Lead singer of Pink Floyd. Biography Pink Floyd

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Biography, life story of Pink Floyd

Musician Type: Band
Formed (year): 1966
Country: UK
City: London
Genre: Rock, Alternative, Electronica

This outstanding English rock band, whose complex and long history, in general, knows no analogues in rock music, was formed in 1966. Initially, it included Cambridge College graduates Syd Barrett and Roger Waters. By that time, a graduate of the London School of the Arts, Syd Barrett was already the author of many poems and songs, and his friend Roger Waters, who studied architecture at the London "Regent Street Polytechnic" with Nick Mason and Richard Wright, performed popular at that time in various cafes and clubs. Rhythm and blues song time. Waters introduced his architect friends Richard Wright and Nick Mason, who had played with him in SIGMA-6 since 1965, to Syd Barrett. The group "SIGMA-6" was formed in college and changed a number of names: "T-Set", "The Meggadeaths", "The Abdabs". The initial composition of the group "SIGMA-6" was as follows: Clive Metcalf - bass guitar, vocals; Roger Waters - guitar, vocals Nick Mason - drums; Richard Wright - keyboards; Kate Noble and Juliette Gail - vocals (by the way, Juliette Gail soon married Rick Wright, and Kate Noble and Clive Metcalfe left the stage). They were struck by Barrett's unusual, full of surreal images, poetry, which was perfectly combined with Waters' no less original music and the so-called "psychedelic effects", which then began to come into fashion. The foursome and jazz guitarist Bob Close, who joined them, formed a group that was initially called "Screameing Abdabs", but was soon renamed "Pink Floyd Sound". This name was taken in honor of then-famous Georgia bluesmen Pink Anderson and Floyd Council (this name was proposed by Syd Barrett, who had an album of Anderson and Council). I must say that due to ignorance of the latter circumstance, in our country, historians of rock music have repeatedly tried to translate the name "Pink Floyd". For example, the translation of the name "Pink Flamingo" is known. In a word, we know what the lack of reliable information can lead to, how our country has been distinguished for many decades... Shortly after the formation of the band, guitarist Bob Close left the band, as the psychedelic blues combined with Barrett's surrealistic poetry did not please the jazzman.

