O2 Arena may refer to:

• The O2 Arena (London) the arena within the O₂ in London

• The O2 (London), an entertainment complex built within the former Millennium Dome, North Greenwich, that contains the arena

• O₂ World in Berlin
• O₂ World in Hamburg
• The O2 (Dublin) the new rebranded Point Theatre
• O₂ arena (Prague) in Prague

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Roger Waters
Roger Waters in The O2 Arena (London) in 2008
Background information
Birth name	George Roger Waters
Born	(1943-09-06) 6 September 1943 (age 68) Great Bookham, Surrey, England, United Kingdom
Genres	Progressive rock, psychedelic rock, art rock, hard rock, opera
Occupations	Musician, songwriter, composer, producer
Instruments	Bass guitar, vocals, guitar, synthesiser, clarinet, trumpet
Years active	Since 1964
Labels	Capitol, Columbia, Sony, Harvest
Associated acts	Pink Floyd, The Bleeding Heart Band, Sigma 6
Website	roger-waters.com
Notable instruments
Fender Precision Bass Rickenbacker 4001 Martin acoustic guitars

George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. He was a founder member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd, serving as bassist and co-lead vocalist. Following the departure of bandmate Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became the band's lyricist, principal songwriter and conceptual leader. The band subsequently achieved worldwide success in the 1970s with the concept albums The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals and The Wall. Although Waters' primary instrument in Pink Floyd was the bass guitar, he also experimented with synthesisers and tape loops and played rhythm guitars in recordings and in concerts. Amid creative differences within the group, Waters left Pink Floyd in 1985 and began a legal battle with the remaining members over their future use of the group's name and material. The dispute was settled out of court in 1987, and nearly eighteen years passed before he performed with Pink Floyd again. It is estimated that as of 2010, the group have sold over 200 million albums worldwide, including 74.5 million units sold in the United States.

Waters' solo career includes three studio albums: The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking (1984), Radio K.A.O.S. (1987) and Amused to Death (1992). In 1986, he contributed songs and a score to the soundtrack of the animated movie When the Wind Blows based on the Raymond Briggs' book of the same name. In 1990, he staged one of the largest and most elaborate rock concerts in history, The Wall – Live in Berlin, with an official attendance of 200,000. In 1996, he was inducted into the US and the UK Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Pink Floyd. He has toured extensively as a solo act since 1999 and played The Dark Side of the Moon in its entirety for his world tours of 2006–2008. In 2005, he released Ça Ira, an opera in three acts translated from Étienne and Nadine Roda-Gils' libretto based on the early French Revolution. On 2 July 2005, he reunited with Pink Floyd bandmates Nick Mason, Richard Wright and David Gilmour for the Live 8 global awareness event; it was the group's first appearance with Waters in 24 years.

In 2010, he began The Wall Live, a worldwide tour that features a complete performance of The Wall. During this tour, at The O2 Arena in London on 12 May 2011, Gilmour and Mason once again appeared with Waters, Gilmour performing "Comfortably Numb", and Gilmour and Mason joining Waters for "Outside the Wall".

He has been married four times and has three children. In 2004 he became engaged to actress and filmmaker Laurie Durning; the pair married in 2012.

Early years (1943–1964)[link]

George Roger Waters was born on 6 September 1943, the younger of two boys,^[1] to Mary and Eric Fletcher Waters, in Great Bookham, Surrey.^[2] His father, the son of a coal miner and Labour Party activist, was a schoolteacher, a devout Christian, and a Communist Party member.^[3] In the early years of the Second World War, his father was a conscientious objector who drove an ambulance during the Blitz.^[3] He later changed his stance on pacifism and joined the British Army, and as an officer of the 8th Royal Fusiliers was killed at Anzio in Italy, declared missing or presumed dead on 18 February 1944,^[4] when Roger was five months old.^[5] Following her husband's death, Mary, also a teacher, moved with her two sons to Cambridge, and raised them there.^[6] His earliest memory is of the VJ Day celebrations.^[7] Mary died in 2009 at the age of 96.

