David Gilmour life and biography

David Jon Gilmour, is an English rock musician and multi-instrumentalist who is best known as the guitarist, one of the lead singers and main songwriters in the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. In addition to his work with Pink Floyd, Gilmour has worked as a producer for a variety of artists, and has enjoyed a successful career as a solo artist. Gilmour has been actively involved with many charities over the course of his career.

In 2003, he was appointed CBE for his charity work and was awarded with the Outstanding Contribution title at the 2008 Q Awards. In 2011, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked him #14 in their list of the greatest guitarists of all time.

Gilmour joined Pink Floyd in 1968, when he was asked to replace former front man and guitarist Syd Barrett. Barrett was becoming increasingly difficult to work with (due to his deteriorating mental state), so Gilmour stepped in to fill the void. Gilmour’s contributions helped to define what would become known as the “Pink Floyd” sound. With Roger Waters, Gilmour co-wrote many of Pink Floyd’s classic songs, including “Shine On You Crazy Diamond”(Itself about Syd), “Wish You Were Here” (again, about Syd) , “Time”, “Dogs”, “Echoes”, “Comfortably Numb”, and “Run Like Hell”.

When Waters left the band in 1984 to pursue a solo career, Gilmour took over Pink Floyd as leader, and they released two more albums, A Momentary Lapse Of Reason (1987), and The Division Bell (1994). Both albums performed very well, proving that the Pink Floyd name was stronger than any individual member. On July 2, 2005, David Gilmour and Roger Waters briefly set aside their differences and performed as Pink Floyd for one final performance at Live 8.

The reunion was the most talked about event of the day, and sales of Pink Floyd’s back catalogue shot through the roof. Rumours of a full scale tour began to surface shortly after the show, with both Gilmour and Waters being offered millions of dollars, but it wasn’t meant to be.

In December 2006, Gilmour released a tribute to Syd Barrett, who had died on 7 July of that year, in the form of his own version of Pink Floyd's first single "Arnold Layne". Recorded live at London's Royal Albert Hall, the CD single featured versions of the song performed by Pink Floyd's keyboard player (and Gilmour's band member) Richard Wright and special guest artist David Bowie.The single entered the UK Top 75 charts at number nineteen and remained steady for three weeks.

Since their Live 8 appearance in 2005, Gilmour has repeatedly said that there will be no Pink Floyd reunion. With the death of Pink Floyd keyboardist Richard Wright in September 2008, another reunion of the core group members became impossible.

David has recorded four solo albums, all four of which charted in the US Top 40 (2006's On an Island peaked at No. 6 in 2006, 2008's Live in Gdansk peaked at #26, his 1978 self-titled solo debut peaked at No. 29 in 1978 and 1984's About Face peaked at No. 32 in 1984).

Gilmour released an album with The Orb in 2010 entitled Metallic Spheres. On which he co-wrote every track and their subsequent parts, produced, played guitar and sang.

Discography:
Pink Floyd:
-A Saucerful of Secrets (1968)
-More (1969)
-Ummagumma (1969)
-Atom Heart Mother (1970)
-Meddle (1971)
-Obscured by Clouds (1972)
-The Dark Side of the Moon (1973)
-Wish You Were Here (1975)
-Animals (1977)
-The Wall (1979)
-The Final Cut (1983)
-A Momentary Lapse of Reason (1987)
-Delicate Sound of Thunder (1988)
-The Division Bell (1994)
-P•U•L•S•E (1995)

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