CONTINUED BELOW

In the future, Bob Close tried himself as a vocalist, but did not achieve much success in this field. So, after the departure of Close, the composition of the group looked like this: Syd Barrett - guitar, vocals; Roger Waters - bass guitar, vocals Richard Wright - keyboards; Nick Mason - drums. Since February 1966, "Pink Floyd" has been giving concerts at the "Marki" club, which has brought fame to many bands, including the famous "Rolling Stones". During this year, the group is working on the creation of a major show "Games for May". In December 1966, managers Andrew King and Peter Jenner began to work with the band, under whose leadership Pink Floyd recorded their first single, Arnold Layne. This Barrett song, which National Radio refused to broadcast, however, sounded on the air on the wave of one of the radio stations and immediately hit the British hit parade, where it lasted 7 weeks and reached the 6th place. "Arnold Layne" is a story about a guy who steals women's underwear at the laundry. This song had a real backstory: when Barrett and Waters' mothers were students at Cambridge, they took their laundry to the laundry. One night it happened that someone stole the linen from there. Music critics, who took Barrett's metaphor literally, immediately lashed out at the band, accusing them of outright obscenities. Such, at first scandalous, fame was received by the Pink Floyd group in 1966 ... Meanwhile, an increasing number of listeners are beginning to be interested in the work of Pink Floyd, Barrett's poetry, filled with images of the heroes of C. Graham and L. Carroll, in sharp contrast with texts from other bands, replete with "yesterday-faraway" rhymes. Soon the group faced a serious problem - Syd Barrett's addiction to strong drugs such as LSD, causing hallucinations. After a series of scandals caused by this circumstance, Barrett promises his friends to "quit" with LSD, and for a while he succeeds. Meanwhile, the first major work of the band has been completed - the show "Games for May", which, perhaps, determined the further style of work of "Pink Floyd", its scale. The song "See Emily Play" from this show again enters the top ten of the British hit parade, and the number of fans of the group increases significantly, more and more articles and notes are written about it in the music press. "Pink Floyd" begins to receive offers of cooperation and orders from various recording studios. This was, according to many music critics and historians, the time of the formation of the group, which later gave the world a completely new style of music performance. In Western (and after it in ours) literature, this style was called "electronic pulsation", although this term explains little. Music that used both classical and jazz harmonies, as well as the ancient traditions of English and Scottish folk songs, hardly falls under such a narrow definition as "pulsation". The band's first UK tour took place in August 1967. The first performances that passed with brilliance seemed to portend a great success in the future, but already three weeks after the start of the tour there was a grandiose scandal associated with Syd Barrett. The fact is that Barrett, who again took up drugs, brought himself downright to an insane state, often fainted right on the stage, and at best stood, smiling mysteriously and looking into space, unable to play or remember lyrics of own songs. No amount of persuasion from friends could force Barrett to stop using drugs and bring him back to normal. The latter circumstance forced Roger Waters to invite his friend, guitarist Dave Gilmour, to the group as a replacement. During the tour, David Gilmour proved himself very well - not only as a guitarist, but also as a singer. Waters also liked some of David Gilmour's stage and musical ideas. "This guy jumped right into it and came up with a lot of good ideas. None of us got the impression that he was superfluous," Waters said in an interview after the first performance with Gilmour. Their joint concert activity continued for almost seven weeks, Gilmour more and more "fit into the team", but Barrett could not find himself in any way and, unable to overcome his passion for drugs and quit them, was forced to leave the group. The twenty-two-year-old musician, whose talent had already attracted many fans to him, left the big stage forever. Without this, it is not known how the further fate of the group would have developed, and with it, perhaps, the whole direction of rock music. However, in 1970, Syd Barrett recorded two solo programs, which, however, did not enjoy much success and were of little interest to anyone. In 1967, the band's first official disc was released, called "The piper at the gates of dawn", the name of which Barret borrowed from K. Graham. Just like the single, this album stayed on the charts for 7 weeks and peaked at number 6. Listening to this CD, you begin to understand that Barrett's departure from music and poetry is a great loss. Fairy-tale characters, mysterious images and nature - all this strongly resembles the fairy tales of Lewis Carroll and takes the listener away from the gray everyday life, longing and boredom of our days ... The songs "Scarecrow" and "Bike", which conclude the disc, are somewhat different from the previous ones, both in music , as well as in verse. The song "Bike" is no longer a fairy tale, but a simple, sad story from life. A borrowed bike, a homeless mouse Gerald - from the real world, which you want to make better, fill it with music. After the release of the record "The piper at the gates of dawn" the group had a great success, the interest in it of both ordinary listeners and critics increased greatly. Already in 1968, a new program "A saucerful of secrets" was released. Again a great success, thanks in part to the song "Corporal Clegg" about a soldier returning from the war "with a wooden leg which he acquired in 1944" and with a medal "which he received from Her Majesty the Queen"... This song, which made a lot of noise, caused acute irritation of the authorities. In the same 1968, the group toured the United States, Japan and Australia, gaining more and more fame and more and more experience; to "Pink Floyd" comes more and more popularity, the circulation of records, and with them the income of musicians, are increasing. With the arrival of David Gilmour in her performances, the desire to increase the scale of the show, the variety of ideas and unexpected finds of Waters is increasingly evident - with the departure of Barrett - the leader and main author of lyrics and music. The desire to create a "great, best and comprehensive show" was expressed, for example, in the fact that one day the musicians staged a scene not just anywhere, but on the surface of a large lake, ending the show with fireworks and a series of explosions, after which an inflatable huge octopus and rubber fish (the real ones, however, also did not take long to wait; as a result, another scandal with the police and with the Greens society). 1969 In June the work on the "More" program was completed, and in November the double album "Ummagumma" was released. These are completely different jobs. The first of them - a few lyrical songs, sustained in the usual style for the band, the second - it's endless electronic noise meditation. The second disc of the album "Ummagumma" consisted of live songs recorded in June-August 1969 and earlier - in 1967 on the band's first disc. The disc "Atom heart mother", released in October 1970, is considered to be one of the band's best programs. The song "If" sounds the pain of unfulfilled hopes and loneliness, a feeling of hopelessness. .. In 1971, the disk "Meddle" was released, the first song from which "One of these days" again hits the list of the best British charts, although its text contains only a couple of lines, and the melody ("electronic noise meditation") is rather monotonous . The rest of the songs from this disc are written in a calmer rhythm and are quite melodic. In the same year, the group toured many different countries with such programs as "Relics" - old songs and "Meddle", recorded a number of concerts on film (for example, a concert in Pompeii); the level of "Pink Floyd" is already indicated by the fact that in 1970 the group was invited to cooperate by the outstanding Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni. As a result, the group recorded music for the film "Zabriskie Point", which received a number of international awards, including for music. Let's go back to the 1971 "Meddle" disc. Despite reproaches of repeating themselves, the critics quite rightly said that "here we face an already mature group that has achieved a convincing synthesis of two directions - "electronic-noise" and song". To illustrate this fact, it suffices to compare the first two songs of the disc - "One of these days" and "A pillow of winds" - with good lyrics and acoustic guitar. In June 1972, the disc "Obscured by clouds" was released, which was rather coolly received by critics. None of the songs of this album entered the charts, and the disc itself was sold out reluctantly, many even talked about the fact that "Pink Floyd" had exhausted itself, but, as it turned out, this forecast was not destined to come true. The fact is that after the program "Obscured by clouds" comes a completely new stage in the creative life of the band "Pink Floyd". Having bought new equipment after the next tour, Roger Waters invited the famous sound engineer Alan Parsons, the excellent saxophonist Dick Parry, as well as a group of vocalists headed by Claire Torrey to cooperate. In June 1972, following the release of the record "Obscured by clouds", a long, almost seven-month work began at the London "Abbey Road Studios", which resulted in the record "The dark side of the moon" - the best, according to many critics, what was created by the group. For seventeen years, this disc has never left the list of the top two hundred of the Billboard hit parade, and by 1995 it had sold about 28 million (!) copies. After the release of this record in March 1973, Pink Floyd became one of the most popular rock bands in the world. Music critics called the release of this disc "a revolution in the idea of ​​the possibilities of sound recording." All sorts of stereo effects, original vocals by Claire Torrey, brilliantly performed by Dick Parry saxophone parts, truly arouse admiration. Here we see a fully formed group with its inimitable performing style and music. The poems of Roger Waters impress with their sincerity, although they raise the same problems as old as the world: disappointment in life, fear of death, the desire to at least understand something and change for the better in our cruel world, and the wild, crazy, loneliness of man. The desire to escape from the hustle and bustle, "burrow into a hole" ("Breathe"), - in a word, hide from everyone - is just one of the thoughts expressed by Roger Waters. Talentlessly, thoughtlessly wasted time, passing youth - this is what the life of a modern person appears before us ("Time"). The rejection of the world of greed, selfishness, violence and "expensive" pleasures is so characteristic of the hero of Waters ("Money", "Us and them") ... The vicious circle of the life of modern society with all its dirt and violence, the absence of the possibility of free choice - are unacceptable for author. The result of all fruitless attempts to find any way out is mental clouding ("Brain damage"). Despite the despair and hopelessness seen in the verses, the hero, nevertheless, does not lose hope, trying to find himself in some unknown, surreal world - on the "other side of the moon", which, "in fact, does not exist" ("Eclipse"). The synthesis of poetry and original music, moreover, masterfully performed and equipped with various stereo effects, allows the album "The dark side of the moon" to remain among the best that has been created in rock music