Lead singer of Pink Floyd. Legendary British rock band Pink Floyd: history and collapse

Pink Floyd (Pink Floyd listen)) are a British progressive/psychedelic rock band from Cambridge. Famous for its philosophical texts, acoustic experiments, innovations in album design and grandiose shows. It is one of the most successful groups in rock music - about 70 million albums sold in the USA (seventh place), and about 200 million were sold in the world. It was founded in the year, the last album ("The Division Bell") and tour took place in year. Last performance - July 2005.

Story

The name "Pink Floyd" (hereinafter referred to as "Pink Floyd") arose after a series of renamings 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 and Floyd Council (Floyd Council). The definite article “The” was dropped from the title only after 1970 (see, for example, the cover of the record with the music for “Zabriskie Point”).

Period with Syd Barrett

The first Pink Floyd lineup included fellow Regent Str. Polytechnic architecture students Richard Wright (keyboards, vocals), Roger Waters (bass guitar, vocals) and Nick Mason (drums) and their Cambridge friend Syd Barrett (vocals, guitar). The band also briefly had guitarist Bob Close, who left the band due to creative differences. At the beginning of their career, Pink Floyd was reworking rhythm and blues hits such as “Louie, Louie” (“Louie, Louie”). The group formed Blackhill Enterprises, a six-party business venture involving the four musicians and their managers, Peter Jenner and Andrew King.

However, not all band members withstood the burden of success that fell on them. Drug use and constant performances broke the band's leader, 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 “switched off”, “withdrew into himself” right at the concert. In January 1968, longtime Roger and Syd acquaintance guitarist David Gilmour joined the band to replace Barrett. However, it was planned that Sid, although not performing, would continue to write songs for the group. 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 company Blackhill Enterprises has ceased operations.

Although Barrett wrote most of the material on the first album, the second album, A Saucerful of Secrets, released in June 1968, featured only one song he wrote, “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 largest stage performance was for The Wall, where several session musicians played the first song while wearing rubber masks (revealing that the band members were unknown as individuals); Then, during the first part of the show, workers gradually built a huge wall of cardboard boxes between the audience and the band, onto which Gerald Scarfe's cartoons 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, among the ruins of the Berlin Wall. One of the participants in the show was the GSVG (Group of Soviet Forces in Germany) brass band.

Album illustrations

An integral part of the band's creativity for fans is album illustrations. Album covers and record sleeves provide an emotional boost to music through vibrant, meaningful visuals. Throughout the band's career, this aspect was primarily supported 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”). Torgerson was involved in the design of all the albums except "The Wall" (which the band hired Gerald Scarfe to design) and "The Final Cut" (cover designed by Waters himself, using a photograph taken by his son-in-law Willie Christie).

Members of the group

Original composition:

• Syd Barrett (ur. Syd Barrett) - guitarist, vocalist (1964-1968)
• Roger Waters (ur. Roger Waters) - bass guitarist, vocalist (1964-1985, 2005)
• Richard Wright (ur. Richard Wright) - keyboardist, vocalist (1964-1981, 1987-2005)
• Nick Mason (English) 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/Gilmore/Wright/Waters/Mason)
• More (July 27; Gilmour/Wright/Waters/Mason)
• October 25, studio and live recordings; Gilmour/Wright/Waters/Mason)
• Atom Heart Mother (October 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; Gilmore/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; Gilmore/Wright/Mason)

Notes

Links

Pink Floyd Odyssey

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

• Seva Novgorodtsev. "Rock crops". Pink Floyd

English-language resources

• Spare Bricks - Quarterly fanzine
• George Starostin’s Reviews - A critical review of the work of the group by George Starostin
• Brain-Damage.co.uk - Famous British site about the group
• Pink-Floyd.org - Fan club of the group. A lot of information
• Pink Floyd Archives.com - Large site from the author of the Pink Floyd encyclopedia
• The Pink Floyd Concert Database - Pink Floyd concert catalog
• The Pink Floyd RoIO Database - Catalog of bootlegs released on CD, LP and other media.

Russian-language resources

PINK FLOYD(Pink Floyd), English musical group. Created in 1965.

The lineup of the first album: Syd Barrett - vocals, guitar, Roger Waters - bass, Richard Wright - keyboards, Nick Mason - drums.

This one of the largest groups in the history of modern music has been creating its own musical world for more than 30 years, in which you can find elements of almost all modern trends - from ambient to “new metal” (nu-metal).

