western songwriter.
"Hank is a good smoke screen. He can do things I can't do. He's my clown," says Dr. Hutt, who has been struggling to bala ...
, a doctor well established in the underground music scene, led to no visible improvement. The band followed a few concert dates in Europe during September with their first tour of the US in October. As the US tour went on, Barrett's condition grew steadily worse. During appearances on the
Dick Clark
Richard Wagstaff Clark (November 30, 1929April 18, 2012) was an American radio and television personality, television producer and film actor, as well as a cultural icon who remains best known for hosting ''American Bandstand'' from 1956 to 198 ...
and
Pat Boone
Patrick Charles Eugene Boone (born June 1, 1934) is an American singer and actor. He was a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. He sold more than 45 million records, had 38 Top 40 hits, and appeared in mo ...
shows in November, Barrett confounded his hosts by giving terse answers to questions (or not responding at all) and staring into space. He refused to move his lips when it came time to
mime
Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) is an Internet standard that extends the format of email messages to support text in character sets other than ASCII, as well as attachments of audio, video, images, and application programs. Message ...
"See Emily Play" on Boone's show. After these embarrassing episodes, King ended their US visit and immediately sent them home to London. Soon after their return, they supported
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...
during a tour of England; however, Barrett's depression worsened as the tour continued.
1967–1978: Transition and international success
1967: Replacement of Barrett by Gilmour
In December 1967, reaching a crisis point with Barrett, Pink Floyd added guitarist
David Gilmour
David Jon Gilmour ( ; born 6 March 1946) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and member of the rock band Pink Floyd. He joined as guitarist and co-lead vocalist in 1967, shortly before the departure of founding member Syd Barrett. P ...
as the fifth member. Gilmour already knew Barrett, having studied with him at Cambridge Tech in the early 1960s. The two had performed at lunchtimes together with guitars and harmonicas, and later hitch-hiked and
busked their way around the south of France. In 1965, while a member of
Joker's Wild, Gilmour had watched the Tea Set.
Morrison's assistant,
Steve O'Rourke
Steve O'Rourke ( – ) was an English music manager and racing driver. He is known for being the manager of Pink Floyd, a position he held from 1968 until his death. Among his accomplishments is negotiating Pink Floyd's split with bass player and ...
, set Gilmour up in a room at O'Rourke's house with a salary of £30 per week (). In January 1968, Blackhill Enterprises announced Gilmour as the band's newest member, intending to continue with Barrett as a nonperforming songwriter. According to Jenner, the group planned that Gilmour would "cover for
arrett'seccentricities". When this proved unworkable, it was decided that Barrett would just write material. In an expression of his frustration, Barrett, who was expected to write additional hit singles to follow up "Arnold Layne" and "See Emily Play", instead introduced "
Have You Got It Yet?" to the band, intentionally changing the structure on each performance so as to make the song impossible to follow and learn. In a January 1968 photoshoot of Pink Floyd, the photographs show Barrett looking detached from the others, staring into the distance.
Working with Barrett eventually proved too difficult, and matters came to a conclusion in January while en route to a performance in
Southampton
Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
when a band member asked if they should collect Barrett. According to Gilmour, the answer was "Nah, let's not bother", signalling the end of Barrett's tenure with Pink Floyd. Waters later said, "He was our friend, but most of the time we now wanted to strangle him." In early March 1968, Pink Floyd met with business partners Jenner and King to discuss the band's future; Barrett agreed to leave.
Jenner and King believed Barrett was the creative genius of the band, and decided to represent him and end their relationship with Pink Floyd. Morrison sold his business to
NEMS Enterprises
Brian Samuel Epstein (; 19 September 1934 – 27 August 1967) was a British music entrepreneur who managed the Beatles from 1962 until his death in 1967.
Epstein was born into a family of successful retailers in Liverpool, who put him i ...
, and O'Rourke became the band's personal manager. Blackhill announced Barrett's departure on 6 April 1968. After Barrett's departure, the burden of lyrical composition and creative direction fell mostly on Waters. Initially, Gilmour mimed to Barrett's voice on the group's European TV appearances; however, while playing on the university circuit, they avoided Barrett songs in favour of Waters and Wright material such as "
It Would Be So Nice
"It Would Be So Nice" is a 1968 song by the rock band Pink Floyd, written by the keyboard player/singer Richard Wright. It was the fourth single released by the group and the first to feature new guitarist David Gilmour, following the departure o ...
" and "
Careful with That Axe, Eugene
"Careful with That Axe, Eugene" is an instrumental piece by the British rock band Pink Floyd. It was recorded in November 1968 and released as the B-side to the single " Point Me at the Sky", and featured on the 1971 compilation album ''Relics ...
".
''A Saucerful of Secrets'' (1968)
In 1968, Pink Floyd returned to
Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music c ...
to complete their second album, ''
A Saucerful of Secrets'', which they had begun in 1967 under Barrett's leadership. The album included Barrett's final contribution to their discography, "
Jugband Blues
"Jugband Blues" is a song by the English psychedelic rock band Pink Floyd, released on their second album, ''A Saucerful of Secrets'', in 1968. Written by Syd Barrett, it was his sole compositional contribution to the album, as well as his last pub ...
". Waters developed his own songwriting, contributing "
Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun
"Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" is a song by the English rock band Pink Floyd, appearing on their second album, '' A Saucerful of Secrets'' (1968). It was written by Roger Waters, taking lyrics from a Chinese poetry book, and featu ...
", "
Let There Be More Light
"Let There Be More Light" is the opening track on Pink Floyd's second album, ''A Saucerful of Secrets''. It was also released in edited form as the fourth American single by the group.
Writing and recording
The song is written by Roger Waters. It ...
", and "
Corporal Clegg
"Corporal Clegg" is a song by the English psychedelic rock band Pink Floyd, and is featured on their second album, ''A Saucerful of Secrets'' (1968). It was written by Roger Waters and features David Gilmour, Nick Mason and Richard Wright sharing ...
". Wright composed "
See-Saw
A seesaw (also known as a teeter-totter or teeterboard) is a long, narrow board supported by a single pivot point, most commonly located at the midpoint between both ends; as one end goes up, the other goes down. These are most commonly found a ...
" and "
Remember a Day".
Norman Smith encouraged them to self-produce their music, and they recorded demos of new material at their houses. With Smith's instruction at Abbey Road, they learned how to use the recording studio to realise their artistic vision. However, Smith remained unconvinced by their music, and when Mason struggled to perform his drum part on "Remember a Day", Smith stepped in as his replacement. Wright recalled Smith's attitude about the sessions, "Norman gave up on the second album ... he was forever saying things like, 'You can't do twenty minutes of this ridiculous noise. As neither Waters nor Mason could read music, to illustrate the structure of
the album's title track, they invented their own system of notation. Gilmour later described their method as looking "like an architectural diagram".
Released in June 1968, the album featured a
psychedelic
Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips").Pollan, Michael (2018). ''How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of ...
cover designed by
Storm Thorgerson
Storm Elvin Thorgerson (28 February 1944 – 18 April 2013) was an English graphic designer and music video director. He is best known for closely working with the group Pink Floyd through most of their career, and also created album or other a ...
and
Aubrey Powell Aubrey Powell may refer to:
*Aubrey Powell (designer)
Aubrey Powell (born 23 September 1946) is a British graphic designer. He co-founded the album cover design company Hipgnosis with Storm Thorgerson in 1967. The company ran for 15 years u ...
of
Hipgnosis
Hipgnosis were an English art design group based in London, that specialised in creating album cover artwork for rock musicians and bands. Their commissions included work for Pink Floyd, T. Rex, the Pretty Things, Black Sabbath, UFO, 10cc, Ba ...
. The first of several Pink Floyd album covers designed by Hipgnosis, it was the second time that EMI permitted one of their groups to contract designers for an album jacket. The release peaked at number 9, spending 11 weeks on the UK chart. ''
Record Mirror
''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper between 1954 and 1991 for pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after the ''NME'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK album chart was published in ''Re ...
'' gave the album an overall favourable review, but urged listeners to "forget it as background music to a party".
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...
described a live performance of the title track as "like a religious experience", while ''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' described the song as "long and boring ...
ith
The Ith () is a ridge in Germany's Central Uplands which is up to 439 m high. It lies about 40 km southwest of Hanover and, at 22 kilometres, is the longest line of crags in North Germany.
Geography
Location
The Ith is immediatel ...
little to warrant its monotonous direction". On the day after the album's UK release, Pink Floyd performed at the first ever free
concert in Hyde Park. In July 1968, they returned to the US for a second visit. Accompanied by the
Soft Machine
Soft Machine are a British rock band from Canterbury formed in mid-1966 by Mike Ratledge (keyboards, 1966–1976), Robert Wyatt (drums, vocals, 1966–1971), Kevin Ayers (bass, guitar, vocals, 1966–1968) and Daevid Allen (guitar, 1966–196 ...
and
the Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...
, it marked Pink Floyd's first major tour. That December, they released "
Point Me at the Sky"; no more successful than the two singles they had released since "See Emily Play", it was their last single until "
Money
Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money are as ...