Waters attended Morley Memorial Junior School in Cambridge, and later the Cambridgeshire High School for Boys (now Hills Road Sixth Form College) with Roger Barrett (later to be known as Syd),^[8] while his future musical partner, David Gilmour, lived nearby on the city's Mill Road, and attended The Perse School.^[9] At 15 Waters was chairman of the Cambridge Youth Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (YCND),^[10] having designed its publicity poster and participated in its organisation.^[11] Though he was a keen sportsman and a highly regarded member of the high school's cricket and rugby teams,^[12] his educational experience was lacking; according to Waters, "I hated every second of it, apart from games. The regime at school was a very oppressive one ... the same kids who are susceptible to bullying by other kids are also susceptible to bullying by the teachers."^[13] Whereas Waters knew Barrett and Gilmour from his youth in Cambridge, he met future Pink Floyd founder members Nick Mason and Richard Wright in London at the Regent Street Polytechnic (later the University of Westminster) school of architecture, where he enrolled in 1962,^[1] after a series of aptitude tests indicated he was well-suited to that field, though he had initially considered a career in mechanical engineering.^[14]

Subsequent personal life[link]

In 1969, Waters married his childhood girlfriend and "girl next door"^[7] Judy Trim, a successful potter; she was shown on the gatefold sleeve of the original release of Ummagumma, but excised from subsequent CD reissues.^[15] They had no children together and were divorced in 1975.^[2] She later remarried; and died on 9 January 2001.^[16] In 1976 he married Lady Carolyne Christie,^[2] the niece of the Marquess of Zetland. His marriage to Christie produced a son, Harry Waters, a musician who has played keyboards with his father's touring band since 2006,^[17] and a daughter, the model India Waters.^[18] Through Harry, he has grandchildren.^[7] Christie and Waters were divorced in 1992.^[2] In 1993 he married Priscilla Phillips;^[19] their marriage ended in 2001. In 2004 he became engaged to actress and filmmaker Laurie Durning, and the two wed on 14 January 2012.^[20]

Pink Floyd (1965–1985)[link]

Pink Floyd portal

Formation and Barrett-led period[link]

Waters performing with Pink Floyd at Leeds University in 1970

By September 1963, Waters and Mason were losing interest in their studies^[21] and they moved into the lower flat of Stanhope Gardens, owned by Mike Leonard, a part-time tutor at the Regent Street Polytechnic.^[22] Waters, Mason and Wright first played music together in the autumn of 1963,^[23] in a group formed by vocalist Keith Noble and bassist Clive Metcalfe.^[24] The group usually called themselves Sigma 6, but they also used the name the Meggadeaths.^[11] Waters played rhythm guitar and Mason played drums, Wright played on any keyboard he could arrange to use,^[25] and Noble's sister Sheilagh provided an occasional vocal accompaniment.^[23] In the early years the band performed during private functions and rehearsed in a tearoom in the basement of Regent Street Polytechnic.^[26]

When Metcalfe and Noble left to form their own group in September 1963,^[27] the remaining members asked Barrett and guitar player Bob Klose to join.^[28] By January 1964, the group became known as the Abdabs, or the Screaming Abdabs.^[28] During the autumn of 1964, the band used the names Leonard's Lodgers, Spectrum Five, and eventually, the Tea Set.^[29] Sometime during the autumn of 1965, the Tea Set began calling itself the Pink Floyd Sound, later, the Pink Floyd, and by early 1966,^[30] Pink Floyd.^[31]

By early 1966 Barrett was Pink Floyd's front-man, guitarist, and songwriter.^[32] He wrote or co-wrote all but one track of their debut LP The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, released in August 1967.^[33] Waters contributed the song "Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk" (his first sole writing credit) to the album.^[34] However, by late 1967, Barrett's deteriorating mental health and increasingly erratic behaviour,^[35] rendered him "unable or unwilling"^[36] to continue in his capacity as Pink Floyd's singer-songwriter and lead guitarist.^[33] Working with Barrett eventually proved too difficult, so in early March 1968 Pink Floyd met with managers Peter Jenner and Andrew King of Blackhill Enterprises to discuss the band's future. Barrett agreed to leave Pink Floyd, and the band "agreed to Blackhill's entitlement in perpetuity" with regard to "past activities".^[37] The band's new manager Steve O'Rourke made a formal announcement about the departure of Barrett and the arrival of David Gilmour in April 1968.^[38]

Waters-led period[link]

A live performance of The Dark Side of the Moon at Earls Court, shortly after its release in 1973. (l-r) David Gilmour, Nick Mason, Dick Parry, Roger Waters.