for many years. In 1974-75, the group toured a lot and simultaneously recorded the disc "Wish you were here", which was released in September 1975. This disc is dedicated to the untimely extinct talent of Syd Barrett. And once again the band showed a brilliant synthesis of music and poetry, Dick Parry's saxophone delighted the listeners again. Vocalists Roy Harper, Veneta Fields and Carlena Williams also enriched the album's sound. In September 1975, immediately after the release of the record, the music world was shocked by a sensation: Syd Barrett himself appeared in the Pink Floyd studio and announced that he was completely "tied up" with drugs, completely healthy and ready to work ... Alas! It lasted only for a month, after which it finally disappeared from the horizons of rock music... Being at the zenith of their fame, the musicians do not rest on their laurels: the band still tours a lot and works in the studio on new programs. In 1977, a new disc "Animals" appears on the shelves of stores, full of satire that castigates the vices of modern society. The group also creates the show "Animals", in which society appears before the eyes of the audience as a world inhabited by sheep, which the rulers - pigs - control with the help of cruel and merciless dogs. A huge plastic pig from this show becomes the permanent companion of the group in all its subsequent tours. Again a stunning success, the record is sold out in millions of copies, and the song "Pigs on the wing" hits the top ten of the British hit parade. Meanwhile, relations in the group are escalating. David Gilmour demands that his ideas be more reflected in the band's performances; in 1978 he released a solo disc "David Gilmour". In the same 1978, Nick Mason released the disc "Fictitious sport", which, despite the big name of Mason and the fame of "Pink Floyd", is not in great demand. In 1979, the group began work on a new show "The wall". Despite the aggravated differences between Gilmour and Waters, the musicians still managed to complete the huge work with a double album and the creation of a grandiose show with the same name. The performance was shown by the group 29 times in four cities - London, New York, Los Angeles and Dortmund. In 1980, Waters offers cooperation to director Alan Parker. The result of this collaboration was the film "The wall", filmed according to the script of Waters based on the show (the film includes almost all the songs from the album "The wall"). This film is about life and death, about war and peace, about the terrible loneliness of a person in a society full of hypocrisy, hatred and anger. From a young age, the hero of the film faces a wall of misunderstanding and indifference, the bricks of which are the people around him. Left early without a father who died in the war, he seeks male support from the fathers of other children - and does not find it. He tries to express himself in poetry, but the school teacher mocks him by reading these poems - the most intimate thing a guy has - in class. The school is not a "temple of science and education", but a vile conveyor belt, along which children follow into the meat grinder of life. This is only part of the wall dividing people into "us" and "them". The love that came was turned into betrayal, and again - loneliness. The hero again rushes about, not knowing what to do ("What shall we do now?"). Here it is useful to mention the brilliant animation created by Gerald Scarfe and Roger Waters. Terrible images of war and death haunt the viewer, and the wall keeps growing up and down. Breaking down this wall, not being another brick in it - that's what is needed! The lonely hero of the film does not find consolation either in television films, or in drinking, or in other entertainments - he is sick of everything, he cannot find what he needs ("Young Lust"); so what now, to leave this cruel world? After all, the gap in the wall is not visible, no matter how the hero searches for it. But it seems that there is a way out: to pull yourself together, put on a uniform, unite all kinds of bastards around you and, reveling in your strength and youth, destroy everything and everyone around - and "negroes, and Jews, and weaklings", - in a word, everyone! You just need to follow the worms, and all these "stupid" human feelings will go away, only power and power over people's minds and lives will remain ("In the flash", "Run like hell", "Waiting for the worms")... But enough , STOP! The hero does not want to take part in all this, he wants to return to himself, he wanted to destroy the wall, and not act outrageously along with the distraught guys in a uniform that strongly resembles a fascist one. And now - the Court, the Judgment Seat, the Trial, which is presided over by the disgusting Worm. The world of worms, puppet teachers, and "their fat psycho wives" turns on him, whose guilt is obvious: he wanted to be human! The verdict has been passed, and the wall now surrounds the hero from all sides, while the disgusting Worm is inexorably advancing from above ... But suddenly the wall collapses with a monstrous roar, its fragments scatter into millions of bricks. When the buzz subsides, the children who have appeared on the stage of action collect the pieces. They carry these stones away, so that nothing is left of the wall of hatred, indifference and vulgarity, greed and disgust! Or maybe they are just collecting material to build a new wall? The album "The wall" sold 11 million (!) copies, the songs from which are still popular and continue to live. Another of the group's many virtues is the ability to create indivisible, inseparable works. However, among the songs of the album "The wall" there are those that can be considered as something completely independent. Such, for example, is the song "Hey you" (by the way, not included in the film "The wall"). The variety of musical forms in the film, complemented by the polished performance of "Pink Floyd" and the brilliant acting of Bob Galdof, has kept the film on the minds of people for more than a decade. Even before the recording of this album, Rick Wright left the band and went to Greece. Since 1981 Waters, Gilmour and Mason have been working on solo programs or assisting other musicians including Kate Bush, Brian Farry and David Bowie. In 1983, "Pink Floyd" recorded the album "The final cut", the songs from which "are directed against war and the resolution of regional conflicts through armed intervention" (as David Gilmour said in one of his interviews). Despite the fact that Western music critics greeted the album rather coolly, it evoked good responses from the listeners and was sold out in more than one and a half million copies, and the song "The gunners dream" hit a number of hit parades. A little later, in the same 1983, the group recorded the disc "Works", but without Mason, who quit music because of his irrepressible passion for motorcycle racing and cars. So the Pink Floyd group broke up and ceased to exist. In 1984, David Gilmour recorded his second solo disc - "About face", in the recording of which Steve Windwood, Roy Harper and Jeff Porcaro helped him. Between 1984 and 1985, Gilmour toured with these musicians, as well as with rhythm guitarist Mick Ralphs. Meanwhile, Waters creates with his assistants the program "The pros and cons of hitch hiking", which, like Gilmour's album, does not enjoy much success. In 1986, Waters, together with a large group of musicians, including David Bowie, Hugh Cornwell and Paul Hardcastle, released the program "When the wind blows", and in 1987 Waters released the record "Radio K. A. O. S." Seeing the futility of creating something new, David Gilmour decides to return to the idea of ​​"Pink Floyd", but without Waters. After resurrecting the group, Gilmour and Mason began work on the record "A momentary lapse of reason", which was released in 1987. Rick Wright took part in the recording of this disc only as a guest musician, as he was afraid that Roger Waters, having sued Gilmour for misappropriation of the band's name, would win the process. So, immediately after the release of the record "A momentary lapse of reason" Waters began a lawsuit against Gilmour, without skimping on expenses (each day of the process costs Waters 5 thousand pounds sterling!). Calling the band's latest CD a mere well-crafted imitation of his music, Waters added fuel to a heated feud with Gilmour. Gilmour also led a furious fight against Waters. He did not stop at public insults and even finances a company that produces T-shirts with the words "Who is this Waters?" and like this one. Describing Waters's "Radio K. A. O. S." record with words such as "rare squalor", "much ado about nothing", Gilmour began to prepare for a tour that had never been equaled by the world. This world tour of the group began on September 9, 1987 and lasted almost two years, moreover, only in Europe the group gave 45 concerts (and in Moscow too). Dave Gilmour himself calls this program "the largest show on the road" and it's hard not to agree with him here: only 132 people are involved in the installation of equipment for one concert within 11 (!) days; the band's weekly costs are about $1.3 million and 45 trucks transport three huge stages. On the stage, in addition to eleven musicians, there are two telescanners, the stage is illuminated by four light robots, about three hundred rotating lamps; eight varying systems served by twenty operators... In short, the group's designer Paul Staples eats his bread for good reason. Gilmour also recruited drummer Harry Wallis, who uses specially designed red and green fluorescent sticks, three female vocalists, bassist Tony Levine and saxophonist Scott Page. "Pink Floyd" played about a hundred concerts during this almost two-year tour. In 1988, the album "Delicate sound of thunder" was released, recorded from a concert. More than half of the songs on this album are from the program "A momentary lapse of reason", the rest are the hits of the group of past years. However, Waters was never able to justify the rights to the band's name, and Gilmour's band retained its name. After this grandiose tour, there was a lull. The musicians took a break. As David Gilmour himself admitted in an interview: "After so many concerts, I simply could not hold the guitar in my hands anymore." The group's next album saw the light only in 1994. This album, called "The division bell", had a good success and took the first line in many charts. Roger Waters, meanwhile, wasn't sitting idle either. In 1990, Waters gave a grand concert in Berlin. At this concert, the old program of the group - "The wall" was performed. The speech was devoted to the fall of the Berlin Wall, and this program came in very handy. Many well-known artists helped Waters, including: Bryan Adams, Cyndi Lauper, Sinead O "Connor," Scorpions ". The concert was attended by: the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, the Berlin Radio Choir, and even the military orchestra of the Soviet Army. The concert was recorded double album In 1992, Roger Waters released a new program - "Amused to death". The last work of "Pink Floyd" is the double album "Pulse", which was recorded in the fall of 1994. The basis of the first disc of this album was the program "The division bell" . The second disc features the band's old program, "The dark side of the moon". Also on the disc are the old hits of the group. The album was released in 1995 in a magnificent and original design. The end of the album is decorated with a built-in LED flashing at the frequency of a human pulse. The concert turned out to be just as grandiose, for which the group received a Grammy award as the best concert of the year. In late 1996, Rick Wright's third solo album, Broken China, was released. Two songs on this album were sung by Sinead O'Connor. This is where the band's story ends. Let's hope for now. And we'll wait for new recordings by Pink Floyd and Roger Waters.

