Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd began in mid-'60s London as heroes of the psychedelic underground, a band that turned the lights down and let songs drift wherever they wanted to go, with elaborate live shows to match. Syd Barrett was the spark and the main songwriter, writing whimsical, eerie little songs and playing guitar like he was tuning in to another planet, with Roger Waters on bass, Richard Wright on keyboards and Nick Mason on drums. "Arnold Layne" and "See Emily Play" were hit singles, and The Piper at the Gates of Dawn in 1967 was a successful debut to go with them.

Barrett didn't last. His mental health gave way and he left in 1968, and David Gilmour, a guitarist with a gorgeous, singing tone, took his place. For a few years the band wandered through experiments, with Meddle in 1971 and its drifting "Echoes" pointing the way ahead. Then Waters took charge of the words and the big ideas, and the Floyd made The Dark Side of the Moon in 1973, a seamless, spacious concept record. "Money" was a hit, and "Time" and the lulling "Us and Them" came from the same album.

Wish You Were Here in 1975 brought a rueful title song. Animals in 1977 bared its teeth on "Dogs", and The Wall in 1979 was Waters' sprawling concept piece, with the towering "Comfortably Numb" and the brooding "Hey You". "Another Brick in the Wall Part II", with its disco-tinged stomp, was a hit single that year, and The Wall became a film in 1982.

The tensions tore the band apart. Wright left in 1981 and Waters in 1985, while Gilmour and Mason carried on, got Wright back, and made A Momentary Lapse of Reason in 1987 and The Division Bell in 1994. All four stood together one more time for Live 8 in 2005. Barrett died in 2006 and Wright in 2008, and The Endless River in 2014, built from leftover Division Bell sessions, was the last album. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted them in 1996, and the Polar Music Prize followed in 2008.

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