Filling the void left by Barrett's departure in March 1968, Waters began to chart Pink Floyd's artistic direction. He became the principal songwriter, lyricist, and co-lead vocalist (along with Gilmour, and at times, Wright), and would remain the band's dominant creative figure until his departure in 1985.^[39] He wrote the lyrics to the five Pink Floyd albums preceding his own departure, starting with The Dark Side of the Moon (1973) and ending with The Final Cut (1983), while exerting progressively more creative control over the band and its music. Every Roger Waters studio album since The Dark Side of the Moon has been a concept album^[40] With lyrics written entirely by Waters, The Dark Side of the Moon was one of the most commercially successful rock albums of all time. It spent 736 straight weeks on the Billboard 200 chart until July 1988 and sold over 40 million copies worldwide. It was continuing to sell over 8,000 units every week as of 2005.^[41] According to Pink Floyd biographer Glen Povey, Dark Side is the world's second best-selling album, and the United States' 21st best-selling album of all time.^[42]

Waters produced thematic ideas that became the impetus for the Pink Floyd concept albums The Dark Side of the Moon (1973), Wish You Were Here (1975), Animals (1977), and The Wall (1979)—written largely by Waters—and The Final Cut (1983)—written entirely by Waters.^[43] He referred or alluded to the cost of war and the loss of his father throughout his work, from "Corporal Clegg" (A Saucerful Of Secrets, 1968) and "Free Four" (Obscured By Clouds, 1972) to "Us and Them" from The Dark Side of the Moon, "When the Tigers Broke Free", first used in the feature film, The Wall (1982), later included with "The Fletcher Memorial Home" on The Final Cut, an album dedicated to his father.^[44] The theme and composition of The Wall was influenced by his upbringing in an English society depleted of men after the Second World War.^[45]

The double album The Wall was written almost entirely by Waters and is largely based on his life story,^[47] and having sold over 23 million RIAA certified units in the US as of 2010, is one of the top three best-selling albums of all-time in America, according to RIAA.^[48] Pink Floyd hired Bob Ezrin to co-produce the album, and cartoonist Gerald Scarfe to illustrate the album's sleeve art.^[49] The band embarked on The Wall Tour of LA, New York, London and Dortmund. The last band performance of The Wall was on 16 June 1981, at Earls Court London, and this was Pink Floyd's last appearance with Waters until the band's brief reunion at 2 July 2005 Live 8 concert in London's Hyde Park, 24 years later.^[50]

In March 1983, the last Waters–Gilmour–Mason collaboration, The Final Cut, was released. The album was subtitled: "A requiem for the post-war dream by Roger Waters, performed by Pink Floyd".^[51] Waters is credited with writing all the lyrics as well as all the music on the album. His lyrics to the album were critical of the Conservative Party government of the day and mention Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher by name.^[52] At the time Gilmour did not have any material for the album, so he asked Waters to delay the recording until he could write some songs, but Waters refused.^[53] According to Mason, after power struggles within the band and creative arguments about the album, Gilmour's name "disappeared" from the production credits, though he retained his pay.^[54] Rolling Stone magazine gave the album five stars, with Kurt Loder calling it "a superlative achievement"^[55] and "art rock's crowning masterpiece".^[56] Loder viewed the work as "essentially a Roger Waters solo album".^[57]

Amidst creative differences within the group, Waters left Pink Floyd in 1985, and began a legal battle with the remaining band members regarding their continued use of the name and material.^[58] In December 1985 Waters "issued a statement to EMI and CBS invoking the 'Leaving Member' clause" on his contract. In October 1986, he initiated High Court proceedings to formally dissolve the Pink Floyd partnership. In his submission to the High Court he called Pink Floyd a "spent force creatively".^[59] Gilmour and Mason opposed the application and announced their intention to continue as Pink Floyd. Waters claims to have been forced to resign much like Wright some years earlier, and he decided to leave Pink Floyd based on legal considerations, stating " ... because, if I hadn't, the financial repercussions would have wiped me out completely."^[60] In December 1987, an agreement between Waters and Pink Floyd was reached.^[58] According to Mason:

