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Musical group. Original members included Syd Barrett (b. Roger Keith Barrett on January 6, 1943, in Cambridge, England–d. July 7, 2006, in Cambridge, England), Roger Waters (b. September 6, 1944, in Surrey, England), Nick Mason (b. January 27, 1945, in Birmingham, England), and Richard "Rick" Wright (b. July 28, 1945, in London, England–d. September 15, 2008, in England). Known for their experimental style and ethereal sound, Pink Floyd became one of the top-selling rock acts of all time. Formed in the mid-1960s, the group took its name from two American blues musicians: Pink Anderson and Floyd Council
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Syd Barrett and Roger Waters knew each other from their youth growing up in Cambridge. While studying at London's Regent Street Polytechnic School, Waters, Nick Mason, and Rick Wright played together in a group called Sigma 6 (briefly known as the Architectural Abdabs). The group largely played R&B-style music.

Pink Floyd—first known as the Pink Floyd Sound—gave their first performance at a London club, and soon became part of the city's underground music scene. With Syd Barrett as the group's main creative force, the band developed its own psychedelic sound. Their first hit in England, "Arnold Layne," featured the fuzz-toned guitar sound, quirky lyrics, and the loose musical structure often associated with psychedelic rock. Released in February 1967, the song reached as high as No. 20 on the British singles chart.





A short time later, Pink Floyd released its  debut album, Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967). The album title comes from the  children's book The Wind in the Willows, and nearly all of the tracks were penned by Barrett. The band recorded the album in the famed Abbey Road Studios, a place often associated with the legendary English rock group, the Beatles.
Taking a foray into what has been called "space rock," the band included several out-of-this-world sounding songs on the album, including the instrumental "Interstellar Overdrive" and "Astronomy Domine." Since its release, Piper at the Gates of Dawn has been heralded as a groundbreaking work, inspiring  countless artists that followed in its wake. "I now know why 'Piper' had such an influence on so many bands. I can hear punk stuff going on in there. The way Syd wrote was a huge influence on so many people," Rick Wright later explained to Billboard.
  The following year, the band experienced some   nternal turmo Guitarist David Gilmour joined Pink  Floyd in January, and Barrett left the band in  April. Barrett was becoming increasingly unreliable and unpredictable. Some have attributed this change to his experimentation with the drug LSD while others have thought Barrett may have been experiencing some type of mental illness.




 Waters later told Rolling Stone magazine that Barrett "succumbed to schizophrenia." Without Barrett on board, the band delved into even more experimental work.


With their talent for creating atmospheric music, Pink Floyd was the perfect pick for film soundtracks. They contributed the music for several films, including Zabriskie Point (1970). That same year, Pink Floyd enjoyed some commercial success in Britain with Atom Heart Mother. Perhaps one of the most notable tracks was Waters's "If," which conveys a melancholy mood that reoccurs in several of his later works.
  







For their next effort, Pink Floyd worked on a concept album, The Dark Side of the Moon (1973), which explores madness. "The concept was originally about the pressures of modern life—travel, money, and so on—but then Roger turned it into a meditation about insanity," Nick Mason explained in John Harris' The Dark Side of the Moon: The Making of the Pink Floyd Masterpiece.
Delving even deeper into dark themes, Pink Floyd released Wish You Were Here in 1975. The entire project was meant to focus on their former bandmate, Syd Barrett, especially the multi-part song "Shine On You Crazy Diamond." While critically admired, the album failed to match the level of success of The Dark Side of the Moon.

 


Their next effort, Animals (1977), may have drawn some inspiration from George Orwell's Animal Farm, a satirical fable that critiques modern politics. As Rolling Stone critic Frank Rose wrote in his review, the album is "a visit to a cacophonous farm where what you have to watch for is pigs on the wing. 'Animals' is a song suite that deals with subjects like loneliness, death and lies."



Out of all of the individual tracks on the album, "Money"—a satirical look at wealth—gave Pink Floyd their first hit single in the United States. The entire recording spent a record 741 weeks on the charts, making it one of the biggest selling albums of all time. In discussing its enduring success, Roger Waters explained that The Dark Side of the Moon sends the message that "it's OK to engage in the difficult task of discovering your own identity. And it's OK to think things out for yourself."

On tour, Pink Floyd put on elaborate concerts, which featured animated films, slide and light shows, and even giant balloons. The band members seemed to be able to avoid the spotlight this way, making the music and the surrounding show experience the star of the concert instead of themselves.







Pink Floyd experienced another career breakthrough with The Wall (1980). A dramatic rock opera, the album explores the life of a rock star named "Pink," from his troubled school days, to his success, followed by his subsequent descent into isolation and delusion. The loss of his father as a child, the abuse he suffered at school, and other traumas form the "bricks" in The Wall. The song, "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)," became the band's only No. 1 hit in the United States. "Hey You" and "Comfortably Numb" were also well received and have become rock classics.




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Waters wrote all of the lyrics and most of the music for this dark tale, which was only performed live in its entirety a few dozen times. At each concert, a mock brick wall was built during the show. Large inflatable characters also appeared on stage. The Wall was later made into a film starring Bob Geldof as Pink, which was released in 1982.  Over the years, tension mounted within  the band,  especially between Waters  and Gilmour. Wright,  however, was the  first member to leave the group.  According to several reports, Waters  dismissed Wright during the recording  of The Wall.




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