" in 1973.
''Ummagumma'' (1969), ''Atom Heart Mother'' (1970) and ''Meddle'' (1971)
![Pink Floyd, 1971](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/Pink_Floyd%2C_1971.jpg)
''
Ummagumma
''Ummagumma'' is the fourth album by English rock band Pink Floyd. It is a double album and it was released on 7 November 1969 by Harvest Records. The first disc consists of live recordings from concerts at Mothers Club in Birmingham and the C ...
'' represented a departure from Pink Floyd's previous work. Released as a double-LP on EMI's
Harvest
Harvesting is the process of gathering a ripe crop from the fields. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulse for harvest, typically using a scythe, sickle, or reaper. On smaller farms with minimal mechanization, harvesting is the most labor-i ...
label, the first two sides contained live performances recorded at
Manchester College of Commerce
Manchester Metropolitan University is located in the centre of Manchester, England. The university has over 40,000 students and over 4,000 members of staff. It is home to four faculties (Arts and Humanities, Business and Law, Health and Educat ...
and
Mothers
]
A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of gesta ...
, a club in
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
. The second LP contained a single experimental contribution from each band member. ''Ummagumma'' was released in November 1969 and received positive reviews. The album peaked at number 5, spending 21 weeks on the UK chart.
![Roger waters leeds 1970](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/Roger_waters_leeds_1970.jpg)
In October 1970, Pink Floyd released ''
Atom Heart Mother
''Atom Heart Mother'' is the fifth studio album by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd. It was released by Harvest on 2 October 1970 in the UK, and by Capitol on 10 October 1970 in the US. It was recorded at EMI Studios (now Abbey Ro ...
''. An early version premièred in England in mid January, but disagreements over the mix prompted the hiring of
Ron Geesin
Ronald Frederick Geesin (born 17 December 1943) is a Scottish musician, composer and writer known for his unusual creations and novel applications of sound, as well as for his collaborations with Pink Floyd and Roger Waters.
Career
Ron Geesin ...
to work out the sound problems. Geesin worked to improve the score, but with little creative input from the band, production was troublesome. Geesin eventually completed the project with the aid of
John Alldis, who was the director of the choir hired to perform on the record. Smith earned an executive producer credit, and the album marked his final official contribution to the band's discography. Gilmour said it was "A neat way of saying that he didn't ... do anything". Waters was critical of ''Atom Heart Mother'', claiming that he would prefer if it were "thrown into the dustbin and never listened to by anyone ever again". Gilmour once described it as "a load of rubbish", stating: "I think we were scraping the barrel a bit at that period." Pink Floyd's first number-one album, ''Atom Heart Mother'' was hugely successful in Britain, spending 18 weeks on the UK chart. It premièred at the Bath Festival on 27 June 1970.
Pink Floyd toured extensively across America and Europe in 1970. In 1971, Pink Floyd took second place in a reader's poll, in ''Melody Maker'', and for the first time were making a profit. Mason and Wright became fathers and bought homes in London while Gilmour, still single, moved to a 19th-century farm in Essex. Waters installed a home recording studio at his house in
Islington
Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...
in a converted toolshed at the back of his garden.
In January 1971, upon their return from touring ''Atom Heart Mother'', Pink Floyd began working on new material. Lacking a central theme, they attempted several unproductive experiments; engineer
John Leckie
John William Leckie (born 23 October 1949) is an English record producer and recording engineer. His production credits include Magazine's ''Real Life'' (1978), XTC's ''White Music'' (1978) and Dukes of Stratosphear's '' 25 O'Clock'' (1985), t ...
described the sessions as often beginning in the afternoon and ending early the next morning, "during which time nothing would get
ccomplished There was no record company contact whatsoever, except when their label manager would show up now and again with a couple of bottles of wine and a couple of joints". The band spent long periods working on basic sounds, or a guitar riff. They also spent several days at Air Studios, attempting to create music using a variety of household objects, a project which would be revisited between ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' and ''
Wish You Were Here Wish You Were Here may refer to:
Film, television, and theater Film
* ''Wish You Were Here'' (1987 film), a British comedy-drama film by David Leland
* ''Wish You Were Here'' (2012 film), an Australian drama/mystery film by Kieran Darcy-Smith ...
''.
''
Meddle
''Meddle'' is the sixth studio album by English rock band Pink Floyd, released by Harvest Records. The album was produced between the band's touring commitments, from January to August 1971 at a series of locations around London, including EM ...
'' was released in October 1971, and reached number three, spending 82 weeks on the UK chart. It marks a transition between the Barrett-led group of the late 1960s and the emerging Pink Floyd; Jean-Charles Costa of ''Rolling Stone'' wrote that "not only confirms lead guitarist David Gilmour's emergence as a real shaping force with the group, it states forcefully and accurately that the group is well into the growth track again". ''NME'' called it "an exceptionally good album", singling out "Echoes (Pink Floyd song), Echoes" as the "Zenith which the Floyd have been striving for". However, ''Melody Maker's'' Michael Watts found it underwhelming, calling the album "a soundtrack to a non-existent movie", and shrugging off Pink Floyd as "so much sound and fury, signifying nothing".
''The Dark Side of the Moon'' (1973)
Pink Floyd recorded ''
The Dark Side of the Moon
''The Dark Side of the Moon'' is the eighth studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 1 March 1973 by Harvest Records. The album was primarily developed during live performances, and the band premiered an early version of ...
'' between May 1972 and January 1973 with EMI staff engineer Alan Parsons at Abbey Road. The title is an allusion to lunacy rather than astronomy. The band had composed and refined the material while touring the UK, Japan, North America, and Europe. Producer Chris Thomas (record producer), Chris Thomas assisted Parsons. Hipgnosis designed the packaging, which included George Hardie (artist), George Hardie's iconic refracting Prism (optics), prism design on the cover. Thorgerson's cover features a beam of white light, representing unity, passing through a prism, which represents society. The refracted beam of coloured light symbolises unity diffracted, leaving an absence of unity. Waters is the sole author of the lyrics.
Released in March 1973, the LP became an instant chart success in the UK and throughout Western Europe, earning an enthusiastic response from critics. Each member of Pink Floyd except Wright boycotted the press release of ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' because a quadraphonic mix had not yet been completed, and they felt presenting the album through a poor-quality stereo Public address system, PA system was insufficient. ''Melody Maker'' Roy Hollingworth described side one as "utterly confused ...
nddifficult to follow", but praised side two, writing: "The songs, the sounds ...
ndthe rhythms were solid ... [the] saxophone hit the air, the band rocked and rolled". ''Rolling Stone'' Loyd Grossman described it as "a fine album with a textural and conceptual richness that not only invites, but demands involvement."
Throughout March 1973, ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' featured as part of Pink Floyd's US tour. The album is one of the most commercially successful rock albums of all time; a US number-one, it remained on the Billboard 200, ''Billboard'' Top LPs & Tape chart for more than fourteen years during the 1970s and 1980s, selling more than 45 million copies worldwide. In Britain, the album peaked at number 2, spending 364 weeks on the UK chart. ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' is the world's third best-selling album, and the twenty-first best-selling album of all time in the US. The success of the album brought enormous wealth to the members of Pink Floyd. Waters and Wright bought large country houses while Mason became a collector of expensive cars. Disenchanted with their US record company, Capitol Records, Pink Floyd and O'Rourke negotiated a new contract with Columbia Records, who gave them a reported advance of $1,000,000 (US$ in dollars). In Europe, they continued to be represented by Harvest Records.
''Wish You Were Here'' (1975)
After a tour of the UK performing ''Dark Side'', Pink Floyd returned to the studio in January 1975 and began work on their ninth studio album, ''
Wish You Were Here Wish You Were Here may refer to:
Film, television, and theater Film
* ''Wish You Were Here'' (1987 film), a British comedy-drama film by David Leland
* ''Wish You Were Here'' (2012 film), an Australian drama/mystery film by Kieran Darcy-Smith ...
''. Parsons declined an offer to continue working with them, becoming successful in his own right with the Alan Parsons Project, and so the band turned to Brian Humphries. Initially, they found it difficult to compose new material; the success of ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' had left Pink Floyd physically and emotionally drained. Wright later described these early sessions as "falling within a difficult period" and Waters found them "tortuous". Gilmour was more interested in improving the band's existing material. Mason's failing marriage left him in a general malaise and with a sense of apathy, both of which interfered with his drumming.
Despite the lack of creative direction, Waters began to visualise a new concept after several weeks. During 1974, Pink Floyd had sketched out three original compositions and had performed them at a series of concerts in Europe. These compositions became the starting point for a new album whose opening four-note guitar phrase, composed purely by chance by Gilmour, reminded Waters of Barrett. The songs provided a fitting summary of the rise and fall of their former bandmate. Waters commented: "Because I wanted to get as close as possible to what I felt ... [that] indefinable, inevitable melancholy about the disappearance of Syd."