The group was formed in London on the basis of a student group in which Waters, Rick Wright and Nick Mason played in the mid-1960s. Barrett joined them in 1965. In the early years, its leader was Syd Barrett (real name Roger Barrett). This group, like many other British groups of the time, performed rhythm and blues in the spirit of the Rolling Stones and constantly changed their names: Sigma-6, Meggadeaths and Abdabs. Abdabs). With the arrival of Barrett, a new name appeared, “The Pink Floyd Sound”, made up of the names of two American blues artists - Pink Anderson and Floyd Council (Floyd Council).

In the early years, most of the group's repertoire consisted of classic blues and rhythm and blues compositions, against which Barrett developed his unusual guitar technique. The group as a whole gradually became more visible and popular on the London scene.

At the insistence of the band's manager, Jenner, Barrett began writing more of his own songs. The group's first single was released in March 1967. Arnold Lane (Arnold Layne), which reached number 23 in the British charts, but caused a minor scandal in the press and radio due to its content. The song was about a man who stole laundry from the clothesline at night.

Second single Watch Emily play(See Emily Play, summer 1967) turned out to be even more successful and reached number 6 in the British charts.

However, during this period the group had complications with Syd Barrett. Musicians later explained that problems arose either because of the characteristics of his free and fragile creative nature, which rebelled against all kinds of commercial games and rules, or because he abused the drug LSD. However, in August 1967 they released their debut LP, Flutist at the Gate of Dawn (The Piper at the Gates of Dawn), which became a sensation in England. Barrett's free sound, unusual style of playing, amazing melodies and strange lyrics made a strong impression. But the group was in a state of crisis. The musicians invited guitarist David Gilmour. For some time, Gilmour and Barrett performed together as Pink Floyd, but in 1968 Barrett left the group, and Gilmour remained the only guitarist of the group.

They managed to get out of the crisis quite quickly; already in 1968 they released their second album Saucers full of secrets (A Saucerful of Secrets), which consisted of short songs with an unusual sound and long and extensive compositions - prototypes of later monumental works.

The group performed a lot, experimented not only with the sound, but also with the visual side of the concerts, using a lot of lighting equipment, pyrotechnics and other special effects. Pink Floyd also worked in films. They created soundtracks for films such as More(More) Barbeth Schroeder in 1969 and The Valley (Valley) (in 1972 the album was released under the name Covered by clouds (Obscured by Clouds)), Zabriskie Point(Zabriskie Point) Michelangelo Antonioni in 1970.

In the late 1960s they became interested in heavy sound. Some compositions like Song of the Nile (Nile Song) from the album More, sounded impressive even against the background of grunge of the 1990s or modern “new metal”.

They were increasingly attracted to large musical forms and in 1970 a studio album appeared Mother with an atomic heart (Atom Heart Mother). This twenty-minute composition already has a symphonic scale, although the album also contains short songs. And the album Intervention (Meddle, 1971) opens their famous theme One of these days (One of These Days). The second side of the record is entirely devoted to a large musical canvas called Echo (Ecoes).

By the early 1970s they had developed a strong reputation with a certain fan base. It was hard to imagine that their next album Dark side of the Moon (The Dark Side of the Moon, 1973) would become an event in the world of modern music, and that the group would gain worldwide fame. Its advantages were not only magnificent compositions and a high level of performance, but also technical innovations. The group carefully and painstakingly worked on the sound, using the latest advances in technology, and these efforts paid off: the record surprised listeners. For several years she remained high on the charts in England and America, which in itself is a rare phenomenon. Success Dark Side of the Moon largely due to the fact that Pink Floyd managed to find a combination of innovative effects with an intelligible form of performance. The result was a symbiosis of serious and popular music.

Next disc wish you Were Here (Wish You Were Here, 1975) turned out to be no less successful. Some songs on this disc are associated with the figure of Syd Barrett. This is exactly what we are talking about in the first composition. Shine on, crazy diamond(Shine On You Crazy Diamond). Vocal part in the composition Help yourself to a cigar (Have a Cigar) performed by Roy Harper, English singer, hero of the song Hats off to Roy Harper! (Hats Off To Roy Harper!) from the album of the group "Led Zeppelin".

The success of the group was natural even after the release of the concept album Animals (Animals, 1977), which was based on the book Barnyard George Orwell. The line of social satire that always worried Roger Waters (who by the end of the 1970s became the leader of the group) was continued in the next album Wall (The Wall, 1979). The theme of isolation, separation of people, vicious, crippling education in modern society was acutely heard in the album, which consisted of two discs. The album was a success, and one of the songs Another Brick in the Wall (Another Brick in the Wall) topped the British charts. In 1980, director Alan Parker made a cinematic version of this album of the same name.