Waters was released from his contractual obligation with O'Rourke, and he retained the copyrights to The Wall concept and his trademarked inflatable pig.^[62] The Gilmour-led Pink Floyd released two studio albums: A Momentary Lapse of Reason (1987), and The Division Bell (1994). As of 2006, it is estimated that Pink Floyd have sold over 200 million albums worldwide,^[63] including 74.5 million RIAA certified units sold in the US.^[64]

Solo career (1984 on)[link]

1984–1996[link]

Waters performing The Wall – Live in Berlin, Germany, on 21 July 1990

The Wall – Live in Berlin, 21 July 1990

Following the release of The Final Cut, Waters embarked on a solo career that produced three concept albums and a movie soundtrack. In 1984, he released his first solo album, The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking, a project about a man's dreams across one night that dealt with Waters' feelings about his failed marriage to Judy Trim, sex, and the pros and cons of monogamy and family life versus "the call of the wild".^[65] In the end the character, Reg, chooses love and matrimony over promiscuity. The album featured guitarist Eric Clapton, jazz saxophonist David Sanborn, and artwork by Scarfe.^[65] Rolling Stone's Kurt Loder described The Pros And Cons of Hitch Hiking as a "strangely static, faintly hideous record",^[66] Rolling Stone rated the album a "rock bottom" one star."^[65] Years later, Mike DeGagne of Allmusic praised the album for its, "ingenious symbolism" and "brilliant use of stream of consciousness within a subconscious realm", rating it four out of five stars.^[67] Waters began touring the new album aided by Clapton, a new band, new material, and a selection of Pink Floyd favourites. Waters débuted his tour in Stockholm on 16 June 1984. Poor ticket sales plagued the tour,^[68] and some of the larger venues had to be cancelled. By his own estimate, he lost £400,000 on the tour.^[69] In March 1985, Waters went to North America to play smaller venues with the Pros and Cons Plus Some Old Pink Floyd Stuff — North America Tour 1985. The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking has been certified Gold by the RIAA.^[70]

In 1986, Waters contributed songs and a score to the soundtrack of the animated movie When the Wind Blows, based on the Raymond Briggs book of the same name. His backing band featuring Paul Carrack was credited as The Bleeding Heart Band.^[71] In 1987, Waters released Radio K.A.O.S., a concept album based on a mute man named Billy from an impoverished Welsh mining town who has the ability to physically tune into radio waves in his head. Billy first learns to communicate with a radio DJ, and eventually to control the world's computers. Angry at the state of the world in which he lives, he simulates a nuclear attack. Waters followed the release with a supporting tour also in 1987.^[72]

In November 1989, the Berlin Wall fell, and in July 1990 Waters staged one of the largest and most elaborate rock concerts in history,^[73] The Wall – Live in Berlin, on the vacant terrain between Potsdamer Platz and the Brandenburg Gate. The show reported an official attendance of 200,000, though some estimates are as much as twice that, with approximately one billion television viewers.^[74] Leonard Cheshire asked him to do the concert to raise funds for charity. Waters' group of musicians included Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Cyndi Lauper, Bryan Adams, Scorpions, and Sinéad O'Connor. Waters also used an East German symphony orchestra and choir, a Soviet marching band, and a pair of helicopters from the US 7th Airborne Command and Control Squadron. Designed by Mark Fisher, the Wall was 25 metres tall and 170 metres long and was built across the set. Scarfe's inflatable puppets were recreated on an enlarged scale, and although many rock icons received invitations to the show, Gilmour, Mason, and Wright, did not.^[75] Waters released a concert double album of the performance which has been certified platinum by RIAA.^[70]

In 1990, Waters hired manager Mark Fenwick and left EMI for a worldwide deal with Columbia. He released his third studio album, Amused to Death, in 1992. The record is heavily influenced by the events of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 and the Gulf War, and a critique of the notion of war becoming the subject of entertainment, particularly on television. The title was derived from the book Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman. Patrick Leonard, who had also worked on A Momentary Lapse of Reason, co-produced the album. Jeff Beck played lead guitar on many of the album's tracks, which were recorded with an impressive cast of musicians at ten different recording studios.^[76] It is Waters' most critically acclaimed solo recording, garnering some comparison to his previous work with Pink Floyd.^[77] Waters described the record as a, "stunning piece of work", ranking the album with Dark Side Of The Moon and The Wall as one of the best of his career.^[78] The album had one hit, the song "What God Wants, Pt. 1", which reached number 35 in the UK in September 1992 and number 5 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in the US.^[79] Amused to Death was certified Silver by the British Phonographic Industry.^[80] Sales of Amused to Death topped out at around one million and there was no tour in support of the album. Waters would first perform material from it seven years later during his In the Flesh tour.^[81] In 1996, Waters was inducted into the US and UK Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Pink Floyd.^[82]