rock band from Cambridge. Known for her philosophical lyrics, acoustic experiments, album art innovations and grandiose shows. It is one of the most successful groups in rock music - about 70 million albums sold in the US (seventh place), but about 200 million have been sold in the world. It was founded in the year, the last album ("The Division Bell") and the tour took place in year. Last performance - July 2005.

Story

The name "Pink Floyd" (hereinafter "Pink Floyd") arose after a series of renaming of the groups "Sigma 6", "T-Set", "Meggadeaths", "The Screaming Abdabs", "The Architectural Abdabs" and "The Abdabs". Moreover, at first the group was called "The Pink Floyd Sound", and only then simply "The Pink Floyd" in honor of two blues musicians from Georgia - Pink Anderson (Pink Anderson) and Floyd Council (Floyd Council). The definite article "The" was dropped from the name only after 1970 (see, for example, the cover of the Zabriskie Point LP).

Period with Syd Barrett

The first composition of the Pink Floyd group included classmates at the Faculty of Architecture at the London Polytechnic Institute (Regent Str. Polytechnic) Richard Wright (keyboards, vocals), Roger Waters (bass guitar, vocals) and Nick Mason (drums) and their Cambridge friend Syd Barrett (vocals, guitar). Also in the group for a short time was guitarist Bob Close, who left the group due to creative differences. At the beginning of its work, Pink Floyd was engaged in the processing of rhythm and blues hits such as "Louie, Louie" ("Louie, Louie"). The band formed Blackhill Enterprises, a six-party business venture that included four musicians and their managers, Peter Jenner and Andrew King.

However, not all members of the group withstood the burden of success that fell on them. Drug use and constant performances broke the leader of the group, Syd Barrett. His behavior became more and more unbearable, nervous breakdowns and psychoses were repeated more and more often, infuriating the rest of the group (especially Roger). It happened more than once that Sid simply “turned off”, “withdrew into himself” right at the concert. In January 1968, longtime acquaintance of Roger and Syd, guitarist David Gilmour, joined the band to replace Barrett. However, it was planned that Syd, although not performing, would continue to write songs for the band. Unfortunately, nothing came of this venture.

In April 1968, Barrett's "retirement" was formalized, but Jenner and King decided to stay with him. The six-party Blackhill Enterprises went out of business.

Despite the fact that Barrett wrote most of the material for the first album, on the second album "A Saucerful of Secrets" ("A saucer full of secrets"), released in June 1968, there was only one song composed by him "Jugband Blues" ( "Blues for noise orchestra"). "A Saucerful of Secrets" peaked at number nine in the UK.

Without Barrett

Wish You Were Here

Later activities of the group

The biggest stage performance was on The Wall, where several session musicians played the opening song wearing rubber masks (revealing that the band members are unknown as individuals); further, during the first part of the show, workers gradually built a huge wall of cardboard boxes between the audience and the group, on which cartoons of Gerald Scarfe were then projected, and at the end of the performance the wall collapsed. This show was later recreated by Waters with the help of many guest musicians, including Bryan Adams, Van Morrison's band, in the ruins of the Berlin Wall. One of the participants in the show was the brass band of the GSVG (Group of Soviet Forces in Germany).

Album illustrations

Album illustrations are an integral part of the band's work for fans. Album covers and record sleeves give an emotional boost to the perception of music through a bright and meaningful visuals. Throughout the band's career, this aspect was primarily reinforced by the talent of photographer and designer Storm Thorgerson and his studio Hipgnosis. Suffice it to mention the famous images of a man shaking hands with his burning double () and a prism with light passing through it ("Dark Side of the Moon"). Thorgerson was involved in the design of all the albums, except "" (which was photographed for the cover by photographer Vic Singh and featured art by Syd Barrett on the back cover), "The Wall" (which the band hired Gerald Scarfe to design) and "The Final Cut" (cover design by Waters himself, using a photograph taken by his son-in-law Willie Christie).

Members of the group

Initial composition:

• Syd Barrett Syd Barrett listen)) - guitarist, vocalist (1964-1968)
• Roger Waters (ur. Roger Waters) - bass player, vocalist (1964-1985, 2005)
• Richard Wright (ur. Richard Wright) - keyboardist, vocalist (1964-1981, 1987-2005)
• Nick Mason Nick Mason) - drummer (1964-2005)

Joined later:

• David Gilmour (ur. David Gilmour) - vocalist, guitarist (1968-2005)

Discography

Studio albums

• The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (August 5 Barrett/Wright/Waters/Mason)
• A Saucerful of Secrets (June 29; Barrett/Gilmour/Wright/Waters/Mason)
• More (July 27; Gilmour/Wright/Waters/Mason)
• October 25, studio and live recordings; Gilmour/Wright/Waters/Mason)
• Atom Heart Mother (Oct 10; Gilmour/Wright/Waters/Mason)
• October 30 ; Gilmour/Wright/Waters/Mason)
• Obscured by Clouds (June 3; Gilmour/Wright/Waters/Mason)
• The Dark Side of the Moon (March 24; Gilmour/Wright/Waters/Mason)
• (September 15; Gilmour/Wright/Waters/Mason)
• Animals (January 23; Waters/Gilmour/Mason/Wright)
• The Wall (November 30, 2; Waters/Gilmour/Mason/Wright)
• The Final Cut (March 21; Waters/Mason/Gilmour)
• A Momentary Lapse of Reason (September 7; Gilmour/Mason/Wright)
• The Division Bell ( ; March 30 ; Gilmour/Wright/Mason)

Notes

Links

Pink Floyd Odyssey

• Andy Mabbett The Complete Guide to Pink Floyd Music
• V. Slobzhin, S. Klimovitsky, S. Sitnikov Pink Floyd: Sound Architects
• Evgeny Bychkov Legends of Rock: Pink Floyd

• Seva Novgorodtsev. "Rock the crops". Pink Floyd

English resources

• Spare Bricks - Quarterly fanzine
• George Starostin's Reviews - A critical review of the work of the George Starostin group
• Brain-Damage.co.uk - Famous UK site about the band
• Pink-Floyd.org - The group's fan club. A lot of information
• Pink Floyd Archives.com - A major site from the author of the Pink Floyd Encyclopedia
• The Pink Floyd Concert Database - Pink Floyd Concert Directory
• The Pink Floyd RoIO Database - Catalog of bootlegs released on CD, LP and other media.

Russian-language resources

Pink Floyd
Syd Barrett · David Gilmour · Nick Mason · Roger Waters · Richard Wright
Discography	The Piper at the Gates of Dawn · A Saucerful of Secrets · · · The Dark Side of the Moon · · animals · The Wall · The Final Cut · A Momentary Lapse of Reason · The Division Bell
Live albums	· Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live 1980–81
Collections	The Best of the Pink Floyd · Relics · A Nice Pair · Masters of Rock · A Collection of Great Dance Songs · Works · Shine On · (The Early Singles) · 1967: The First Three Singles · Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd · Oh, by the way
Movies and soundtracks	The Committee · Tonite Let's All Make Love in London · More · "Zabriski Point" · Obscured by Clouds · Live at Pompeii · "Wall" · Delicate Sound of Thunder · La Carrera Panamericana · pulse · The Pink Floyd and Syd Barrett Story · The Making of The Dark Side of the Moon · London "66-"67
Singles	Arnold Layne · See Emily Play · flaming · Apples and Oranges · It Would Be So Nice · Let There Be More Light · Jugband Blues · Point Me at the Sky · The Nile Song · One of These Days · Free Four · Money · Us and Them/Time · Have a Cigar · Another Brick in the Wall Part II · Comfortably Numb ·

- the legendary British band that played in the styles of psychedelic rock, art rock. One of the most popular rock bands in the history of the genre. Over 300 million copies of the band's records have been sold worldwide. In the US, by the number of albums sold, it is in 7th place.