But despite the success of the album Wall the group was in a state far from harmony. Critics literally trashed the next album. In fact, Pink Floyd as a single group no longer existed. Each of the musicians was actively involved in their own projects. In 1985, Waters, in response to suggestions from colleagues to discuss the future of Pink Floyd, announced his departure from the group. Gilmour, Mason and Wright began work on a new album, while retaining the Pink Floyd name. The stage of numerous legal proceedings with Roger Waters began. He tried to stop musicians from using the name. However, the court ruled not in his favor. Waters' response to the activities of his former colleagues was the impressive show "The Wall", organized by him in honor of the dismantling of the Berlin Wall in 1990.

In 1987, Pink Floyd released the album Momentary loss of sanity (Momentary Lapse of Reason) and went on a big tour, based on which a double live album was released in 1988 The gentle sound of thunder (Delicate Sound of Thunder). In 1989, Pink Floyd toured the USSR.

In 1992, Gilmour, Wright and Mason published a collection consisting of 7 of the most famous albums, several rare songs and a large booklet dedicated to the history of the band. Shine on (Shine On). In 1994, an album of new Pink Floyd songs was released entitled Division Bell(two translation options: Separation Bell or Division bell), and in 1996 - a concert disc Pulse (Pulse). In 2001 they again reminded of themselves with a nostalgic collection Echo (Echoes), which included various compositions from all periods of the group’s life.

Alexander Zaitsev

Starting out as an acid band in the 60s, Pink Floyd quickly became stars of the rock scene and influenced many musicians - from David Bowie to Queen and Radiohead. In each of their albums they experimented with sound, while at the same time emphasizing a strong guitar solo. Most of Pink Floyd's records are united by a single concept; they have toured the whole world more than once with large-scale shows for their albums.

The history of the creation of Pink Floyd

At first, the group played classic rhythm and blues, but Barrett was a great hunter of creative experiments, which was clearly felt in the pronounced psychedelic sound of some of his compositions. Sometimes some extraneous sounds were added to the songs, the composition could suddenly be interrupted in the middle, and the audience sat in bewilderment for several seconds in complete silence.

The band's first album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, was written entirely by Syd Barrett and was released in 1967. It is still considered one of the best examples of psychedelic music, and in the year of release it immediately took sixth position in the English charts. But not everyone coped with the unexpected popularity - Steve Barrett, whose psyche was already too vulnerable from the regular use of mind-expanding drugs and mild schizophrenia, began to behave inappropriately at concerts and terribly irritate other musicians with his behavior.

Pink Floyd without Syd Barrett

In the summer of 1968, the group’s second album, “A Saucerful of Secrets,” was released, which the musicians began recording under Sid, but the resulting album had a completely different sound. Most of the tracks on the disc were written by Waters and Wright, and only one – “Jugband Blues” – by Syd Barrett. The group's second album was also warmly received by the British public and took ninth place in the local charts.

The following year, the musicians recorded the soundtrack to the film More by Barbe Schroeder and released the double album Ummagumma, which reached number five in the British charts and number seventy in the US.

The highest achievement of Pink Floyd at this stage of creativity was the album “Atom Heart Mother” in 1970 - it confidently took first place in the British chart, and to realize their creative ideas, the musicians turned to the symphony orchestra and arranger Ron Gisin for help.

Pink Floyd – Live in Pompeii (1972)

Career blossoming

“The Dark Side of the Moon” became the second highest-selling album in history and has still not lost this position, approaching 50 million in total copies sold. Above it is only “Thriller” by Michael Jackson.

This is the group's first concept album: each song raises some problem of our time or a philosophical question, be it the inexorable approach of old age, the exaggerated importance of money in the world, the pressure on people from religious and state institutions.

With this disc, Pink Floyd turned from a psychedelic group for music lovers into one of the best rock bands of their time and did not leave this pedestal. It would seem difficult to repeat the success of “The Dark Side of the Moon,” but the next album became a worthy successor to its predecessor. Thus, Gilmour and Wright generally considered “Wish You Were Here” (1975) to be Pink Floyd’s best creation. The album consists of only 5 tracks - Pink Floyd have always been distinguished by their attraction to large forms. The musicians dedicated the title track “Shine On You Crazy Diamond”, divided into two tracks with a total duration of almost half an hour, to Syd Barrett.

