Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd, the one and only psychedelic music rock band is one of the most commercially successful and influential rock bands of all time.  Even though they have lost their lead singer and band leader twice during the course of their history,  Pink Floyd has managed to continue to be a worldwide famous rock band which few bands could rival.   During their music career, Pink Floyd has sold over 200 million albums worldwide, and over 74 million in theUnited States.  They continue to enjoy world wide fame and presence within the music industry.

The band formed in 1965 when Nick Mason, Roger Waters, and Rick Wright  had a band and teamed up with Syd Barrett who became the band’s songwriter, lead guitar and lead singer.  In honor of blues musician Pinkney ‘Pink’ Anderson and Floyd Council,  Barrett renamed the new band Pink Floyd.

Under Barretts direction, the band would focus on psychedelic music, and would play in theLondonunderground experimenting with breakthrough concepts such as light shows and instrument feedback that was unheard of at the time.  Late in 1967, their successful debut album “The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn”  became a Top Ten hit.  The band started to tour theUSwith Jimi Hendrix, and at this time Syd started to show the first signs of mental sickness.  Syd Barrett, a gifted musical genius was bordering on insanity fuelled by extensive LSD use.  During tours, he would play new material live, completely unknown to his band mates or his fans.

He would give incoherent interviews, and sometimes during live performances he would just stand on stage in a drug induced trance.  In February 1968 the band hired Barretts friend David Gilmour who would play lead guitarist in an attempt to stabilize Barretts behaviour and bring structure and stability back to the band. Unfortunately the attempt failed, and Syd quit the band two months later as some of his mental issues started to impede his work.  Syd, the heart and soul of one of the greatest bands in history drifted into seclusion and privacy.

Surprisingly with Syd’s absence, the new band transformed into a more successful band, with Waters taking over as lead vocals, and Gilmour as the lead guitarist.  They released two albums, “Saucerful” and “Meddle”, before their ground breaking masterpiece “Dark Side Of The Moon”, which was released in 1973, and became one of the best selling albums, staying on the Billboard charts for over ten years.  This album propelled Pink Floyd into superstardom.

Their next album “Wish You Were Here”, released in 1975 was almost as successful as “Dark Side Of The Moon”, however to some it was considered to be better musically.  The album was dedicated to Pink Floyds’ original and vanished founder, Syd Barrett.  In particular, the song “Shine On You Crazy Diamond”, was written specifically about Syd.  Ironically, during the recording of the album at the historicAbbey Roadrecording studio, Syd visited the band for the first time since his disappearance in 1969. Unfortunately, that was the last time the band saw Syd, since he once again disappeared trapped in a world fragmented with mental delusions.

Two years later, Pink Floyd released “Animals”, a marginally successful album, that was not as well received as their previous work.  The band mates at this time were having personal issues, and there was talk of the band breaking up.  Nevertheless, the band persevered, and released their second best selling album, and my personal favourite, “The Wall”.  At this time the personal friction started to emerge as Waters insisted that the band fire Wright.  In 1980, he got his wish, and Wright left the band.  To add fuel to the fire, Gilmore was upset with Waters for receiving little credit for “The Wall”, and additionally, Mason supported Gilmore in the dispute.

To everyone’s surprise the band once again persevered through their personal issues, and released “The Final Cut”, which was primarily the work of Waters.  However, with the absence of Wright, the synthesized electronic sound was missing from their work, and consequently the album was a disappointment to many.  Following the release of the album, the band finally split up and the members started to perform solo work.  In 1986, Gilmore and Mason decided to re-unite the band without Waters who was completely against the idea since he insisted that without Waters the band could not exist.  The three members took the dispute to court, and Gilmore and Mason won the case in 1987.

Following the trial, Wright joined up once again with Gilmore and Mason to resurrect the new Pink Floyd.  That same year, they released “A Momentary Lapse Of Reason”, and even though it may not have been as successful as their previous work, it was well received and a very good album.  The band decided to do a world tour, and in 1988, they released a hit live album “Delicate Sound Of Thunder”.  In 1994, they released another successful album that mirrored their original sound.  The album was “The Division Bell”, and the following year the band once again released their final album “Pulse”.  Upon reflection of the bands success in their latter years, Waters remained bitter towards the band, with his solo career not nearly as successful as his original aspirations, however he did receive critical acclaim for his work with comparison to his previous work with Pink Floyd.  True to their original passions and love for music, Waters joined Pink Floyd on stage for Live 8, and in July 2005, the original four band members Waters, Gilmour, Mason, and Wright performed live on stage for the first time since June 1981.  The original band leader Syd Barrett sadly died of pancreatic cancer in hisCambridgehome onJuly 7, 2006.

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