While Pink Floyd were working on the album, Barrett made an impromptu visit to the studio. Thorgerson recalled that he "sat round and talked for a bit, but he wasn't really there". He had changed significantly in appearance, so much so that the band did not initially recognise him. Waters was reportedly deeply upset by the experience. Most of ''Wish You Were Here'' premiered on 5 July 1975, at an open-air music festival at Knebworth House, Knebworth. Released in September, it reached number one in both the UK and the US.
''Animals'' (1977)
![Battersea Power Station in London](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/Battersea_Power_Station_in_London.jpg)
In 1975, Pink Floyd bought a three-storey group of church halls at Britannia Row Studios, 35 Britannia Row in Islington and began converting them into a recording studio and storage space. In 1976, they recorded their tenth album, ''
Animals
Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals consume organic material, breathe oxygen, are able to move, can reproduce sexually, and go through an ontogenetic stage in ...
'', in their newly finished 24-track studio. The album concept originated with Waters, loosely based on George Orwell's political fable ''Animal Farm''. The lyrics describe different classes of society as dogs, pigs, and sheep. Hipgnosis received credit for the packaging; however, Waters designed the final concept, choosing an image of the ageing Battersea Power Station, over which they superimposed an image of a pig.
The division of royalties was a source of conflict between band members, who earned royalties on a per-song basis. Although Gilmour was largely responsible for "Dogs (Pink Floyd song), Dogs", which took up almost the entire first side of the album, he received less than Waters, who contributed the much shorter two-part "Pigs on the Wing". Wright commented: "It was partly my fault because I didn't push my material ... but Dave ''did'' have something to offer, and only managed to get a couple of things on there." Mason recalled: "Roger was in full flow with the ideas, but he was really keeping Dave down, and frustrating him deliberately." Gilmour, distracted by the birth of his first child, contributed little else toward the album. Similarly, neither Mason nor Wright contributed much toward ''Animals''; Wright had marital problems, and his relationship with Waters was also suffering. ''Animals'' was the first Pink Floyd album with no writing credit for Wright, who said: "This was when Roger ''really'' started to believe that he was the sole writer for the band ... that it was only because of him that [we] were still going ... when he started to develop his ego trips, the person he would have his conflicts with would be me."
Released in January 1977, ''Animals'' peaked on the UK chart at number two, and the US chart at number three. ''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' described the album as "one of the most extreme, relentless, harrowing and downright iconoclastic hunks of music", and ''Melody Maker'' Karl Dallas called it "[an] uncomfortable taste of reality in a medium that has become in recent years, increasingly soporific".
Pink Floyd performed much of ''Animals'' during their "In the Flesh (1977 Pink Floyd 'Animals' tour), In the Flesh" tour. It was their first experience playing large stadiums, whose size caused unease in the band. Waters began arriving at each venue alone, departing immediately after the performance. On one occasion, Wright flew back to England, threatening to quit. At the Montreal Olympic Stadium (Montreal), Olympic Stadium, a group of noisy and enthusiastic fans in the front row of the audience irritated Waters so much that he spat at one of them. The end of the tour marked a low point for Gilmour, who felt that the band achieved the success they had sought, with nothing left for them to accomplish.
1978–1985: Waters-led era
''The Wall'' (1979)
In July 1978, amid a financial crisis caused by negligent investments, Waters presented two ideas for Pink Floyd's next album. The first was a 90-minute demo with the working title ''Bricks in the Wall;'' the other later became Waters's first solo album, ''The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking''. Although both Mason and Gilmour were initially cautious, they chose the former. Bob Ezrin co-produced and wrote a forty-page script for the new album. Ezrin based the story on the central figure of Pink—a ''gestalt'' character inspired by Waters's childhood experiences, the most notable of which was the death of his father in World War II. This first metaphorical brick led to more problems; Pink would become drug-addled and depressed by the music industry, eventually transforming into a megalomaniac, a development inspired partly by the decline of Syd Barrett. At the end of the album, the increasingly fascist audience would watch as Pink tore down the wall, once again becoming a regular and caring person.
During the recording of ''
The Wall
''The Wall'' is the eleventh studio album by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released on 30 November 1979 by Harvest/EMI and Columbia/CBS Records. It is a rock opera that explores Pink, a jaded rock star whose eventual self-imp ...
'', the band became dissatisfied with Wright's lack of contribution and fired him. Gilmour said that Wright was dismissed as he "hadn't contributed anything of any value whatsoever to the album—he did very, very little". According to Mason, Wright would sit in on the sessions "without doing anything, just 'being a producer. Waters said the band agreed that Wright would either have to "have a long battle" or agree to "leave quietly" after the album was finished; Wright accepted the ultimatum and left.
''The Wall'' was supported by Pink Floyd's first single since "Money", "Another Brick in the Wall, Part II, Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)", which topped the charts in the US and the UK. ''The Wall'' was released on 30 November 1979 and topped the ''Billboard'' chart in the US for 15 weeks, reaching number three in the UK. It is tied for sixth most certified album by Recording Industry Association of America, RIAA, with 23 million certified units sold in the US. The cover, with a stark brick wall and band name, was the first Pink Floyd album cover since ''The Piper at the Gates of Dawn'' not designed by Hipgnosis.
Gerald Scarfe produced a series of animations for the The Wall Tour (1980–81), ''Wall'' tour. He also commissioned the construction of large inflatable puppets representing characters from the storyline, including the "Mother", the "Ex-wife" and the "Schoolmaster". Pink Floyd used the puppets during their performances. Relationships within the band reached an all-time low; their four Winnebago Industries, Winnebagos parked in a circle, the doors facing away from the centre. Waters used his own vehicle to arrive at the venue and stayed in different hotels from the rest of the band. Wright returned as a paid musician, making him the only band member to profit from the tour, which lost about $600,000 (US$ in dollars).
''The Wall'' was adapted into a film, ''
Pink Floyd – The Wall
''Pink Floyd – The Wall'' is a 1982 British live-action/animated psychological musical drama film directed by Alan Parker, based on Pink Floyd's 1979 album of the same name. The screenplay was written by Pink Floyd vocalist and bassist R ...
.'' The film was conceived as a combination of live concert footage and animated scenes; however, the concert footage proved impractical to film. Alan Parker agreed to direct and took a different approach. The animated sequences remained, but scenes were acted by actors with no dialogue. Waters was screentested but quickly discarded, and they asked Bob Geldof to accept the role of Pink. Geldof was initially dismissive, condemning ''The Wall'' storyline as "bollocks". Eventually won over by the prospect of participation in a significant film and receiving a large payment for his work, Geldof agreed. Screened at the Cannes Film Festival in May 1982, ''
Pink Floyd – The Wall
''Pink Floyd – The Wall'' is a 1982 British live-action/animated psychological musical drama film directed by Alan Parker, based on Pink Floyd's 1979 album of the same name. The screenplay was written by Pink Floyd vocalist and bassist R ...
'' premièred in the UK in July 1982.
''The Final Cut'' (1983)
In 1982, Waters suggested a project with the working title ''Spare Bricks'', originally conceived as the soundtrack album for ''Pink Floyd – The Wall.'' With the onset of the Falklands War, Waters changed direction and began writing new material. He saw Margaret Thatcher's response to the invasion of the Falklands as Jingoism, jingoistic and unnecessary, and dedicated the album to his late father. Immediately arguments arose between Waters and Gilmour, who felt that the album should include all new material, rather than recycle songs passed over for ''The Wall''. Waters felt that Gilmour had contributed little to the band's lyrical repertoire. Michael Kamen, a contributor to the orchestral arrangements of ''The Wall'', mediated between the two, also performing the role traditionally occupied by the then-absent Wright. The tension within the band grew. Waters and Gilmour worked independently; however, Gilmour began to feel the strain, sometimes barely maintaining his composure. After a final confrontation, Gilmour's name disappeared from the credit list, reflecting what Waters felt was his lack of songwriting contributions.
Though Mason's musical contributions were minimal, he stayed busy recording sound effects for an experimental Holophonics, Holophonic system to be used on the album. With marital problems of his own, he remained a distant figure. Pink Floyd did not use Thorgerson for the cover design, Waters choosing to design the cover himself. Released in March 1983, ''The Final Cut (album), The Final Cut'' went straight to number one in the UK and number six in the US. Waters wrote all the lyrics, as well as all the music on the album. Gilmour did not have any material ready for the album and asked Waters to delay the recording until he could write some songs, but Waters refused. Gilmour later commented: "I'm certainly guilty at times of being lazy ... but he wasn't right about wanting to put some duff tracks on ''The Final Cut''." ''Rolling Stone'' gave the album five stars, with Kurt Loder calling it "a superlative achievement ... art rock's crowning masterpiece". Loder viewed ''The Final Cut'' as "essentially a Roger Waters solo album".
Waters's departure and legal battles
Gilmour recorded his second solo album, ''About Face (album), About Face'', in 1984, and used it to express his feelings about a variety of topics, from the murder of John Lennon to his relationship with Waters. He later stated that he used the album to distance himself from Pink Floyd. Soon afterwards, Waters began touring his first solo album, ''The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking'' (1984). Wright formed Zee with Dave Harris and recorded ''Identity (Zee album), Identity'', which went almost unnoticed upon its release. Mason released his second solo album, ''Profiles (Nick Mason and Rick Fenn album), Profiles'', in August 1985.
