Pink Floyd were an English rock band who achieved worldwide success with their
psychedelic and
progressive rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics,
sonic experimentation, innovative
album art, and elaborate
live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most
commercially successful, as well as one of the most critically successful and influential rock music groups of all time. They have sold over 200 million albums worldwide, including 74.5 million certified units in the United States.
The band originally consisted of university students
Roger Waters,
Nick Mason,
Richard Wright and the late
Syd Barrett. Founded in 1965, they first became popular playing in London's underground music scene in the late 1960s. Under Barrett's leadership they released two charting singles, "
Arnold Layne" and "
See Emily Play", and a successful début album,
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967). Guitarist and vocalist
David Gilmour joined Pink Floyd several months prior to Barrett's departure from the group due to the latter's deteriorating mental health in 1968. Following the loss of their principal songwriter, Pink Floyd bassist and vocalist Roger Waters became the band's lyricist and conceptual leader, with Gilmour assuming lead guitar and sharing lead vocals. With this lineup Pink Floyd achieved worldwide critical and commercial success with
The Dark Side of the Moon,
Wish You Were Here,
Animals and
The Wall.
Wright left the group in 1979, and Waters in 1985, but Gilmour and Mason (joined by Wright) continued to record and tour. Waters resorted to legal means to try to keep them from performing as Pink Floyd, but the dispute was resolved with an out-of-court settlement which allowed Gilmour and Mason to continue, and which also released Waters from his contractual obligations to the band. Two further albums,
A Momentary Lapse of Reason and
The Division Bell followed. Following almost two decades of acrimony, the band reunited in 2005 for a single performance, at the charity concert
Live 8.