1999–2004[link]

In 1999, after a nearly 12-year hiatus from touring, and a 7-year absence from the music industry, Waters embarked on the In the Flesh Tour, performing both solo and Pink Floyd material. The tour was a financial success in the US and though Waters had booked mostly smaller venues, tickets sold so well that many of the concerts were upgraded to larger ones.^[83] The tour eventually stretched across the world and would span three years. A concert film was released on CD and DVD, named In the Flesh Live. During the tour, he played two new songs "Flickering Flame" and "Each Small Candle" as the final encore to many of the shows. In June 2002, he completed the tour with a performance in front of 70,000 people at the Glastonbury Festival of Performing Arts, playing 15 Pink Floyd songs and five songs from his solo catalogue.^[83]

Miramax announced in mid-2004 that a production of The Wall was to appear on Broadway with Waters playing a prominent role in the creative direction. Reports stated that the musical contained not only the original tracks from The Wall, but also songs from Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here and other Pink Floyd albums, as well as new material.^[84] On the night of 1 May 2004, recorded extracts from the opera, including its overture, were played on the occasion of the Welcome Europe celebrations in the accession country of Malta. Gert Hof mixed recorded excerpts from the opera into a continuous piece of music which was played as an accompaniment to a large light and fireworks display over Grand Harbour in Valletta.^[85] In July 2004, Waters released two new tracks on the Internet: "To Kill the Child", inspired by the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and "Leaving Beirut", "inspired by his travels in the Middle East as a teenager".^[86] The lyrics to "Leaving Beirut" are highly critical of former US President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

2005–present[link]

Waters (far right) performing with Pink Floyd at Live 8, 2 July 2005

Waters playing "In the Flesh" on his Dark Side of the Moon Tour at Viking Stadion, Stavanger, 26 June 2006

In July 2005, Waters reunited with Mason, Wright, and Gilmour for what would be their final performance together at the 2005 Live 8 concert in London's Hyde Park, Pink Floyd's only appearance with Waters since their final performance of The Wall at Earls Court London 24 years earlier.^[87] They played a 23-minute set consisting of "Speak to Me/Breathe"/"Breathe (Reprise)", "Money", "Wish You Were Here", and "Comfortably Numb". Waters told the Associated Press that while the experience of playing with Pink Floyd again was positive, the chances of a bona fide reunion would be "slight" considering his and Gilmour's continuing musical and ideological differences.^[88] Though Waters had differing ideas about which songs they should play, he "agreed to roll over for one night only",^[89] Gilmour told the Associated Press, "The rehearsals convinced me it wasn't something I wanted to be doing a lot of. There have been all sorts of farewell moments in people's lives and careers which they have then rescinded, but I think I can fairly categorically say that there won't be a tour or an album again that I take part in. It isn't to do with animosity or anything like that. It's just that ... I've been there, I've done it."^[90] In November 2005, Pink Floyd were inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame by Pete Townshend of The Who.^[91]

In September 2005, he released Ça Ira (pronounced [sa iˈʁa], French for "it will be fine"; Waters added the subtitle, "There is Hope"), an opera in three acts translated from the late Étienne Roda-Gil's French libretto based on the historical subject of the French Revolution.^[92] Ça Ira was released as a double CD album, featuring baritone Bryn Terfel, soprano Ying Huang and tenor Paul Groves.^[93] Set during the early French Revolution, the original libretto was co-written in French by Roda-Gil and his wife Nadine Delahaye. Waters had begun rewriting the libretto in English in 1989,^[94] and said about the composition: "I've always been a big fan of Beethoven's choral music, Berlioz and Borodin ... This is unashamedly romantic and resides in that early 19th-century tradition, because that's where my tastes lie in classical and choral music."^[95] Waters appeared on television to discuss the opera, but the interviews often focused instead on his relationship with Pink Floyd, something Waters would "take in stride", a sign Pink Floyd biographer Mark Blake believes to be, "a testament to his mellower old age or twenty years of dedicated psychotherapy".^[95] Ça Ira reached number 5 on the Billboard Classical Music Chart in the United States.^[96]