Gilmour, Mason, Waters and O'Rourke met for dinner in 1984 to discuss their future. Mason and Gilmour left the restaurant thinking that Pink Floyd could continue after Waters had finished ''The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking'', noting that they had had several hiatuses before; however, Waters left believing that Mason and Gilmour had accepted that Pink Floyd were finished. Mason said that Waters later saw the meeting as "duplicity rather than diplomacy", and wrote in his memoir: "Clearly, our communication skills were still troublingly nonexistent. We left the restaurant with diametrically opposed views of what had been decided."
Following the release of ''The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking'', Waters publicly insisted that Pink Floyd would not reunite. He contacted O'Rourke to discuss settling future royalty payments. O'Rourke felt obliged to inform Mason and Gilmour, which angered Waters, who wanted to dismiss him as the band's manager. He terminated his management contract with O'Rourke and employed Peter Rudge to manage his affairs. Waters wrote to EMI and Columbia Records, Columbia announcing he had left the band, and asked them to release him from his contractual obligations. Gilmour believed that Waters left to hasten the demise of Pink Floyd. Waters later stated that, by not making new albums, Pink Floyd would be in breach of contract—which would suggest that royalty payments would be suspended—and that the other band members had forced him from the group by threatening to sue him. He went to the High Court of Justice, High Court in an effort to dissolve the band and prevent the use of the Pink Floyd name, declaring Pink Floyd "a spent force creatively".
When Waters's lawyers discovered that the partnership had never been formally confirmed, Waters returned to the High Court in an attempt to obtain a veto over further use of the band's name. Gilmour responded with a press release affirming that Pink Floyd would continue to exist. The sides reached an out-of-court agreement, finalised on Gilmour's houseboat, the ''Astoria (recording studio), Astoria'', on Christmas Eve 1987. In 2013, Waters said he regretted the lawsuit and had failed to appreciate that the Pink Floyd name had commercial value independent of the band members.
1985–1994: Gilmour-led era
''A Momentary Lapse of Reason'' (1987)
![Astoria (Péniche)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/Astoria_%28P%C3%A9niche%29.jpg)
In 1986, Gilmour began recruiting musicians for what would become Pink Floyd's first album without Waters, ''
A Momentary Lapse of Reason
''A Momentary Lapse of Reason'' is the thirteenth studio album by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released in the UK on 7 September 1987 by EMI and the following day in the US on Columbia. It was recorded primarily on guitarist ...
''. There were legal obstacles to Wright's re-admittance to the band, but after a meeting in Hampstead, Pink Floyd invited Wright to participate in the coming sessions. Gilmour later stated that Wright's presence "would make us stronger legally and musically", and Pink Floyd employed him as a musician with weekly earnings of $11,000.
Recording sessions began on Gilmour's houseboat, the ''Astoria'', moored along the River Thames. The group found it difficult to work without Waters's creative direction; to write lyrics, Gilmour worked with several songwriters, including Eric Stewart and Roger McGough, eventually choosing Anthony Moore. Wright and Mason were out of practice; Gilmour said they had been "destroyed by Roger", and their contributions were minimal.
![Pink Floyd (1989)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c7/Pink_Floyd_%281989%29.jpg)
''A Momentary Lapse of Reason'' was released in September 1987. Storm Thorgerson, whose creative input was absent from ''The Wall'' and ''The Final Cut'', designed the album cover. To drive home that Waters had left the band, they included a group photograph on the inside cover, the first since ''Meddle''. The album went straight to number three in the UK and the US. Waters commented: "I think it's facile, but a quite clever forgery ... The songs are poor in general ...
ndGilmour's lyrics are third-rate." Although Gilmour initially viewed the album as a return to the band's top form, Wright disagreed, stating: "Roger's criticisms are fair. It's not a band album at all." ''Q'' described it as essentially a Gilmour solo album.
Waters attempted to subvert the A Momentary Lapse of Reason tour, ''Momentary Lapse of Reason'' tour by contacting promoters in the US and threatening to sue if they used the Pink Floyd name. Gilmour and Mason funded the start-up costs with Mason using his Ferrari 250 GTO as collateral. Early rehearsals for the tour were chaotic, with Mason and Wright out of practice. Realising he had taken on too much work, Gilmour asked Ezrin to assist them. As Pink Floyd toured North America, Waters's ''Radio K.A.O.S.'' tour was on occasion, close by, in much smaller venues. Waters issued a writ for copyright fees for Pink Floyd's use of the Pink Floyd pigs, flying pig. Pink Floyd responded by attaching a large set of male genitalia to its underside to distinguish it from Waters's design. The parties reached a legal agreement on 23 December; Mason and Gilmour retained the right to use the Pink Floyd name in perpetuity and Waters received exclusive rights to, among other things, ''The Wall''.
''The Division Bell'' (1994)
For several years, Pink Floyd had busied themselves with personal pursuits, such as filming and competing in the La Carrera Panamericana and recording a soundtrack for a film based on the event. In January 1993, they began working on a new album, ''
The Division Bell
''The Division Bell'' is the fourteenth studio album by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released on 28 March 1994 by EMI Records in the United Kingdom and on 4 April by Columbia Records in the United States.
The second Pink Flo ...
'', returning to Britannia Row Studios, where for several days, Gilmour, Mason and Wright worked collaboratively, improvising material. After about two weeks, they had enough ideas to begin creating songs. Ezrin returned to co-produce the album and production moved to the Astoria, where the band worked from February to May 1993.
Contractually, Wright was not a member of the band, and said, "It came close to a point where I wasn't going to do the album." However, he earned five co-writing credits, his first on a Pink Floyd album since 1975's ''Wish You Were Here''. Gilmour's future wife, Polly Samson, is also credited; she helped Gilmour write several tracks, including "
High Hopes", a collaborative arrangement which, though initially tense, "pulled the whole album together", according to Ezrin. They hired Michael Kamen to arrange the orchestral parts; Dick Parry and Chris Thomas also returned. Writer Douglas Adams provided the album title and Thorgerson the cover artwork. Thorgerson drew inspiration for the album cover from the Moai monoliths of Easter Island; two opposing faces forming an implied third face about which he commented: "the absent face—the ghost of Pink Floyd's past, Syd and Roger". To avoid competing against other album releases, as had happened with ''A Momentary Lapse'', Pink Floyd set a deadline of April 1994, at which point they would resume touring. ''The Division Bell'' reached number 1 in the UK and the US, and spent 51 weeks on the UK chart.
Pink Floyd spent more than two weeks rehearsing in a hangar at Norton Air Force Base in San Bernardino, California, before opening on 29 March 1994, in Miami, with an almost identical road crew to that used for their ''Momentary Lapse of Reason'' tour. They played a variety of Pink Floyd favourites, and later changed their setlist to include ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' in its entirety. The tour, Pink Floyd's last, ended on 29 October 1994. Mason published a memoir, ''Inside Out: A Personal History of Pink Floyd'', in 2004.
2005–present: reunions, deaths, and ''The Endless River''
Live 8 reunion
![Pink floyd live 8 london](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a/Pink_floyd_live_8_london.jpg)
On 2 July 2005, Waters, Gilmour, Mason, and Wright performed together as Pink Floyd at
Live 8, a benefit concert raising awareness about poverty, in Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park, London.
[: (primary source); : (secondary source).] It was their first performance together in more than 24 years.
The reunion was arranged by the Live 8 organiser, Bob Geldof. After Gilmour declined, Geldof asked Mason, who contacted Waters. About two weeks later, Waters called Gilmour, their first conversation in two years, and the next day Gilmour agreed. In a statement to the press, the band stressed the unimportance of their problems in the context of the Live 8 event.
The group planned their setlist at the The Connaught (hotel), Connaught hotel in London, followed by three days of rehearsals at Black Island Studios. The sessions were problematic, with disagreements over the style and pace of the songs they were practising; the running order was decided on the eve of the event. At the beginning of their performance of "Wish You Were Here", Waters told the audience: "[It is] quite emotional, standing up here with these three guys after all these years, standing to be counted with the rest of you ... We're doing this for everyone who's not here, and particularly of course for Syd." At the end, Gilmour thanked the audience and started to walk off the stage. Waters called him back, and the band shared a hug. Images of the hug were a favourite among Sunday newspapers after Live 8. Waters said of their almost 20 years of animosity: "I don't think any of us came out of the years from 1985 with any credit ... It was a bad, negative time, and I regret my part in that negativity."
Though Pink Floyd turned down a contract worth £136 million for a final tour, Waters did not rule out more performances, suggesting it ought to be for a charity event only. However, Gilmour told the Associated Press that a reunion would not happen: "The [Live 8] rehearsals convinced me it wasn't something I wanted to be doing a lot of ... There have been all sorts of farewell moments in people's lives and careers which they have then rescinded, but I think I can fairly categorically say that there won't be a tour or an album again that I take part in. It isn't to do with animosity or anything like that. It's just ... I've been there, I've done it."