In the next record, “Animals” (1977), the musicians tried, in the spirit of George Orwell, to compare people with animals and staged a show with inflatable animals, the pig from which migrated to all subsequent performances of the group.

Pink Floyd – Another Brick in the Wall (part 1)

In the fall of 1979, another super-successful album by the group, “The Wall,” was released, which in its structure resembled a rock opera, and the single “Another Brick in the Wall” became the most famous Pink Floyd composition and was included in the list of the greatest songs of all times. The wall on the album is a symbol of the alienation that a person may be subjected to. The two discs contain such diamonds of progressive rock as “Hey You”, “Nobody Home” and, of course, “Comfortably Numb”. Three years later, based on the album, director Alan Parker made a film of the same name, similar to a huge video clip with unusual animated inserts.

Pink Floyd – Another Brick in the Wall (part 2)

Pink Floyd breakup

But Gilmour and Mason were not going to stop working in Pink Floyd, which is why a two-year legal battle began between them and Roger. As a result, the group won the right to the original name, and Waters got exclusive rights to the show “The Wall”.

Over the next thirty years, the group, which Roger predicted would soon die, recorded three more albums and gave many grandiose world tours. In 2005, the musicians again (and for the last time) gathered in full force at the Live 8 charity show.

In 2008, Richard Wright died of lung cancer, after which the remaining band members stated that a reunion would be impossible without him. In 2014, the album “The Endless River” was released, based on unreleased recordings from the 90s. In 2015, David Gilmour announced the final breakup of Pink Floyd.

Discography

• The Piper at the Gate of Dawn (1967)
• A Saucerful of Secrets (1968)
• Music from the film More (1969)
• Ummagumma (1969)
• Atom Heart Mother (1970)
• Meddle (1971)
• Obscured by Clouds (1972)
• The Dark Side of the Moon (1973)
• Wish You Were Here (1975)
• Animals (1977)
• The Wall (1979)
• The Final Cut (1983)
• A Momentary Lapse of Reason (1987)
• The Division Bell (1994)
• The Endless River (2014)