In June 2006, he commenced The Dark Side of the Moon Live tour, a two-year, world-spanning effort that began in Europe in June and North America in September. The first half of the show featured both Pink Floyd songs and Waters' solo material, while the second half included a complete live performance of the 1973 Pink Floyd album The Dark Side of the Moon, the first time in over three decades that Waters had performed the album. The shows ended with an encore from the third side of The Wall. He utilised elaborate staging by concert lighting designer Marc Brickman complete with laser lights, fog machines, flame throwers, psychedelic projections, and inflatable floating puppets (Spaceman and Pig) controlled by a "handler" dressed as a butcher, and a full 360-degree quadraphonic sound system was used. Nick Mason joined Waters for The Dark Side of the Moon set and the encores on select 2006 tour dates.^[97] Waters continued touring in January 2007 in Australia and New Zealand, then Asia, Europe, South America, and back to North America in June.

In March 2007, the Waters song, "Hello (I Love You)" was featured in the science fiction film The Last Mimzy. The song plays over the film's end credits. He released it as a single, on CD and via download, and described it as, "a song that captures the themes of the movie, the clash between humanity's best and worst instincts, and how a child's innocence can win the day".^[98] He performed at California's Coachella Festival in April 2008 and was to be among the headlining artists performing at Live Earth 2008 in Mumbai, India in December 2008,^[99] but that concert was cancelled in light of the 26 November terrorist attacks in Mumbai.^[100]

Roger Waters in Barcelona, during The Wall Live in 2011

He confirmed the possibility of an upcoming solo album which "might be called" Heartland, and has said he has numerous songs written (some already recorded) that he intends to release when they are a complete album.^[101] In June 2010, Waters released a cover of "We Shall Overcome", a protest song derived from the refrain of a gospel hymn published by Charles Albert Tindley in 1901. He performed with David Gilmour at the Hoping Foundation Benefit Evening in July 2010.^[102] The four-song set included: "To Know Him Is to Love Him", which was played in early Pink Floyd sound checks, followed by "Wish You Were Here", "Comfortably Numb", and "Another Brick in the Wall (Part Two)".^[103]

In September 2010, he commenced The Wall Live tour, an updated version of the original Pink Floyd shows, featuring a complete performance of The Wall.^[104] According to Cole Moreton of the Daily Mail, "The touring version of Pink Floyd's The Wall is one of the most ambitious and complex rock shows ever ...",^[105] and it is estimated that the tour cost £37 million to stage.^[105] Waters told the Associated Press that The Wall Tour will likely be his last, stating: "I'm not as young as I used to be. I'm not like B.B. King, or Muddy Waters. I'm not a great vocalist or a great instrumentalist or whatever, but I still have the fire in my belly, and I have something to say. I have a swan song in me and I think this will probably be it."^[106] At the O2 Arena in London on 12 May 2011, Gilmour and Mason once again appeared with Waters and Gilmour performing "Comfortably Numb", and Gilmour and Mason joining Waters for "Outside the Wall".^[107]

Activism[link]

After the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake and subsequent tsunami disaster, Waters performed "Wish You Were Here" with Eric Clapton during a benefit concert on the American network NBC.^[108] He was outspoken against the Hunting Act of 2004, and performed a concert for, and attended marches supporting, the Countryside Alliance. Waters explained:

I've become disenchanted with the political and philosophical atmosphere in England. The anti-hunting bill was enough for me to leave England. I did what I could, I did a concert and one or two articles, but it made me feel ashamed to be English. I was in Hyde Park for both the Countryside Alliance marches. There were hundreds of thousands of us there. Good, honest English people. That's one of the most divisive pieces of legislation we've ever had in Great Britain. It's not a case of whether or not I agree with fox hunting, but I will defend to the hilt their right to take part in it.^[86]

