Biography

If the band you're in starts playing different tunes
I'll see you on the dark side of the moon

Pink Floyd were formed in 1965 in Cambridge, England. They are one of the most successful rock bands, having sold millions of albums worldwide. They're known for their musical experimentation, exploration of concepts, album art and their psychedelic live shows. The band originally planned to call themselves The Pink Floyd Sound, a name Syd Barrett came up with, but they later shortened it to just Pink Floyd. Syd's inspiration for the name came from two blues musicians, Pink Anderson and Floyd Council.

The band originally had Syd Barrett and Bob Klose playing guitar, Roger Waters playing bass, Richard Wright playing keyboard and Nick Mason playing drums. Syd Barrett, Bob Klose and Roger Waters also all did vocals. Bob Klose left the band about a year in to pursue a career in photography. Syd Barrett wrote most of the songs in the early days of Pink Floyd. Their debut album, The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn, was very successful in the UK and reached number 6 in the charts. However, Syd's mental health became affected by the band's increasing popularity and he was also abusing drugs. In 1968, David Gilmour joined the band to "replace" Syd. As Syd became increasingly unstable and was no help at concerts, there was no avoiding David Gilmour becoming a permanent replacement. Syd Barrett officially left the band in 1968.

In 1969, Pink Floyd were employed by a director to produce a soundtrack for a film called, "More". The soundtrack became an album in its own right, Music From The Film, More and was released in the same year. It was popular in the UK and made the top 10 in the charts. The release of Ummagumma in the same year was just as successful.

The new decade marked Pink Floyd's first real big success. Their album, Atom Heart Mother, made it to the number 1 spot in the UK charts and they also made their first tour in the USA. In 1971, they released Relics, which was their first album not to make it to the top 10 in the UK, but they quickly made a comeback with Meddle later in the year, which made it to number 3. The release of Obscured By Clouds in 1972 marked the band's first album to make it into the top 50 in the US charts and it hit number 6 in the UK.

Dark Side Of The Moon was a massive success when it was released in 1973. It hit the number 2 spot in the UK charts and number 1 in the US charts. It was the band's first conceptual album, exploring ideas and issues such as ageing (Time), death (The Great Gig In The Sky), the influence of money (Money) and insanity (Brain Damage). It has turned out to be a timeless album and is now regarded as one of the most successful and popular rock albums of all time. Wish You Were Here, released in 1975, was about as successful as Dark Side Of The Moon. Animals, released in 1977 and The Wall, released in 1979, were also both very successful albums in both the UK and USA.

After the great success of those four albums, the band's next album, A Collection Of Great Dance Songs (1981), didn't do nearly as well. It still made it into the top 50 in both the UK and US charts though. The Final Cut (1983) did a lot better, landing them another number 1 hit in the UK charts and getting into the top 10 in the US. This album's theme was war. After The Final Cut, the band members went their separate ways and released solo albums. In 1986, David Gilmour and Nick Mason began to record A Momentary Lapse Of Reason, which was released in 1987. Richard Wright also rejoined them and helped towards the end. It was another successful album and Delicate Sound Of Thunder (1988), a live album, just missed the top 10 in both the UK and US. This album marked the end of Pink Floyd for six years.

The band reunited and released The Division Bell in 1994. It was a big success and marked a very successful comeback, making the number 1 spot in both the UK and US charts. Pulse, a live album, was released a year later. It included a full live performance of the songs on Dark Side Of The Moon. A live version of The Wall was released in 2000 and was called, Is There Anybody Out There?. Echoes, a "Best Of" album, was released in 2001 and did well in the charts, reaching number 2 in both the UK and US.

More recently, Pink Floyd reunited to perform at the Live 8 concert in London in July 2005.

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