Pink Floyd now

Pink Floyd, English rock band. Formed in 1965 in London. The core of the group was Cambridge school classmates Syd Barrett (real name Roger Keith Barrett; b. January 6, 1946; guitar, vocals) and Roger Waters (b. September 6, 1944; guitar, vocals).
In 1965, the group's first performance took place under the name Pink Floyd, along with drummer Nick Mason (b. January 27, 1945) and keyboardist Rick Wright. (Rick Wright; b. July 28, 1945 - September 5, 2008). The name was borrowed from Georgia blues musicians Pink Anderson and Floyd Counsell. Pink Floyd's performance at the opening of the London underground newspaper International Times on October 15, 1966 can be considered a real debut.
Pink Floyd's performance attracted attention not only with its bizarre melodies, but also with its unusual lyrics. The song "Arnold Lane," for example, was about a drag queen who stole women's clothes from clotheslines. Despite a BBC ban on broadcasting the song, it became one of the top twenty English singles. The band's debut album “Piper At The Gates Of Dawn” (August 05, 1967) was innovative in the field of rock music - mysterious “cosmic” music with many different effects and tension-building guitar solos, which reflected the state of mind of a person in the modern world.
The music and lyrics written by Barrett were captivating in their almost apocalyptic cosmism, and each of his performances was on the verge of the real and the otherworldly. There was a danger of a shift in his psyche, which was already broken by constant use of LSD. In order to retain Barrett as a songwriter, he was asked to give up performing during the grueling tours and focus only on creativity. To this end, in February 1968, Waters's longtime friend David Gilmour (b. March 6, 1947; guitar, vocals) was introduced into the group, but Barrett rejected this offer and left the team in April, starting his own solo career, which turned out to be very short-lived.
Despite the fact that Pink Floyd lost its leader, the musicians released the next album, “A Saucerful Of Secrets” (June 29, 1968), which included only one composition by Barrett. The other two - "A Saucerful Of Secrets" and "Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun" - became indispensable parts of Pink Floyd's live concerts. This album began a long period of art-rock creativity for the group (Pink Floyd's music until 1973 can be classified as psychedelic art-rock).
With the arrival of Gilmour, the group became less “strange”, but more efficient. The musicians began to release at least an album a year: “More” (July 27, 1969) and “Ummagumma” (October 25, 1969), the soundtrack to M. Antonioni’s film “Zabriskie Point” (March 1970) and “Atom Heart Mother” (October 10 1970), "Meddle" (October 30, 1971), "Obscured By Clouds" (June 03, 1972). The albums' soundtracks were filled with multi-part compositions, multi-style exercises, electronic experiments... Philosophically, the group's music tried to embrace the entire universe in all its perfection and simultaneous disharmony. The popularity grew by leaps and bounds: in 1969, the group held a concert in London, which attracted 100 thousand spectators. Another important event in the life of Pink Floyd was a performance in a volcanic crater near Pompeii (1971), which was recorded on film and released as a concert film.
In the 1970s the group reached the peak of popularity and skill. One of the most famous albums, “Dark Side Of The Moon” (March 24, 1973), truly became a 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 lyricist Waters and the unsurpassed skill of guitarist Gilmour truly emerged. The album represents a complete narrative 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 reason and departure to the “dark” side of the moon" ("Brain Damage" and "Eclipse").
1975 was the year of the zenith of glory for the group. The song “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” (dedicated to Syd Barrett) from the new album “Wish You Were Here” (September 15, 1975) was unanimously recognized as a masterpiece, and the album itself set a record for being on the charts. Also very strong was the work of Pink Floyd - “Animals” (January 23, 1977), composed based on George Orwell’s parable story “Animal Farm”. The album uses dogs, pigs and sheep as metaphors to describe or denounce members of modern society. The music on Animals is significantly more guitar-based than previous albums, possibly due to the increasing tension between Waters and Richard Wright, who did not contribute much to the album.
In 1978, Wright and Gilmour released their solo albums, sparking rumors that the group might break up. But in 1979, Pink Floyd recorded its, one might say, cult album in the genre of rock opera “The Wall” (November 30, 1979), 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 "Another Brick In The Wall" from this album, a sharp denunciation of the education system, became a number one hit. "The Wall" remained on the best-selling album list for 14 years.
In 1982, film director Alan Parker created a wonderful film of the same name based on this work (famous rock musician Bob Geldof starred as Pink). The film can be called provocative, since one of the main ideas was a protest against established ideals and the English passion for order. The film was also a definite manifesto in defense of rockers. The movie "The Wall" doesn't show any of the problems directly. The entire film is woven from allegories and symbols, for example, faceless teenagers who, one after another, fall into a meat grinder and turn into a homogeneous mass.
In 1979, due to disagreements with Waters, the wonderful keyboardist Wright left the group. Relations between the group members did not improve. When asked why the musicians were still together, Gilmore answered, not without black humor: “Because we haven’t figured it out with each other yet.” The album “The Final Cut” (March 21, 1983), dedicated to the problems of modern politics, went almost unnoticed, and only the single “Not Now John” entered the top thirty. In 1984, Waters decided to launch a solo career, followed by Mason and Gilmour, but none of these musicians managed to even come close to the achievements of their joint performances. The greatest success was achieved by the album “Amused to Death” by Roger Waters.
In 1987, Mason and Gilmour, who had sued Waters for the rights to the band's name as a result of a lengthy battle, decided to return to the Pink Floyd banner; Wright followed suit. Soon many months of tours abroad took place. The Pink Floyd reunion resulted in the release of three albums: A Momentary Lapse of Reason (September 8, 1987), Delicate Sounds Of Thunder (November 22, 1988), and Division Bell (March 30, 1994).
Pink Floyd have not released studio material since 1994. The only results of the group's work were the 1995 live album “P*U*L*S*E” (June 1995); live recording of "The Wall", compiled from the 1980 and 1981 concerts "Is There Anybody out There?" The Wall Live 1980-81" ("Is There Anyone Out There? The Wall Live, 1980-81") in March 2000; a two-disc set containing the group’s most significant hits “Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd” (November 05, 2001); the 2003 30th anniversary reissue of "Dark Side of the Moon" (remixed on SACD by James Guthrie); re-release of "The Final Cut" (March 22, 2004) with added single "When the Tigers Broke Free"; re-release of the band's debut album in mono and stereo versions, with added songs, some of which have never been released anywhere before; anniversary box set “Oh By The Way” (December 4, 2007; “By the way”), which includes reproductions of all the band's studio albums in the form of mini-vinyls.
On July 2, 2005, putting past differences aside for one evening, Pink Floyd performed for the last time with their classic line-up (Waters, Gilmour, Mason, Wright) at the worldwide show “Live 8”, dedicated to the fight against poverty. This performance temporarily increased sales of Pink Floyd's album Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd by 1,343%. Gilmour donated all proceeds to charities, reflecting Live 8's goals.
After the Live 8 concert, Pink Floyd was offered £150 million to tour the US, but the band turned down the offer. David Gilmour later admitted that by agreeing to perform at Live 8, he did not allow the band's story to end on a "false note".
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”, David Gilmour - solo work, the result of the album “On an Island” "and a concert tour of the same name. The band's longtime manager, Steve O'Rourke, died on October 30, 2003; five years later, on September 15, 2008, Richard Wright died.
David Gilmour and Roger Waters performed together at a charity event on July 10, 2010 to benefit The Hoping Foundation. The organizer of the charity evening, Bella Freud, shared her impressions of the main result of this event - the reunion of David Gilmour and Roger Waters. “David appeared first, followed by Roger, and I saw Roger take David into his arms. It was wonderful!" - Bella said.