Waters performing "Comfortably Numb" during The Wall Live in Kansas City, 30 October 2010

In October 2005, he clarified: "I come back to the UK quite often. I didn't leave as a protest against the hunting ban; I was following a child in the wake of a divorce."^[109] After leaving Britain, he moved to Long Island in New York with his fiancé Laurie Durning.^[110] In July 2007, he played on the American leg of the Live Earth concert, an international multi-venue concert aimed at raising awareness about global climate change, featuring the Trenton Youth Choir and his trademarked inflatable pig. Waters told David Fricke why he thinks The Wall is still relevant today:

The loss of a father is the central prop on which [The Wall] stands. As the years go by, children lose their fathers again and again, for nothing. You see it now with all these fathers, good men and true, who lost their lives and limbs in Iraq for no reason at all. I've done Bring The Boys Back Home in my encore on recent tours. It feels more relevant and poignant to be singing that song now than it did in 1979.^[111]

In 2007, Waters became a spokesman for Millennium Promise, a non-profit organisation that helps fight extreme poverty and malaria. He wrote an opinion piece for CNN in support of the topic.^[112] Waters has been outspoken about Middle Eastern politics and in June 2009, he openly opposed the Israeli separation barrier, calling it an "obscenity" that "should be torn down".^[113] In December 2009, Waters pledged his support to the Gaza Freedom March^[114] and in March 2011, he announced that he had joined the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel.^[115]

Equipment and instruments[link]

Waters' primary instrument in Pink Floyd was the electric bass guitar. He briefly played a Höfner bass but replaced it with a Rickenbacker RM-1999/4001S,^[28] until 1970 when it was stolen along with the rest of the band's equipment in New Orleans. He began using Fender Precision Basses in 1968, originally alongside the Rickenbacker, and then exclusively after the Rickenbacker was lost in 1970. First seen at a concert in Hyde Park, London in July 1970, the black P-Bass was rarely used until April 1972 when it became his main stage guitar and as of 2 October 2010, the basis for a Fender Artist Signature model.^[116] Waters endorses RotoSound Jazz Bass 77 flat-wound strings.^[117] Throughout his career he has used Selmer, WEM, Hiwatt and Ashdown amplifiers but has recently settled on using Ampeg for the last few major tours, also employing delay, tremolo, chorus, stereo panning and phaser effects in his bass playing.^[118]

Waters experimented with the EMS Synthi A and VCS 3 synthesisers on Pink Floyd pieces such as "On the Run",^[119] "Welcome to the Machine",^[120] and "In the Flesh?"^[121] He played electric and acoustic guitar on Pink Floyd tracks using Fender, Martin, Ovation and Washburn guitars.^[118] He played electric guitar on the Pink Floyd song "Sheep", from Animals,^[122] and acoustic guitar on several Pink Floyd recordings, such as "Pigs on the Wing 1 & 2", also from Animals,^[123] "Southampton Dock" from The Final Cut,^[124] and on "Mother" from The Wall.^[125] A Binson Echorec 2 echo effect was used on his bass-guitar lead track "One of These Days".^[126] Waters has also played clarinet and trumpet during concert performances of "Outside the Wall".^[127]

Discography[link]

• Music from The Body (with Ron Geesin) (1970)
• The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking (1984)
• When the Wind Blows (various artists soundtrack) (1986)
• Radio K.A.O.S. (1987)
• The Wall – Live in Berlin (1990)
• Amused to Death (1992)
• In the Flesh – Live (2000)
• Flickering Flame: The Solo Years Volume 1 (2002)
• Ça Ira (2005)

Citations[link]

Sources[link]

Further reading[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Roger Waters

Media related to Roger Waters at Wikimedia Commons

• Roger Waters Official website
• Roger Waters Facebook page to support The Wall live tour 2010–2012
• Roger Waters Tour and Tickets 2012
• Roger Waters Blog
• Roger Waters companies grouped at OpenCorporates