In February 2006, Gilmour was interviewed for the Italian newspaper ''La Repubblica'', which announced that Pink Floyd had officially disbanded.
Gilmour said that Pink Floyd were "over", citing his advancing age and his preference for working alone.
He and Waters repeatedly said that they had no plans to reunite.
Deaths of Barrett and Wright
Barrett died on 7 July 2006, at his home in Cambridge, aged 60.
His funeral was held at Cambridge Crematorium on 18 July 2006. No Pink Floyd members attended. Wright said: "The band are very naturally upset and sad to hear of Syd Barrett's death. Syd was the guiding light of the early band line-up and leaves a legacy which continues to inspire."
Although Barrett had faded into obscurity over the decades, the national press praised him for his contributions to music. On 10 May 2007, Waters, Gilmour, Wright, and Mason performed at the Barrett tribute concert "Madcap's Last Laugh" at the Barbican Centre in London. Gilmour, Wright, and Mason performed the Barrett compositions "Bike (song), Bike" and "Arnold Layne", and Waters performed a solo version of his song "Flickering Flame".
Wright died of an undisclosed form of cancer on 15 September 2008, aged 65. His former bandmates paid tributes to his life and work; Gilmour said that Wright's contributions were often overlooked, and that his "soulful voice and playing were vital, magical components of our most recognised Pink Floyd sound". A week after Wright's death, Gilmour performed "Remember a Day" from ''A Saucerful of Secrets'', written and originally sung by Wright, in tribute to him on BBC Two's ''Later... with Jools Holland''. Keyboardist Keith Emerson released a statement praising Wright as the "backbone" of Pink Floyd.
Further performances and rereleases
On 10 July 2010, Waters and Gilmour performed together at a charity event for the Hoping Foundation. The event, which raised money for Palestinian children, took place at Kidlington Hall in Oxfordshire, England, with an audience of approximately 200. In return for Waters's appearance at the event, Gilmour performed "Comfortably Numb" at Waters's The Wall Live (2010–13), performance of ''The Wall'' at the London The O2 Arena, O2 Arena on 12 May 2011, singing the choruses and playing the two guitar solos. Mason also joined, playing tambourine for "Outside the Wall (song), Outside the Wall" with Gilmour on mandolin.
On 26 September 2011, Pink Floyd and EMI launched an exhaustive re-release campaign under the title ''Why Pink Floyd...?'', reissuing the back catalogue in newly Audio mastering, remastered versions, including "Experience" and "Immersion" multi-disc multi-format editions. The albums were remastered by James Guthrie (record producer), James Guthrie, co-producer of ''The Wall''. In November 2015, Pink Floyd released a limited edition EP, ''1965: Their First Recordings'', comprising six songs recorded prior to ''The Piper at the Gates of Dawn''.
''The Endless River'' (2014) and Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets
In November 2013, Gilmour and Mason revisited recordings made with Wright during the ''Division Bell ''sessions to create a new Pink Floyd album. They recruited session musicians to help record new parts and "generally harness studio technology". Waters was not involved. Mason described the album as a tribute to Wright: "I think this record is a good way of recognising a lot of what he does and how his playing was at the heart of the Pink Floyd sound. Listening back to the sessions, it really brought home to me what a special player he was."
''
The Endless River
''The Endless River'' is the fifteenth studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released in November 2014 by Parlophone Records in Europe and Columbia Records in the rest of the world. It was the third Pink Floyd album recorded under ...
''was released on 7 November 2014, the second Pink Floyd album distributed by Parlophone following the release of the 20th anniversary editions of ''The Division Bell'' earlier in 2014.
Though it received mixed reviews,
it'' ''became the most pre-ordered album of all time on Amazon UK
and debuted at number one in several countries.
The vinyl edition was the fastest-selling UK vinyl release of 2014 and the fastest-selling since 1997. Gilmour said ''The Endless River'' would be Pink Floyd's last album, saying: "I think we have successfully commandeered the best of what there is ... It's a shame, but this is the end."
There was no supporting tour, as Gilmour felt it was impossible without Wright. In 2015, Gilmour reiterated that Pink Floyd were "done" and that to reunite without Wright would be wrong.
In November 2016, Pink Floyd released a box set, ''The Early Years 1965–1972 (Pink Floyd album), The Early Years 1965–1972'', comprising outtakes, live recordings, remixes, and films from their early career.
It was followed in December 2019 by ''The Later Years'', compiling Pink Floyd's work after Waters's departure. The set includes a remixed version of ''A Momentary Lapse of Reason'' with more contributions by Wright and Mason, and an expanded reissue of the live album ''Delicate Sound of Thunder''. In November 2020, the reissue of ''Delicate Sound of Thunder'' was given a standalone release on multiple formats. Pink Floyd's ''Live at Knebworth 1990'' performance, previously released as part of the ''Later Years'' box set, was released on CD and vinyl on 30 April.
In 2018, Mason formed a new band, Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets, to perform Pink Floyd's early material. The band includes Gary Kemp of Spandau Ballet and the longtime Pink Floyd collaborator Guy Pratt. They toured Europe in September 2018 and North America in 2019. Waters joined the band at the New York Beacon Theatre (New York City), Beacon Theatre to perform vocals for "
Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun
"Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" is a song by the English rock band Pink Floyd, appearing on their second album, '' A Saucerful of Secrets'' (1968). It was written by Roger Waters, taking lyrics from a Chinese poetry book, and featu ...
".
Mason said in 2018 that, while he remained close to Gilmour and Waters, the two remained "at loggerheads". A remixed version of ''Animals'' was delayed until 2022 after Gilmour and Waters could not agree on the liner notes.
In a public statement, Waters accused Gilmour of attempting to steal credit and complained that Gilmour would not allow him to use Pink Floyd's website and social media channels.
In 2021, ''Rolling Stone'' noted that the pair "seem to have hit yet another low point in their relationship".
"Hey, Hey, Rise Up!" (2022)
![BoomBox Toronto2015 4](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/BoomBox_Toronto2015_4.JPG)
In March 2022, Gilmour and Mason reunited as Pink Floyd, alongside bassist Guy Pratt and keyboardist Nitin Sawhney, to record the single "
Hey, Hey, Rise Up!
"Hey, Hey, Rise Up!" (also written "Hey Hey Rise Up") is a song by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on digital platforms on . It is based on a 1914 Ukrainian anthem, " Oh, the Red Viburnum in the Meadow", and features vocals in Ukrain ...
", protesting 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian's invasion of Ukraine that February. It features vocals by the BoomBox (Ukrainian band), BoomBox singer Andriy Khlyvnyuk, taken from an Instagram video of Khlyvnyuk singing the 1914 Ukrainian anthem "Oi u luzi chervona kalyna, Oh, the Red Viburnum in the Meadow" a cappella in Kyiv. Gilmour described Khlyvnyuk's performance as "a powerful moment that made me want to put it to music".
"Hey, Hey, Rise Up!" was released on 8 April, with proceeds going to Ukrainian Humanitarian Relief. Gilmour said the war had inspired him to release new music as Pink Floyd as he felt it was important to raise awareness in support of Ukraine.
Pink Floyd had already removed music from streaming services in Russia and Belarus. Their work with Waters remained, leading to speculation that Waters had blocked its removal; Gilmour said only that "I was disappointed ... Read into that what you will."
He said "Hey, Hey, Rise Up!" was a "one-off for charity" and that Pink Floyd had no plans to reform.
Band members
File:Syd_barrett.jpg, Syd Barrett
Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett (6 January 1946 – 7 July 2006) was an English singer, songwriter, and musician who co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd in 1965. Barrett was their original frontman and primary songwriter, becoming known for his ...
File:David Gilmour Argentina 2015 (cropped).jpg, David Gilmour
David Jon Gilmour ( ; born 6 March 1946) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and member of the rock band Pink Floyd. He joined as guitarist and co-lead vocalist in 1967, shortly before the departure of founding member Syd Barrett. P ...
File:Roger Waters en el Palau Sant Jordi de Barcelona (The Wall Live) - 04 (crop).jpg, Roger Waters
George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. In 1965, he co-founded the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. Waters initially served as the bassist, but following the departure of singer-so ...
File:Rickwright.jpg, Richard Wright
File:NickMason_2022-10-28.jpg, Nick Mason
Nicholas Berkeley Mason, (born 27 January 1944) is an English drummer and a founder member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. He is the only member to feature on every Pink Floyd album, and the only constant member since its formation in ...
*
Syd Barrett
Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett (6 January 1946 – 7 July 2006) was an English singer, songwriter, and musician who co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd in 1965. Barrett was their original frontman and primary songwriter, becoming known for his ...
– lead and rhythm guitars, vocals (1965–1968) (died 2006)
*
David Gilmour
David Jon Gilmour ( ; born 6 March 1946) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and member of the rock band Pink Floyd. He joined as guitarist and co-lead vocalist in 1967, shortly before the departure of founding member Syd Barrett. P ...
