David Gilmour

File:PF portrait gilmour.jpg

David Gilmour, as photographed for the Pink Floyd album Meddle.

David Jon Gilmour, CBE (born March 6, 1944) is the guitarist and vocalist with UK band Pink Floyd and has also released solo material and collaborated with others. Following the departure of Roger Waters in the mid-eighties, Gilmour effectively assumed control of the band.

Gilmour was born in Cambridge, England and grew up in neighbouring Grantchester. His father was a senior lecturer in zoology.

Gilmour met Syd Barrett when attending Cambridge's College of Arts and Technology, though he was not a member of the original Pink Floyd line-up. Gilmour's first successful group was Joker's Wild for whom he started playing in 1963. The band changed its name to Flowers in 1967, the same year the group disbanded and Gilmour formed Bullitt. At the behest of Pink Floyd's three sober members, he started standing in for an increasingly capricious Syd in autumn of 1967 and was asked to formally join in January of the following year. Barrett left the group only months later and Gilmour assumed the role of the band's lead guitarist and shared lead vocal duties with Roger Waters.

Gilmour's guitar playing and song writing became major factors of Pink Floyd's world-wide success during the 1970s. However during the latter stages of the decade, Waters took more and more control over the band. The relationship between the two grew ever worse.

Gilmour released his first, eponymous, solo album in the spring on 1978. One of the tunes he wrote at the time, but did not use, evolved to become the Pink Floyd classic "Comfortably Numb". Gilmour released his second solo album, About Face, in 1984.

Roger Waters left Pink Floyd in 1985, assuming that Pink Floyd would completely disband without him. Instead, Gilmour assumed full control and created A Momentary Lapse of Reason. Gilmour explained:

"I had a number of problems with the direction of the band in our recent past, before Roger left. I thought the songs were very wordy and that, because the specific meanings of those words were so important, the music became a mere vehicle for lyrics, and not a very inspiring one... Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here were so successful not just because of Roger's contributions, but also because there was a better balance between the music and the lyrics than there has been in more recent albums. That's what I'm trying to do with 'A Momentary Lapse of Reason' more focus on the music, restore the balance."

During Pink Floyd's quiet spells, he has amused himself as a session musician, producer and even concert sound engineer, for a wide variety of acts including some pseudonymous novelty releases, Roy Harper, Kate Bush, The Dream Academy, Grace Jones, Arcadia, Bryan Ferry, Robert Wyatt, Hawkwind, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Sam Brown, Jools Holland, Propaganda, Pete Townshend, The Who, Supertramp, various charity "supergroups" and many more.

While not a fast player, Gilmour is considered one of the greatest guitarists of all time. He is especially renowned for a very precise, "bendy" kind of soloing, as well as various "violin-type" sounds and screams. He has been an innovator in the use of guitar sound effects. Many also consider him to be underrated, as he is not often compared with the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton.

In 1996 Gilmour was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Pink Floyd.

In 2002, he held a small number of acoustic solo concerts in London and Paris, along with a small band and choir, which has been documented on the In Concert release.

In May 2003, Gilmour sold one of his London houses and contributed the $5.9 million he made to a housing project for the homeless.

In November 2003, he was made a CBE.

On July 2, 2005, Gilmour played with Pink Floyd at Live 8.

He is also an experienced pilot and, under the guise of Intrepid Aviation, amassed an impressive collection of historical aircraft.

Gilmour had four children from his first marriage, to Ginger: Alice, Claire, Sarah and Matthew. They originally attended a Waldorf School, but Gilmour called their education there "horrific". [1] He has three children from his second marriage and has adopted the first-born of his second wife, the writer Polly Samson.

Solo albums by David Gilmour

• David Gilmour 1978
• About Face 1984
• David Gilmour in Concert 2002