The spokeswoman who declined to give her name until the band made an official announcement confirmed media reports that he had died. She said Barrett died several days ago. She did not disclose the cause of death.
RIP Syd
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Walkinghairball
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RIP Syd
LONDON - Syd Barrett, the troubled genius who co-founded Pink Floyd but spent his last years in reclusive anonymity, has died, a spokeswoman for the band said Tuesday. He was 60.
The spokeswoman who declined to give her name until the band made an official announcement confirmed media reports that he had died. She said Barrett died several days ago. She did not disclose the cause of death.
The spokeswoman who declined to give her name until the band made an official announcement confirmed media reports that he had died. She said Barrett died several days ago. She did not disclose the cause of death.
This space for rent
Re: RIP Syd
Sad day indeed.Walkinghairball wrote:LONDON - Syd Barrett, the troubled genius who co-founded Pink Floyd but spent his last years in reclusive anonymity, has died, a spokeswoman for the band said Tuesday. He was 60.
The spokeswoman who declined to give her name until the band made an official announcement confirmed media reports that he had died. She said Barrett died several days ago. She did not disclose the cause of death.
?Syd was the guiding light of the early band lineup and leaves a legacy which continues to inspire,? they said in a statement.
Barrett co-founded Pink Floyd in 1965 with Waters, Mason and Wright, and wrote many of the band?s early songs. The group?s jazz-infused rock and drug-laced, multimedia ?happenings? made them darlings of the London psychedelic scene. The 1967 album ?The Piper at the Gates of Dawn? ? largely written by Barrett, who also played guitar ? was a commercial and critical hit.
But Barrett suffered from mental instability, exacerbated by his use of LSD. His behavior grew increasingly erratic, and he left the group in 1968 ? five years before the release of Pink Floyd?s most popular album, ?Dark Side of the Moon? ? to be replaced by Gilmour.
Barrett released two solo albums ? ?The Madcap Laughs? and ?Barrett? ? but soon withdrew from the music business altogether. An album of previously unreleased material, ?Opel,? was issued in 1988.
He reverted to his real name, Roger Barrett, and spent much of the rest of his life living quietly in his hometown of Cambridge, England. Moving into his mother?s suburban house, he passed the time painting and tending the garden. His former bandmates made sure Barrett continued to receive royalties from his work with Pink Floyd.
He was a familiar figure to neighbors, often seen cycling or walking to the corner store, but rarely spoke to the fans and journalists who sought him out over the years.
Despite his brief career, Barrett?s fragile, wistful songs influenced many musicians, from David Bowie ? who covered the Barrett track ?See Emily Play? ? to the other members of Pink Floyd, who recorded the album ?Wish You Were Here? as a tribute to their troubled bandmate.
It contained the song ?Shine On You Crazy Diamond? ? ?Remember when you were young, you shone like the sun.? The band also dwelt on themes of mental illness on the albums ?Dark Side of the Moon? and ?The Wall.?
The band spokeswoman said a small, private funeral would be held.
In 1975, during the recording of Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" album, Barrett showed up unannounced at the studio -- ironically, during the recording of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond," a song about him. He had become overweight and shaved his eyebrows; the other members didn't recognize him at first.
Happy 2015!
shaved eyebrows...like in The WallSoup4Rush wrote:In 1975, during the recording of Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" album, Barrett showed up unannounced at the studio -- ironically, during the recording of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond," a song about him. He had become overweight and shaved his eyebrows; the other members didn't recognize him at first.
We're all mad here!