– lead and rhythm guitars, vocals, bass, keyboards, synthesisers (1967–1994, 2005, 2007, 2013–2014, 2022)
*
Roger Waters
George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. In 1965, he co-founded the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. Waters initially served as the bassist, but following the departure of singer-so ...
– bass, vocals, rhythm guitar, synthesisers (1965–1985, 2005)
*
Richard Wright – keyboards, piano, organ, synthesisers, vocals (1965–1979, 1990–1994, 2005, 2007) (touring/session member 1979–1981 and 1986–1990) (died 2008)
*
Nick Mason
Nicholas Berkeley Mason, (born 27 January 1944) is an English drummer and a founder member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. He is the only member to feature on every Pink Floyd album, and the only constant member since its formation in ...
– drums, percussion, vocals (1965–1994, 2005, 2007, 2013–2014, 2022)
Musicianship
Genres
Considered one of the UK's first psychedelic music groups, Pink Floyd began their career at the vanguard of London's
underground music
Underground music is music with practices perceived as outside, or somehow opposed to, mainstream popular music culture. Underground music is intimately tied to popular music culture as a whole, so there are important tensions within underground ...
scene, appearing at
UFO Club
The UFO Club ( ') was a short-lived British counter-culture nightclub in London in the 1960s. The club was established by Joe Boyd and John "Hoppy" Hopkins. It featured light shows, poetry readings, well-known rock acts such as Jimi Hendrix, ...
and Middle Earth (club). According to ''Rolling Stone'': "By 1967, they had developed an unmistakably psychedelic sound, performing long, loud suitelike compositions that touched on hard rock, blues, country music, country, folk music, folk, and electronic music." Released in 1968, the song "Careful with That Axe, Eugene" helped galvanise their reputation as an art rock group. Other genres attributed to the band are space rock, experimental rock, acid rock, proto-prog, experimental pop (while under Barrett), psychedelic pop, and psychedelic rock. O'Neill Surber comments on the music of Pink Floyd:
Rarely will you find Floyd dishing up catchy hooks, tunes short enough for air-play, or predictable three-chord blues progressions; and never will you find them spending much time on the usual pop album of romance, partying, or self-hype. Their sonic universe is expansive, intense, and challenging ... Where most other bands neatly fit the songs to the music, the two forming a sort of autonomous and seamless whole complete with memorable hooks, Pink Floyd tends to set lyrics within a broader soundscape that often seems to have a life of its own ... Pink Floyd employs extended, stand-alone instrumentals which are never mere vehicles for showing off virtuoso but are planned and integral parts of the performance.
During the late 1960s, the press labelled Pink Floyd's music psychedelic pop, progressive pop and
progressive rock
Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...
; they gained a following as a psychedelic pop group. In 1968, Wright said: "It's hard to see why we were cast as the first British psychedelic group. We never saw ourselves that way ... we realised that we were, after all, only playing for fun ... tied to no particular form of music, we could do whatever we wanted ... the emphasis ... [is] firmly on spontaneity and improvisation." Waters said later: "There wasn't anything 'grand' about it. We were laughable. We were useless. We couldn't play at all so we had to do something stupid and 'experimental' ... Syd was a genius, but I wouldn't want to go back to playing 'Interstellar Overdrive' for hours and hours." Unconstrained by conventional pop formats, Pink Floyd were innovators of progressive rock during the 1970s and ambient music during the 1980s.
Gilmour's guitar work
''Rolling Stone'' critic Alan di Perna praised Gilmour's guitar work as integral to Pink Floyd's sound, and described him as the most important guitarist of the 1970s, "the missing link between Hendrix and Eddie Van Halen, Van Halen".
''Rolling Stone'' named him the 14th greatest guitarist of all time.
[: "the missing link"; For ''Rolling Stone'' "100 Greatest Guitarists" list see: ] In 2006, Gilmour said of his technique: "[My] fingers make a distinctive sound ... [they] aren't very fast, but I think I am instantly recognisable ... The way I play melodies is connected to things like Hank Marvin and the Shadows." Gilmour's ability to use fewer notes than most to express himself without sacrificing strength or beauty drew a favourable comparison to jazz trumpeter Miles Davis.
In 2006, ''Guitar World'' writer Jimmy Brown described Gilmour's guitar style as "characterised by simple, huge-sounding riffs; gutsy, well-paced solos; and rich, ambient chordal textures." According to Brown, Gilmour's solos on "Money", "Time (Pink Floyd song), Time" and "Comfortably Numb" "cut through the mix like a laser beam through fog." Brown described the "Time" solo as "a masterpiece of phrasing and motivic development ... Gilmour paces himself throughout and builds upon his initial idea by leaping into the upper register with gut-wrenching one-and-one-half-step 'over bends', soulful triplet arpeggios and a typically impeccable bar vibrato." Brown described Gilmour's phrasing as intuitive and perhaps his best asset as a lead guitarist. Gilmour explained how he achieved his signature tone: "I usually use a fuzz box, a delay and a bright EQ setting ... [to get] singing sustain ... you need to play loud—at or near the feedback threshold. It's just so much more fun to play ... when bent notes slice right through you like a razor blade."
Sonic experimentation
Throughout their career, Pink Floyd experimented with their sound. Their second single, "See Emily Play" premiered at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, on 12 May 1967. During the performance, the group first used an early Quadraphonic sound, quadraphonic device called an Azimuth Co-ordinator. The device enabled the controller, usually Wright, to manipulate the band's amplified sound, combined with recorded tapes, projecting the sounds 270 degrees around a venue, achieving a sonic swirling effect. In 1972, they purchased a custom-built PA which featured an upgraded four-channel, 360-degree system.
Waters experimented with the EMS VCS 3, VCS 3 synthesiser on Pink Floyd pieces such as "On the Run (instrumental), On the Run", "Welcome to the Machine", and "In the Flesh?". He used a binson echorec 2 delay effect on his bass-guitar track for "One of These Days (instrumental), One of These Days".
Pink Floyd used innovative sound effects and state of the art audio recording technology during the recording of ''The Final Cut''. Mason's contributions to the album were almost entirely limited to work with the experimental Holophonics, Holophonic system, an audio processing technique used to simulate a three-dimensional effect. The system used a conventional stereo tape to produce an effect that seemed to move the sound around the listener's head when they were wearing headphones. The process enabled an engineer to simulate moving the sound to behind, above or beside the listener's ears.
Film scores
Pink Floyd also composed several film scores, starting in 1968, with ''The Committee (film), The Committee''. In 1969, they recorded the score for Barbet Schroeder's film ''More (1969 film), More''. The soundtrack proved beneficial: not only did it pay well but, along with ''A Saucerful of Secrets'', the material they created became part of their live shows for some time thereafter. While composing the soundtrack for director Michelangelo Antonioni's film ''Zabriskie Point (film), Zabriskie Point'', the band stayed at a luxury hotel in Rome for almost a month. Waters claimed that, without Antonioni's constant changes to the music, they would have completed the work in less than a week. Eventually he used only three of their recordings. One of the pieces turned down by Antonioni, called "The Violent Sequence", later became "Us and Them", included on 1973's ''The Dark Side of the Moon''. In 1971, the band again worked with Schroeder on the film ''La Vallée (film), La Vallée'', for which they released a soundtrack album called ''Obscured by Clouds''. They composed the material in about a week at the Château d'Hérouville near Paris, and upon its release, it became Pink Floyd's first album to break into the top 50 on the US ''Billboard'' chart.
Live performances
![DarkSideOfTheMoon1973](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8f/DarkSideOfTheMoon1973.jpg)
Regarded as pioneers of Concert, live music performance and renowned for their lavish stage shows, Pink Floyd also set high standards in sound quality, making use of innovative sound effects and quadraphonic speaker systems. From their earliest days, they employed visual effects to accompany their psychedelic music while performing at venues such as the UFO Club in London. Their slide-and-light show was one of the first in British rock, and it helped them become popular among London's underground.
To celebrate the launch of the London Free School's magazine ''International Times'' in 1966, they performed in front of 2,000 people at the opening of Roundhouse (venue), the Roundhouse, attended by celebrities including Paul McCartney and Marianne Faithfull. In mid-1966, road manager Peter Wynne-Willson joined their road crew, and updated the band's lighting rig with some innovative ideas including the use of Polarizer, polarisers, mirrors and stretched condoms. After their record deal with EMI, Pink Floyd purchased a Ford Transit van, then considered extravagant band transportation. On 29 April 1967, they headlined an all-night event called ''The 14 Hour Technicolour Dream'' at the Alexandra Palace, London. Pink Floyd arrived at the festival at around three o'clock in the morning after a long journey by van and ferry from the Netherlands, taking the stage just as the sun was beginning to rise. In July 1969, precipitated by their space-related music and lyrics, they took part in the live BBC television coverage of the Apollo 11 moon landing, performing an instrumental piece which they called "Moonhead (song), Moonhead".