Pink Floyd: history

The team was founded in 1965 in London by fellow students Richard Wright, Nick Mason, Roger Watres and their friend from Cambridge Syd Barrett. The name consists of the names of two bluesmen - Pink Anderson and Floyd Council. The group was originally called The Pink Floyd, but after 1970 the article was removed from the name. It is worth noting that before the group changed many other names, among which it is worth noting The Tea Set, The Pink Floyd Sound.

The foundations for the formation of the band were laid back in 1963, when Mason and Waters joined the band of Cliff Metcalfe and Keith Noble. Wright soon joined them. Rehearsals were held at Mason and Waters' apartment. Soon Bob Close joined the group, and Metcalfe and Noble left it. In 1963, Roger's friend Syd Barrett came to London and joined the group. In 1964, Syd changed the band's name from the Tea Set to The Pink Floyd Sound, since at one of the concerts they performed with other Tea Sets. For some time, Chris Dennis was the vocalist of the group, and after his departure, Barrett took this place.

In December 1964, thanks to Wright's connections, he entered a recording studio. During the break, 4 songs were recorded - a cover of I "m A King Bee, and 3 songs by Sid - Lucy Leave, Butterfly and Double O Bo. At this time, the group performs at the Countdown Club and participates in the program Ready Steady Go!. In 1965 Close leaves the group.

In 1966, Peter Jenner and Andrew King became the group's managers. At this time, experiments with the sound of the band begin.

Pink Floyd: The First Recordings

In January 1967, the first pro recording took place at Polydor. at this time he signed to EMI and the singles were already released on this label. On March 11, the single Arnold Lane / Candy And A Currant Bun was released, reaching number 20 on the chart.

In August 1967, the group's first album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, was released, named after a chapter from the book The Wind in the Willows, written by Kenneth Graham. Most of the material for the album was written by Barrett. The album reached number 6 on the chart and is considered one of the best English psychedelic albums.

Pink Floyd: The Tragedy of Syd Barrett

But success has turned Syd Barrett's head and David Gilmour joins the group due to drug addiction after the disruption of concerts in January. Initially, it was planned that Sid would continue to write songs, but this did not lead to anything good. Sid began to lead a reclusive life, occasionally releasing collections of songs. Since then, Pink Floyd and Barrett have met only once. In 1968, the group's second album was released, on which there was only one of his songs.

In 1969, he recorded the soundtrack for the film "More" and the album "Ummagumma", which contained a live performance of the group. The album charted in the US, peaking at number 70 and number 5 in the UK.

The Pink Floyd group continues to record albums every year. So in 1970, "Atom Heart Mother" was released with a 20-minute title track. Longplay became the first in Britain. When recording it, a symphony orchestra and a choir were used. In 1971, "Meddle" was released - on its recording, the group used 16-track tape recorders and a synthesizer. In 1972, "Obscured by Clouds" appeared, which became the soundtrack to the film "La Vallee". After this album and until 1987, the lyrics were written exclusively by Roger Waters, who became the leader of the band. During this period, the group's most classic albums were recorded.

Dark side of the moon: global success

In 1973, "The Dark Side of the Moon" was released - the best-selling album in the history of all rock music and the second in the world after the album "Thriller" by Michael Jackson. The album itself is a conceptual record that describes the pressure exerted by the modern world on the human psyche. The recording lasted 9 months, but it was definitely worth the time spent. The album finally became the first in the US, holding out on the charts for 741 weeks, including 591 in a row (from 1973 to 1988!). At the same time, in the homeland of Pink Floyd, he became only the second in the ranking. The next album "Wish you were here" was released only two years later. The song "Shine on you crazy diamond" was dedicated to Syd Barrett. It is noteworthy that during the recording of this album, Sid himself visited the studio, whom the musicians did not recognize at first.

In 1977, a new work was released - "Animals". The concept of the disc is close to Orwell's Animal Farm. During the recording, tension between the band members begins to rise, in particular between Wright and Waters. Also at this time, the group's work was criticized by members of the punk movement.

In 1979, another masterpiece album, The Wall, was released. The album was very successful and became the band's best-selling album in the US. During the tour in support of him, a real show was held on stage, which cost a lot of financial investment and almost bankrupted the group. Richard Wright took part in the recording for a fixed fee and was the only one who made money on this tour. In 1982, based on the album, a film was released, the script for which was written by Waters. During the making of the film, relations between Gilmour and Waters become even more tense.

Pink Floyd group: a split in the group

1983 - The Final Cut album. While recording, Gilmour and Waters did not appear in the studio together, and the band did not tour in support of the album. After its release until 1986, the participants pursue solo careers.

In 1986, Gilmour and Mason reunite the group. Wright also joined the band, initially as a session musician. The band then released "A Momentary Lapse of Reason". 1994 saw the release of The Division Bell with High Hopes as the highlight. The instrumental Marooned won a Grammy. In 1995, the live album P*U*L*S*E was released. Nick Mason releases Inside Out: A Personal History of Pink Floyd. On July 2, 2005, the band got together to perform at Live 8.

Richard Wright dies in 2008. In 2012, it was announced that the group would perform at the closing of the London Olympics, but only Nick Mason appeared from the line-up.

In 2014, the album The Endless River was released, compiled from demos left over from The Division Bell album. Only 1 composition was not an instrumental. A music video was released for the song Marooned from The Division Bell.

In addition, it is worth noting that the live album "Delicate Sound of Thunder" was the first album to go into space.

Became the standard. 4 albums of the team are in the top 500 according to Rolling Stone. The current members of the band are engaged in solo projects, sometimes banding together for one-off performances (eg Gilmour and Waters).

With the arrival of Gilmour, the group became less "weird", but more efficient. The musicians began to release at least one album a year: Ummagumma and More (1969), Atom Heart Mother and the soundtrack to M. Antonioni's Zabriskie Point (1970), Meddle (1971), Obscured By Clouds (1972). The soundtracks of the albums were filled with multipart compositions, different styles of exercises, electronic experiments. Philosophically, the group's music tried to embrace the entire universe in all its perfection and disharmony at the same time. Popularity grew by leaps and bounds: in 1969, a group concert took place in London, which gathered 100,000 spectators. Another important event in the life of Pink Floyd was a performance in the crater of a volcano near Pompeii (1972), which was recorded on tape and released as a concert film.

The Best of Pink Floyd
hip art

In the 1970s, the group reached the peak of popularity and prowess. One of the most famous albums, Dark Side Of The Moon (1973), became a truly bestseller in the history of rock music (more than 30 million copies were officially sold). It was during the recording of this album that the talent of the lyricist Waters and the unsurpassed skill of the guitarist Gilmour truly manifested themselves. The album is a whole story about a person's life on this earth: birth (Breathe), entry into modern life and acquaintance with its basic values ​​(Time and Money) and, finally, the gradual loss of mind and going to the "dark side of the moon" (Brain Damage and Eclipse).