Pink Floyd are a progressive/psychedelic rock band formed in London in 1965 by fellow students Richard Wright, Roger Waters, Nick Mason and their friend Syd Barrett. One of the most successful projects in rock and roll. Famous for its thoughtful and ideological works, powerful stage productions and is one of the top best-selling groups in the world (more than 300 million copies).

The group changed many names, settling on “The Pink Floyd Sound”, gradually shortening it to “Pink Floyd”, after the names of two Carolina bluesmen who were dearly loved by Sid. After playing the standards of jazz and rhythm and blues for some time, the musicians began to write their own songs and in 1967 they published their first album, “The Piper at the Gates of Dawn,” full of bizarre psychedelia both in the music and in Sid’s lyrics. Barrett. The result is an eclectic collection, combining the avant-garde "Interstellar Overdrive" and the whimsically pastoral "Scarecrow", the debut album immediately hits the British charts. Syd Barrett cannot withstand the success that has fallen: drug use and worsening schizophrenia finally break the musician, and in 1968 he was replaced by David Gilmour.

On the wave of popularity, the group wrote soundtracks for the films “More” (1969) and “Zabriskie Point” (1970), with the first being published as a separate release with minor musical editing. The group developed rapidly and to record the monumental “Atom Heart Mother” in 1970, it already needed a choir, a symphony orchestra and sound engineer Ron Gisin. A year later, the release “Meddle” was released, repeating the structure of the previous one: the long composition “Echoes” on one side and several regular-length songs on the other side of the record. To record this album, the musicians use advanced equipment: 16-channel tape recorders, a VCS3 synthesizer, a vocoder for “One Of These Days” and for a short hooligan sketch “Seamus” they brought a Russian greyhound into the studio.

The band's real success was 1973's The Dark Side of the Moon, which, along with the Beatles' Lonely Hearts Club, is one of the earliest concept albums. Sound engineer Alan Parsons and the latest equipment from the Abbey Road studio, where the group worked for 9 months, helped the group realize their musical ideas. To consolidate commercial success, the single “Money” was released after the album, which entered the top twenty of the US hit parade and was warmly received by Western listeners despite its non-standard, difficult-to-understand size (7/8). The album itself stayed at the top of the world charts for more than 700 weeks (from 1973 to 1988). It is one of the best-selling songs in recording history.

In 1975, “Wish You Were Here” was released, dedicated to the untimely extinction of the mind of Syd Barrett. The album turned out to be less successful than its predecessor, however, the title song from it becomes a true classic of the group. In the winter of ’77, the group released another concept album, “Animals,” dedicated to the work “Animal Farm” by J. Orwell, and in ’79, the cult “The Wall” was released. Created almost entirely by Waters, The Wall was received enthusiastically by fans, and the single "Another Brick in the Wall, Part II" immediately rose to the top of the UK singles chart. Large-scale show programs in support of the album almost ruined the group, but in the end, record sales helped them overcome the crisis. Over time, discord brews in the team between Waters and Wright, and a little later between Waters and Gilmour. The group's imminent disintegration became obvious.

In the 80s Following the release of The Final Cut, a series of legal battles took place between Waters and Gilmour. The reason was the issue of copyright for the name “Pink Floyd” itself, the lyrics and music of the songs, the images of the group, etc. In 1994, the last studio album “The Division Bell” was released and the group’s last tour took place. After this, apart from collections and compilations, the group stopped publishing new music.
In July 2005, as part of the Live 8 show, Pink Floyd performed with their full lineup, putting aside previous differences to put an end to it. To date, despite still receiving offers from various labels and companies, the group does not perform, record music or publish.