In November 1974, they employed for the first time the large circular screen that would become a staple of their live shows. In 1977, they employed the use of a large inflatable floating pig named "Algie". Filled with helium and propane, Algie, while floating above the audience, would explode with a loud noise during the In the Flesh Tour. The behaviour of the audience during the tour, as well as the large size of the venues, proved a strong influence on their concept album ''
The Wall
''The Wall'' is the eleventh studio album by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released on 30 November 1979 by Harvest/EMI and Columbia/CBS Records. It is a rock opera that explores Pink, a jaded rock star whose eventual self-imp ...
''. The subsequent The Wall Tour featured a high wall, built from cardboard bricks, constructed between the band and the audience. They projected animations onto the wall, while gaps allowed the audience to view various scenes from the story. They commissioned the creation of several giant inflatables to represent characters from the story. One striking feature of the tour was the performance of "Comfortably Numb". While Waters sang his opening verse, in darkness, Gilmour waited for his cue on top of the wall. When it came, bright blue and white lights would suddenly reveal him. Gilmour stood on a Road case, flightcase on castors, an insecure setup supported from behind by a technician. A large hydraulic platform supported both Gilmour and the tech.
During the The Division Bell Tour, Division Bell Tour, an unknown person using the name Publius Enigma, Publius posted a message on an internet newsgroup inviting fans to solve a riddle supposedly concealed in the new album. White lights in front of the stage at the Pink Floyd concert in East Rutherford, New Jersey, East Rutherford spelled out the words Enigma Publius. During a televised concert at Earls Court on 20 October 1994, someone projected the word "enigma" in large letters on to the backdrop of the stage. Mason later acknowledged that their record company had instigated the Publius Enigma mystery, rather than the band.
Lyrical themes
Marked by Waters's philosophical lyrics, ''Rolling Stone'' described Pink Floyd as "purveyors of a distinctively dark vision". Author Jere O'Neill Surber wrote: "their interests are truth and illusion, life and death, time and space, causality and chance, compassion and indifference." Waters identified empathy as a central theme in the lyrics of Pink Floyd. Author George Reisch described ''Meddle'' psychedelic opus, "Echoes", as "built around the core idea of genuine communication, sympathy, and ''collaboration'' with others." Despite having been labelled "the gloomiest man in rock", author Deena Weinstein described Waters as an Existentialism, existentialist, dismissing the unfavourable moniker as the result of misinterpretation by music critics.
Disillusionment, absence, and non-being
Waters's lyrics to ''Wish You Were Here'' "Have a Cigar" deal with a perceived lack of sincerity on the part of music industry representatives. The song illustrates a dysfunctional dynamic between the band and a record label executive who congratulates the group on their current sales success, implying that they are on the same team while revealing that he erroneously believes "Pink" is the name of one of the band members. According to author David Detmer, the album's lyrics deal with the "dehumanising aspects of the world of commerce", a situation the artist must endure to reach their audience.
Absence as a lyrical theme is common in the music of Pink Floyd. Examples include the absence of Barrett after 1968, and that of Waters's father, who died during the Second World War. Waters's lyrics also explored unrealised political goals and unsuccessful endeavours. Their film score, ''Obscured by Clouds'', dealt with the loss of youthful exuberance that sometimes comes with ageing. Longtime Pink Floyd album cover designer, Storm Thorgerson, described the lyrics of ''Wish You Were Here'': "The idea of presence withheld, of the ways that people pretend to be present while their minds are really elsewhere, and the devices and motivations employed psychologically by people to suppress the full force of their presence, eventually boiled down to a single theme, absence: The absence of a person, the absence of a feeling." Waters commented: "it's about none of us really being there ... [it] should have been called ''Wish We Were Here''".
O'Neill Surber explored the lyrics of Pink Floyd and declared the issue of Being and Nothingness#Nothingness, non-being a common theme in their music. Waters invoked non-being or non-existence in ''The Wall'', with the lyrics to "Comfortably Numb": "I caught a fleeting glimpse, out of the corner of my eye. I turned to look, but it was gone, I cannot put my finger on it now, the child is grown, the dream is gone." Barrett referred to non-being in his final contribution to the band's catalogue, "Jugband Blues": "I'm most obliged to you for making it clear that I'm not here."
Exploitation and oppression
Author Patrick Croskery described ''Animals'' as a unique blend of the "powerful sounds and suggestive themes" of ''Dark Side'' with ''The Wall'' portrayal of artistic alienation. He drew a parallel between the album's political themes and that of Orwell's ''Animal Farm''. ''Animals'' begins with a thought experiment, which asks: "If you didn't care what happened to me. And I didn't care for you", then develops a beast fable based on anthropomorphised characters using music to reflect the individual states of mind of each. The lyrics ultimately paint a picture of dystopia, the inevitable result of a world devoid of empathy and compassion, answering the question posed in the opening lines.
The album's characters include the "Dogs", representing fervent capitalists, the "Pigs", symbolising political corruption, and the "Sheep", who represent the exploited. Croskery described the "Sheep" as being in a "state of delusion created by a misleading cultural identity", a false consciousness. The "Dog", in his tireless pursuit of self-interest and success, ends up depressed and alone with no one to trust, utterly lacking emotional satisfaction after a life of exploitation. Waters used Mary Whitehouse as an example of a "Pig"; being someone who in his estimation, used the power of the government to impose her values on society. At the album's conclusion, Waters returns to empathy with the lyrical statement: "You know that I care what happens to you. And I know that you care for me too." However, he also acknowledges that the "Pigs" are a continuing threat and reveals that he is a "Dog" who requires shelter, suggesting the need for a balance between state, commerce and community, versus an ongoing battle between them.
Alienation, war, and insanity
O'Neill Surber compared the lyrics of ''Dark Side of the Moon'' "Brain Damage (song), Brain Damage" with Karl Marx theory of Social alienation#Self-estrangement, self-alienation; "there's someone in my head, but it's not me." The lyrics to ''Wish You Were Here'' "Welcome to the Machine" suggest what Marx called the Marx's theory of alienation, alienation of the thing; the song's protagonist preoccupied with material possessions to the point that he becomes estranged from himself and others. Allusions to the Marx's theory of alienation#Types of alienation, alienation of man's species being can be found in ''Animals''; the "Dog" reduced to living instinctively as a non-human. The "Dogs" become alienated from themselves to the extent that they justify their lack of integrity as a "necessary and defensible" position in "a cutthroat world with no room for empathy or moral principle" wrote Detmer. Marx's theory of alienation#Types of alienation, Alienation from others is a consistent theme in the lyrics of Pink Floyd, and it is a core element of ''The Wall''.
War, viewed as the most severe consequence of the manifestation of alienation from others, is also a core element of ''The Wall'', and a recurring theme in the band's music. Waters's father died in combat during the Second World War, and his lyrics often alluded to the cost of war, including those from "
Corporal Clegg
"Corporal Clegg" is a song by the English psychedelic rock band Pink Floyd, and is featured on their second album, ''A Saucerful of Secrets'' (1968). It was written by Roger Waters and features David Gilmour, Nick Mason and Richard Wright sharing ...
" (1968), "Free Four" (1972), "Us and Them (song), Us and Them" (1973), "When the Tigers Broke Free" and "The Fletcher Memorial Home" from ''The Final Cut (album), The Final Cut'' (1983), an album dedicated to his late father and subtitled ''A Requiem for the Postwar Dream''. The themes and composition of ''The Wall'' express Waters's upbringing in an English society depleted of men after the Second World War, a condition that negatively affected his personal relationships with women.
Waters's lyrics to ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' dealt with the pressures of modern life and how those pressures can sometimes cause insanity. He viewed the album's explication of mental illness as illuminating a universal condition. However, Waters also wanted the album to communicate positivity, calling it "an exhortation ... to embrace the positive and reject the negative." Reisch described ''The Wall'' as "less about the experience of madness than the habits, institutions, and social structures that ''create'' or ''cause'' madness." ''The Wall'' protagonist, Pink, is unable to deal with the circumstances of his life, and overcome by feelings of guilt, slowly closes himself off from the outside world inside a barrier of his own making. After he completes his estrangement from the world, Pink realises that he is "crazy, over the rainbow". He then considers the possibility that his condition may be his own fault: "have I been guilty all this time?" Realising his greatest fear, Pink believes that he has let everyone down, his overbearing mother wisely choosing to smother him, the teachers rightly criticising his poetic aspirations, and his wife justified in leaving him. He then stands trial for "showing feelings of an almost human nature", further exacerbating his alienation of species being. As with the writings of philosopher Michel Foucault, Waters's lyrics suggest Pink's insanity is a product of modern life, the elements of which, "custom, codependancies, and psychopathologies", contribute to his angst, according to Reisch.
Legacy
Pink Floyd are one of the List of best-selling music artists, most commercially successful and influential rock bands of all time. They have sold more than 250 million records worldwide, including 75 million certified units in the United States, and 37.9 million albums sold in the US since 1993. The ''Sunday Times Rich List'', Music Millionaires 2013 (UK), ranked Waters at number 12 with an estimated fortune of £150 million, Gilmour at number 27 with £85 million and Mason at number 37 with £50 million.