1975 was the year of the zenith of fame for the group. The song Shine On You Crazy Diamond (dedicated to Syd Barrett) from the new album Wish You Were Here was unanimously recognized as a masterpiece, and the album itself set a record for staying in the charts. The work of Pink Floyd 1977 - Animals, based on the story-parable of J. Orwell "Animal Farm", was also very strong. The album uses dogs, pigs and sheep as metaphors to describe or denounce members of modern society. The Animals' music is significantly more guitar-based than previous albums, possibly due to the growing tension between Waters and Richard Wright, who did not contribute much to the album. In 1978, Wright and Gilmour released their solo albums, and rumors arose that the group might break up. But in 1979, Pink Floyd recorded his, one might say, cult album in the genre of rock opera The Wall (“The Wall”), which was second only to the album Dark Side Of The Moon in sales. The rock opera The Wall was created almost entirely by Roger Waters and received an enthusiastic reception from the public. The song from this album Another Brick In The Wall, which sharply exposes the education system, became a number one hit. The Wall remained on the best-selling album list for 14 years.

224 chord selections

Biography

Pink Floyd (Pink Floyd) British progressive/psychedelic rock band formed in Cambridge. Known for its psychedelic songs and grandiose shows. It is one of the most successful in rock and pop music, is in seventh place in the world in terms of the number of albums sold (more than 300 million copies worldwide). Formed in 1965, last album ("The Division Bell") and tour took place in 1994. Last performance July 2005 (“Live8”).

Members of the group

Initial composition:

* Syd Barrett (eng. Syd Barrett) guitarist, vocalist (19661968);
* Roger Waters bass guitarist, vocalist (19661985);
* Richard Wright keyboardist, vocalist (19661981, from 1987 to September 15, 2008);
* Nick Mason (born Nick Mason) drummer (from 1966 to the present).

Joined later:

* David Gilmour (eng. David Gilmour) vocalist, guitarist (from 1968 to the present).

The name "Pink Floyd" is formed by a combination of the names of jazz, more precisely rhythm and blues musicians Pink Anderson (Pink Anderson) and Floyd Council (Floyd Council), of whom Barrett was a fan; this name, according to the story of Waters, appeared to Barrett in a prophetic dream, and he insisted on renaming the group. Prior to this, the group changed many names: "Sigma 6", "T-Set", "Meggadeaths", "The Screaming Abdabs", "The Architectural Abdabs" and "The Abdabs". Moreover, at first the group was called "The Pink Floyd Sound", then simply "The Pink Floyd" and only then the definite article "the" was discarded in favor of "sonority".

"Which one of you is Pink?"

Pink Floyd's first line-up included London Architectural Institute classmates Richard Wright (keyboards, vocals), Roger Waters (bass guitar, vocals) and Nick Mason (drums) and their Cambridge friend Syd Barrett (vocals, guitar). Early in their career, Pink Floyd reworked rhythm and blues hits such as "Louie, Louie" ("Louie, Louie"). The band formed Blackhill Enterprises, a six-party business venture that included four musicians and their managers, Peter Jenner and Andrew King.

Released in August 1967, the band's debut album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, is considered the finest example of English psychedelic music. The tracks on this record showcase an eclectic musical mix, from the avant-garde "Interstellar Overdrive" to the whimsical "Scarecrow", a melancholy song inspired by the rural landscapes surrounding Cambridge. The album was successful and reached number six on the UK charts.

However, not all members of the group withstood the burden of success that fell on them. The use of psychedelics (as a result, an exacerbation of congenital schizophrenia) and constant performances broke the leader of the group, Syd Barrett. His behavior became more and more unbearable, nervous breakdowns and psychoses were repeated more and more often, infuriating the rest of the group (especially Roger). It happened more than once that Sid simply "turned off", "withdrew into himself" (which was caused by catatonic seizures) right at the concert. In January 1968, Roger and Syd's longtime guitarist David Gilmour joined the band to replace Barrett. However, it was planned that Syd, although not performing, would continue to write songs for the band. Unfortunately, nothing came of this venture.

In April 1968, Barrett's "retirement" was formalized, but Jenner and King decided to stay with him. The six-party Blackhill Enterprises went out of business.

Although Barrett wrote most of the material for the first album, for the second album, A Saucerful of Secrets, released in June 1968, he wrote only one song in its entirety, "Jugband Blues" (" Blues for noise orchestra). "A Saucerful of Secrets" peaked at number nine in the UK.

Without Barrett

After the group wrote the soundtrack for the film "More" ("More") directed by Barbet Schroeder in 1969, the album "Ummagumma" was released in the same year, 1969, partly recorded in Birmingham, partly in Manchester. It was a double album, the first disc of which was the first (and for almost twenty years the only official) recording of a live performance of the group, and the second was equally divided into four parts, according to the number of members of the group, and each of them recorded, in fact, his own mini- solo album. The album was the band's highest achievement at the time. It peaked at number five in the UK and hit the US chart at number seventy.

In 1970, the album "Atom Heart Mother" ("Mother with an atomic heart") appeared and took first place in the UK. The group grew musically, and now a choir and a symphony orchestra were needed to implement the ideas. The complicated arrangement required the involvement of an outside specialist, which was Ron Geesin. He wrote the intro to the title track as well as the album's orchestration.

A year later, in 1971, “Meddle” (“Intervention”) was released - practically the twin of the previous one (in the form and length of the songs, but not in the music; except that they did without an orchestra and a choir). The second side of the disc was reserved for a 23-minute "epic sound poem" (as Waters called it) called "Echoes" ("Echo"), where the group first used 16-track tape recorders instead of the four-channel and eight-channel equipment used on the Atom Heart Mother", as well as the Zinoviev synthesizer VCS3. The album also included "One Of These Days", a Pink Floyd live classic, where drummer Nick Mason promised in a terribly distorted voice to "cut you into little pieces" ("One of these days, Im going to cut you into little pieces"), light and carefree "Fearless" and "San Tropez" and mischievous and hooligan "Seamus" (Seamus is the dog's nickname), where a Russian greyhound was invited to the vocal part. "Meddle" peaked at number three on the UK Singles Chart.

A lesser-known album by the band was released in 1972 under the title Obscured By Clouds as the soundtrack to the Barbet Schroeder film La Vallee. The album is one of Nick Mason's favorites. Only 46th in the US Top 50 and sixth at home.

The Peak of Success

another side of the moon

The 1973 album The Dark Side of the Moon was the band's high point. It was a conceptual work, that is, not just a collection of songs on one disc, but a work imbued with a single, connecting idea of ​​the pressure of the modern world on the human psyche. The idea was a powerful catalyst for the band's creativity, and together its members compiled a list of themes revealed in the album: the composition "On The Run" ("On the Run") told about paranoia; "Time" ("Time") described the approach of old age and the senseless waste of life; The Great Gig In The Sky (originally titled Mortality Sequence) and Religious Theme are about death and religion; "Money" is about money that comes with fame and takes over a person; "Us And Them" ("We and them") speaks of conflicts within society; "Brain Damage" is dedicated to madness and Syd Barrett. Through the use of new 16-track recording equipment in the studio Abbey Road, almost nine months (fantastically long for that time!), Left to record, and the efforts of sound engineer Alan Parsons (Alan Parsons), the album turned out to be unprecedented and entered the recording treasure trove of all time.

The single "Money" hit the top twenty in the US, and the album became #1 (only #2 in the UK) and stayed on the US Top 200 for 741 weeks, including 591 weeks from 1973 to 1988 consecutively, several times coming in first place. The album broke many records and became one of the best selling albums of all time.