In 2003, ''Rolling Stone'' Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list included ''
The Dark Side of the Moon
''The Dark Side of the Moon'' is the eighth studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 1 March 1973 by Harvest Records. The album was primarily developed during live performances, and the band premiered an early version of ...
'' at number 43, ''
The Wall
''The Wall'' is the eleventh studio album by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released on 30 November 1979 by Harvest/EMI and Columbia/CBS Records. It is a rock opera that explores Pink, a jaded rock star whose eventual self-imp ...
'' at number 87, ''
Wish You Were Here Wish You Were Here may refer to:
Film, television, and theater Film
* ''Wish You Were Here'' (1987 film), a British comedy-drama film by David Leland
* ''Wish You Were Here'' (2012 film), an Australian drama/mystery film by Kieran Darcy-Smith ...
'' at number 209, and ''
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
''The Piper at the Gates of Dawn'' is the debut studio album by English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 5 August 1967 by EMI Columbia. It is the only Pink Floyd album made under the leadership of founding member Syd Barrett (lead vocals, g ...
'' at number 347. And in 2004, on their The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list, ''Rolling Stone'' included "Comfortably Numb" at number 314, "Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd song), Wish You Were Here" at number 316, and "Another Brick in the Wall, Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2" at number 375.
In 2004, MSNBC ranked Pink Floyd number 8 on their list of "The 10 Best Rock Bands Ever". In the same year, ''Q (magazine), Q'' named Pink Floyd as the biggest band of all time according to "a points system that measured sales of their biggest album, the scale of their biggest headlining show and the total number of weeks spent on the UK album chart". ''Rolling Stone'' ranked them number 51 on their list of "The 100 Greatest Artists of All Time". VH1 ranked them number 18 in the list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". Colin Larkin (writer), Colin Larkin ranked Pink Floyd number 3 in his list of the 'Top 50 Artists of All Time', a ranking based on the cumulative votes for each artist's albums included in his ''All Time Top 1000 Albums''. In 2008, the head rock and pop critic of ''The Guardian'', Alexis Petridis, wrote that the band occupy a unique place in progressive rock, stating, "Thirty years on, prog is still persona non grata [...] Only Pink Floyd—never really a prog band, their penchant for long songs and 'concepts' notwithstanding—are permitted into the 100 best album lists." The writer Eric Olsen (writer), Eric Olsen has called Pink Floyd "the most eccentric and experimental multi-platinum band of the album era, album rock era".
Pink Floyd have won several awards. In 1981 audio engineer James Guthrie (record producer), James Guthrie won the Grammy Award for "Best Engineered Non-Classical Album" for ''The Wall'', and Roger Waters won the British Academy of Film and Television Arts award for "Best Original Song Written for a Film" in 1983 for "Another Brick in the Wall" from Pink Floyd – The Wall, ''The Wall'' film. In 1995, Pink Floyd won the Grammy for "Best Rock Instrumental Performance" for "Marooned (instrumental), Marooned". In 2008, Pink Floyd were awarded the Swedish
Polar Music Prize
The Polar Music Prize is a Swedish international award founded in 1989 by Stig Anderson, best known as the manager of the Swedish band ABBA, with a donation to the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. The award is annually given to one contemporary ...
for their contribution to modern music. They were inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and othe ...
in 1996, the
UK Music Hall of Fame
The UK Music Hall of Fame was an awards ceremony to honour musicians, of any nationality, for their lifetime contributions to music in the United Kingdom. The hall of fame started in 2004 with the induction of five founder members and five mor ...
in 2005, and the Hit Parade Hall of Fame in 2010.
Pink Floyd have influenced numerous artists. David Bowie called Barrett a significant inspiration, and the Edge of U2 bought his first Delay (audio effect), delay pedal after hearing the opening guitar chords to "Dogs (Pink Floyd song), Dogs" from ''Animals''. Other bands and artists who cite them as an influence include Queen (band), Queen, Radiohead, Steven Wilson, Marillion, Queensrÿche, Nine Inch Nails, the Orb and the Smashing Pumpkins. Pink Floyd were an influence on the neo-progressive rock subgenre which emerged in the 1980s. The English rock band Mostly Autumn "fuse the music of Genesis (band), Genesis and Pink Floyd" in their sound.
Pink Floyd were admirers of the Monty Python comedy group, and helped finance their 1975 film ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail''. In 2016, Pink Floyd became the second band (after the Beatles) to feature on a Great Britain commemorative stamps 2010–2019#2016, series of UK postage stamps issued by the Royal Mail. In May 2017, to mark the 50th anniversary of Pink Floyd's first single, an audio-visual exhibition, ''Their Mortal Remains'', opened at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. The exhibition featured analysis of cover art, conceptual props from the stage shows, and photographs from Mason's personal archive. Due to its success, it was extended for two weeks beyond its planned closing date of 1 October.
Discography
Studio albums
* ''
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
''The Piper at the Gates of Dawn'' is the debut studio album by English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 5 August 1967 by EMI Columbia. It is the only Pink Floyd album made under the leadership of founding member Syd Barrett (lead vocals, g ...
'' (1967)
* ''
A Saucerful of Secrets'' (1968)
* ''More (soundtrack), More'' (1969)
* ''
Ummagumma
''Ummagumma'' is the fourth album by English rock band Pink Floyd. It is a double album and it was released on 7 November 1969 by Harvest Records. The first disc consists of live recordings from concerts at Mothers Club in Birmingham and the C ...
'' (1969)
* ''
Atom Heart Mother
''Atom Heart Mother'' is the fifth studio album by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd. It was released by Harvest on 2 October 1970 in the UK, and by Capitol on 10 October 1970 in the US. It was recorded at EMI Studios (now Abbey Ro ...
'' (1970)
* ''
Meddle
''Meddle'' is the sixth studio album by English rock band Pink Floyd, released by Harvest Records. The album was produced between the band's touring commitments, from January to August 1971 at a series of locations around London, including EM ...
'' (1971)
* ''Obscured by Clouds'' (1972)
* ''
The Dark Side of the Moon
''The Dark Side of the Moon'' is the eighth studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 1 March 1973 by Harvest Records. The album was primarily developed during live performances, and the band premiered an early version of ...
'' (1973)
* ''
Wish You Were Here Wish You Were Here may refer to:
Film, television, and theater Film
* ''Wish You Were Here'' (1987 film), a British comedy-drama film by David Leland
* ''Wish You Were Here'' (2012 film), an Australian drama/mystery film by Kieran Darcy-Smith ...
'' (1975)
* ''
Animals
Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals consume organic material, breathe oxygen, are able to move, can reproduce sexually, and go through an ontogenetic stage in ...
'' (1977)
* ''
The Wall
''The Wall'' is the eleventh studio album by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released on 30 November 1979 by Harvest/EMI and Columbia/CBS Records. It is a rock opera that explores Pink, a jaded rock star whose eventual self-imp ...
'' (1979)
* ''The Final Cut (album), The Final Cut'' (1983)
* ''
A Momentary Lapse of Reason
''A Momentary Lapse of Reason'' is the thirteenth studio album by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released in the UK on 7 September 1987 by EMI and the following day in the US on Columbia. It was recorded primarily on guitarist ...
'' (1987)
* ''
The Division Bell
''The Division Bell'' is the fourteenth studio album by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released on 28 March 1994 by EMI Records in the United Kingdom and on 4 April by Columbia Records in the United States.
The second Pink Flo ...
'' (1994)
* ''
The Endless River
''The Endless River'' is the fifteenth studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released in November 2014 by Parlophone Records in Europe and Columbia Records in the rest of the world. It was the third Pink Floyd album recorded under ...
'' (2014)
Concert tours
* Pink Floyd World Tour 1968, Pink Floyd World Tour (1968)
* The Man and The Journey Tour (1969)
* Atom Heart Mother World Tour (1970–71)
* Meddle Tour (1971)
* Dark Side of the Moon Tour (1972–73)
* Pink Floyd 1974 tours#1974 French Summer Tour, French Summer Tour (1974)
* Pink Floyd 1974 tours#1974 British Winter Tour, British Winter Tour (1974)
* Wish You Were Here Tour (1975)
* In the Flesh (Pink Floyd tour), In the Flesh Tour (1977)
* The Wall Tour (1980–1981), The Wall Tour (1980–81)
* A Momentary Lapse of Reason Tour (1987–89)
* The Division Bell Tour (1994)
Notes
References
Sources
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Further reading
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Documentaries
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External links
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{{Authority control
Pink Floyd,
1995 disestablishments in the United Kingdom
1965 establishments in the United Kingdom
Musical groups established in 1965
Musical groups disestablished in 1995
British rhythm and blues boom musicians
Psychedelic pop music groups
English psychedelic rock music groups
English progressive rock groups
English art rock groups
English space rock musical groups
English experimental rock groups
Capitol Records artists
Columbia Graphophone Company artists
Harvest Records artists
Parlophone artists
Proto-prog musicians
Musical groups from London
Echo (music award) winners
Grammy Award winners
Nick Mason
Roger Waters
Richard Wright (musician)
Syd Barrett
David Gilmour
Juno Award for International Album of the Year winners