Wish You Were Here

"Wish You Were Here" ("Wish You Were Here") was released in 1975 and featured alienation as the title theme. In addition to the classic Pink Floyd title track, the album includes the critically acclaimed "Shine on You Crazy Diamond", a tribute to Syd Barrett and his mental breakdown. In addition, the album includes "Welcome to the Machine" ("Welcome to the machine") and "Have a Cigar" ("Light a cigar"), dedicated to the soulless businessmen of show business. The album was number one in the UK and number two in America.

By the time of the release of Animals in January 1977, the band's music was increasingly being criticized by the emerging punk rock movement for being too "weak" and haughty, a departure from the simplicity of early rock and roll. The album contained three long main songs and two short ones that complemented their content. The concept of the album was close to the meaning of George Orwell's book Animal Farm. The album uses dogs, pigs and sheep as metaphors to describe or denounce members of modern society. The Animals' music is significantly more guitar-based than previous albums, possibly due to the growing tension between Waters and Richard Wright, who did not contribute much to the album.

The Wall

The rock opera "The Wall" was created almost entirely by Roger Waters and again received an enthusiastic reception from the fans. The single from this album "Another Brick in the Wall, Part II", touching on issues of pedagogy and education, hit number one on the UK Christmas Singles Chart. In addition to number three in the UK, "The Wall" spent 15 weeks on the US charts during 1980. The album became very expensive in the writing process and brought in a lot of expenses due to the massive shows, but the record sales brought the band out of the financial crisis they were in. While working on the album, Waters expanded his influence and strengthened his leadership role in the group, giving rise to constant conflicts in it. For example, Waters tried to persuade the band members to fire Richard Wright, who had little to no involvement with the album. Wright eventually took part in several concerts for a fixed fee. Ironically, Richard was the only one who managed to make any money from these concerts, since the rest of the band had to cover the exorbitant costs of the show "The Wall". The Wall was co-produced by Bob Ezrin, a friend of Roger Waters who co-wrote the lyrics to "The Trial". Waters later kicked him out of the Pink Floyd show camp after Ezrin inadvertently spoke to a journalist relative about the album. The Wall remained on the best-selling album list for 14 years.

In 1982, a feature-length film was made based on the album Pink Floyd The Wall. Bob Geldof, founder of the Boomtown Rats and future organizer of the Live Aid and Live 8 festivals, starred as rock star Pink. The film was written by Waters, directed by Alan Parker, and animated by acclaimed cartoonist Gerald Scarfe. The film can be called provocative, as one of the main ideas was a protest against established ideals and the English passion for order. Also, the film was a certain manifesto in defense of rockers. After all, as you know, in the 1970s, a person could be arrested only because he was wearing torn jeans, or because he had a Mohawk on his head. None of the problems are directly shown in The Wall. The whole film is woven from allegories and symbols, for example, faceless teenagers who, one by one, fall into a meat grinder and turn into a homogeneous mass.

The making of the film was accompanied by a further deterioration in the relationship between the two most powerful personalities of the group: Waters and Gilmour.

Recent albums and the breakup of the group

In 1983, the album "The Final Cut" ("Final Cut" or "Mortal Wound") appeared, with the subtitle "Requiem for the post-war dream of Roger Waters, performed by Pink Floyd." Darker than The Wall, this album revisits many of its themes, as well as addressing issues that were as relevant today as they are today. This included Waters' dissatisfaction and anger at the fact that Britain is involved in the Falklands conflict - the composition "The Fletcher Memorial Home" ("Fletcher's Memorial House"), where Fletcher is Waters' father Eric Fletcher. The theme of the track "Two Suns in the Sunset" ("Two Suns at sunset") fear of nuclear war. Wright's absence from the recording of the album resulted in some lack of keyboard effects characteristic of Pink Floyd's previous work, although guest musicians Michael Kamen (piano and harmonium) and Andy Bown made some contributions as keyboardists. Among the musicians who took part in the recording of "The Final Cut" was noted tenor saxophonist Raphael Ravenscroft. Despite mixed reviews for this album, "The Final Cut" was a success (No. 1 in the UK and No. 6 in the US) and was certified platinum shortly after its release. The most hit songs, according to radio stations, were “Gunner's Dream” (“Artilleryman's Dream”) and “Not Now John” (“Not now, John”). The friction between Waters and Gilmour during the recording of the album was so strong that they never showed up at the recording studio at the same time.The band did not tour with this album.Waters soon officially announced his departure from the group.

After The Final Cut, the members of the band went their separate ways, releasing solo albums until 1987, when Gilmour and Mason began to recreate Pink Floyd. This gave rise to heated legal disputes with Roger Waters, who, after leaving the group in 1985, decided that the group could not exist without him anyway. However, Gilmour and Mason managed to prove that they had the right to continue their musical activities as a Pink Floyd group. Waters at the same time retained some of the band's traditional looks, including most of the props and characters from The Wall and all rights to The Final Cut. As a result, the band led by David Gilmour returned to the studio with producer Bob Ezrin. While working on the band's new album, A Momentary Lapse of Reason (No. 3 in both the UK and US), Richard Wright joined the band, initially as a session musician on a weekly basis, then as a full-fledged participant until 1994, when the last work of the Floyds "The Division Bell" ("The Division Bell", No. 1 in the UK and USA) was released and the subsequent tour, which became the most profitable in the history of rock music to date.

All members of the group have released solo albums that have reached varying levels of popularity and commercial success. "Amused to Death" by Roger Waters was most warmly received by the public, but was still met with mixed reviews from critics.

Later activities of the group

Since 1994 and The Division Bell, Pink Floyd hasn't released any studio material, and there won't be any any time soon. The band's only output was the 1995 live album P*U*L*S*E (Pulse), a live recording of The Wall compiled from the 1980 and 1981 Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live 1980-81” (“Is anyone outside? The Wall Live, 198081”) in 2000; a two-disc set containing the most significant hits of the group "Echoes" ("Echo") in 2001; the album's 30th anniversary re-release of "Dark Side of the Moon" in 2003 (remastered by James Guthrie in SACD); 2004 reissue of The Final Cut with the added single "When The Tigers Broke Free" ("When the tigers broke free"). The Echoes album caused a lot of controversy due to the fact that the songs flow into each other in a different order than on the original albums, significant parts are torn out of some of them, and also because of the sequence of songs itself, which, according to fans, should not be logic.

David Gilmour in November 2002 released a DVD of his solo concert "David Gilmour in Concert" ("David Gilmour in Concert"). It was compiled from recordings of the show from 22 June 2001 to 17 January 2002 at the Royal Festival Hall in London. Richard Wright and Bob Geldof were invited to the stage as guests.

Due to the fact that the members of the group are mostly engaged in their own projects for example, Mason wrote the book "Inside Out: A Personal History of Pink Floyd" ("Inside Out: A Personal History of Pink Floyd"), because of the death of Steve ORourke (Steve ORourke) October 30, 2003 the band's manager for many years, due to David Gilmour's solo project (Album On an Island and tour of the same name) and due to the death of Rick Wright on September 15, 2008, the band's future is hazy.

Although on July 2, 2005, putting past differences aside for one evening, Pink Floyd performed in their classic line-up (Waters, Gilmour, Mason, Wright) at the Live 8 worldwide show dedicated to the fight against poverty.

On July 7, 2006, one of the group's founders, Syd Barrett, died due to complications from diabetes in Cambridge. During the summer, Barrett's few surviving paintings, as well as his furniture and some of his manuscripts, were auctioned off. On May 10, 2007, Madcap's Last Laugh concert took place, dedicated to his memory, but Roger Waters performed at it separately from Pink Floyd.

On September 3, 2007, Pink Floyd's first album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn was re-released to celebrate his 40th birthday. The release includes 3 discs: a mono version of the album, a stereo version, early tracks, as well as several scanned sheets from Syd Barrett's notebooks.

The Pink Floyd Show

Pink Floyd are known, among other things, for their incredible performances, combining visuals and music, creating a show in which the musicians themselves almost fade into the background. In their early days, Pink Floyd were practically the first band to use special light show equipment in their performances - slides and video clips projected onto a large round screen. Later, lasers, pyrotechnics, balloons, and figures were used (the most notable of these being the huge inflatable pig that first appeared on the Animals album).

The biggest stage performance was for The Wall, where several session musicians played the opening song wearing rubber masks (revealing that the band members are unknown as individuals); further, during the first part of the show, workers gradually built a huge wall of cardboard boxes between the audience and the group, on which cartoons of Gerald Scarfe were then projected, and at the end of the performance the wall collapsed. This show was later recreated by Waters with the help of many guest musicians, including Bryan Adams, the Scorpions and Van Morison, in 1990 amidst the ruins of the Berlin Wall.

Album illustrations

Album illustrations are an integral part of the band's work for fans. Album covers and record sleeves give an emotional boost to the perception of music through a bright and meaningful visuals. Throughout the band's career, this aspect was primarily reinforced by the talent of photographer and designer Storm Thorgerson and his studio Hipgnosis. Suffice it to mention the famous images of a man shaking hands with his burning doppelgänger ("Wish You Were Here") and a prism with light passing through it ("Dark Side of the Moon"). Torgeson was involved in the design of all the albums except "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn" (photographed for this cover by photographer Vic Singh and back cover art by Syd Barrett), "The Wall" (for which the band hired Gerald Scarfe) and "The Final Cut" (cover design by Waters himself, using a photo taken by his son-in-law Willie Christie).

Discography
Studio and live albums

* The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (LP; EMI; August 5, 1967; Barret/Wright/Waters/Mason)
* A Saucerful of Secrets (LP; EMI; June 29, 1968; Barrett/Gilmour/Wright/Waters/Mason)
* More (LP; EMI; July 27, 1969; Gilmour/Wright/Waters/Mason)
* Ummagumma (2 LP; EMI; October 25, 1969, studio and live recordings; Gilmour/Wright/Waters/Mason)
* Atom Heart Mother (LP; EMI; October 10, 1970; Gilmour/Wright/Waters/Mason)
* Meddle (LP; EMI; October 30, 1971; Gilmour/Wright/Waters/Mason)
* Obscured by Clouds (LP; EMI; June 3, 1972; Gilmour/Wright/Waters/Mason)
* The Dark Side of the Moon (LP; EMI; March 24, 1973; Gilmour/Wright/Waters/Mason)
* Wish You Were Here (LP; EMI; September 15, 1975; Gilmour/Wright/Waters/Mason)
* Animals (LP; EMI; January 23, 1977; Gilmour/Wright/Waters/Mason)
* The Wall (2 LP; EMI; November 30, 1979, 2 LP; Gilmour/Wright/Waters/Mason)
* The Final Cut (LP; EMI; March 21, 1983; Gilmour/Waters/Mason)
* A Momentary Lapse of Reason (LP; EMI; September 7, 1987; Gilmour/Mason)
* Delicate Sound of Thunder (LP, live; EMI; November 22, 1988; Gilmour/Wright/Mason)
* The Division Bell (LP; EMI; March 30, 1994; Gilmour/Wright/Mason)
* P*U*L*S*E (2 CD live; EMI; June 5, 1995; Gilmour/Wright/Mason)
* Is There Anybody out There? The Wall Live 198081 (CD, Live; March 27, 2000; Gilmour/Wright/Waters/Mason)

Compilations

* Relics (1971) a compilation of some of the materials and songs taken from the albums from the B-sides of the early singles
* Masters of Rock, issue 1 (1974) compilation; the compilation was originally released under the name "The Best Of Pink Floyd"
* A Nice Pair (1973) compilation combining the band's first two discs "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn" and "A Saucerful Of Secrets" in one album
* A Collection of Great Dance Songs (1981) the compilation includes several alternative versions of well-known songs, especially the new recording Money, in which David Gilmour alone performed all the parts except for the saxophone.
* Works (1983) Compilation featuring the off-album track "Embryo" and two alternate versions of "Brain Damage" and "Eclipse"
* Shine on (CD Box Set, 1992) deluxe CD set including remastered "A Saucerful Of Secrets", "Meddle", "Dark Side Of The Moon", "Wish You Were Here", "Animals", "The Wall", "A Momentary Lapse Of Reason", and a compilation of the group's first singles
* 1967: The First Three Singles (1997) compilation of the group's first three singles
* Echoes (2 CD, 2001) compilation of the band's best tracks

* "Live at Pompeii" (Live concert in Pompeii) (1973, concert, directed by Adrian Maben; Gilmour/Wright/Waters/Mason) recording of ten songs performed by the band against the backdrop of the ancient ruins of Pompeii (Italy)
*Pink Floyd The Wall (1982, MGM, directed by Alan Parker; Gilmour/Wright/Waters/Mason) film based on the 1979 album The Wall
* "The Final Cut" 1983, short film
* "Delicate Sound of Thunder" (1988, live, directed by Wayne Isham; Gilmour/Wright/Mason) live recording at Nassau Coliseum (USA)
* "Pulse" 2006, concert

Soundtracks

* "Tonite Lets All Make Love In London" (Let's all make love in London tonight) (1967, directed by Peter Whitehead, UK) only two short parts of the composition "Interstellar Overdrive" were used, but the film allowed the band's first studio recording of four songs.
* "The Committee" (1968, directed by Peter Sykes, UK) used, in particular, an early version of "Careful With That Ax, Eugene".
* "More" (More) (1969, directed by Barbet Schroeder, France) a film about the adventures of hippies in Ibiza. Not very famous in the world, but very popular in France. As a soundtrack, modified old and several new songs of the group were used.
* "Zabriskie Point" (Zabriskie Height) (1970, directed by Michelangelo Antonioni, USA) used four fragments of the band's songs.
* "La Vallee" (Valley) (1972, directed by Barbet Schroeder, France) this film is also known as "Obscured by Clouds" (Hidden by Clouds). He talks about hippies who went to New Guinea in search of a lost valley. The band's music used in the film is different from what can be heard on the "Obscured by Clouds" album.
* "La Carrera Panamericana" (Panamericana Freeway) (April 13, 1992, directed and produced by Ian MacArthur, UK) a documentary film about the 2500-mile motor race in Mexico. David Gilmour and Nick Mason took part in these competitions and were one of the sponsors. Pink Floyd provided the soundtrack for the film. In addition to several tracks from the A Momentary Lapse of Reason album, several new tunes were recorded for the film, which did not appear on the band's next studio album, although they surfaced on several pirated discs.