David Gilmour
Gilmour playing his trademark black Fender Stratocaster in concert in Munich, Germany on 29 July 2006
Background information
Birth name	David Jon Gilmour
Also known as	Dave Gilmour
Born	(1946-03-06) 6 March 1946 (age 66) Cambridge, England, United Kingdom
Genres	Rock, progressive rock, psychedelic rock, art rock, blues rock, experimental rock
Occupations	Musician, Songwriter, Producer
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards, drums, saxophone, harmonica, slide guitar, programming
Years active	1963–present
Labels	Capitol, Columbia, Sony, EMI
Associated acts	Pink Floyd, Jokers Wild, Deep End, Richard Wright
Website	www.davidgilmour.com
Notable instruments
'The Black Strat' Fender Stratocaster 'The Red Strat' Fender Stratocaster 'The 0001 Strat' Fender Stratocaster Fender Telecaster

David Jon Gilmour,^[1] CBE (born 6 March 1946) 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. It is estimated that as of 2010, the group have sold over 250 million records worldwide^[2][3], including 74.5 million units sold in the United States.

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.^[4] In 2011, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked him number 14 in their list of the greatest guitarists of all time.^[5]

Early life[link]

Gilmour was born in Cambridge, England. His father, Douglas Gilmour, was a senior lecturer in zoology at the University of Cambridge and his mother, Sylvia (née Wilson), was a teacher and film editor who raised her family at Grantchester Meadows, later immortalised by a Roger Waters song on Pink Floyd's Ummagumma.^[6] He has a younger brother who is also a musician.

Gilmour attended The Perse School on Hills Road, Cambridge, and met future Pink Floyd guitarist and vocalist Syd Barrett, along with bassist and vocalist Roger Waters who attended Cambridgeshire High School for Boys, also situated on Hills Road. He studied modern languages to A-Level and, along with Barrett, spent his lunchtime learning to play the guitar. They were not yet bandmates however, and Gilmour started playing in the band Joker's Wild in 1962. Gilmour left Joker's Wild in 1966 and busked around Spain and France with some friends. However, they were not very successful, living virtually a hand-to-mouth existence. In July 1992, Gilmour stated in an interview with Nicky Horne on BBC radio that he ended up being treated for malnutrition in a hospital.^[7] In 1967, they returned to England.

Pink Floyd[link]

Gilmour was approached in late December 1967 by drummer Nick Mason, who asked if he would be interested in joining Pink Floyd, which he did in January 1968, making Pink Floyd briefly a five-piece band. He filled in for Syd Barrett's guitar parts when the frontman was unable to take a consistent part in Floyd's live performances. Syd Barrett "left" the group due to his erratic behaviour—commonly believed to have been caused by excessive use of LSD—when the band chose not to pick Barrett up one night for a gig; and Gilmour by default assumed the role of the band's lead guitarist. He took over most of the band's lead vocal duties with bassist Roger Waters and keyboard player Richard Wright also occasionally singing in Barrett's stead. However, after the back-to-back successes of The Dark Side of the Moon and then Wish You Were Here, Waters took more control over the band, writing much of Animals and The Wall by himself. Wright was fired during The Wall sessions and the relationship between Gilmour and Waters would further deteriorate during the making of The Wall film and the 1983 Pink Floyd album The Final Cut.

Gilmour, in the early 1970s with Pink Floyd

After recording Animals, Gilmour thought that his musical talents were being underused, and channelled his ideas into his self-titled first solo album (1978), which showcases his signature guitar style, as well as underscoring his songwriting skills. A tune written during the finishing stages of this album, but too late to be used, became "Comfortably Numb" on The Wall.^[8]

The negative atmosphere surrounding the creation of The Wall album and subsequent film, compounded by The Final Cut's virtually being a Roger Waters solo album, led Gilmour to produce his second solo album About Face in 1984.^[9] He used it to express his feelings about a range of topics, from the murder of John Lennon,^[9] to his relationship with Waters. He has since admitted that he also used the album to distance himself from Pink Floyd. He toured Europe and the US along with support act The Television Personalities,^[9] who were promptly dropped from the line-up after revealing Syd Barrett's address on stage.^[9] Mason also made a guest appearance on the UK leg of the tour,^[9] which despite some cancellations eventually turned a profit.^[10] When he returned from touring, Gilmour played guitar with a range of artists, and also produced The Dream Academy, who had a top ten hit with "Life in a Northern Town".^[11]

In 1985, Waters declared that Pink Floyd were "a spent force creatively".^[9][12] In 1986, Gilmour and drummer Nick Mason issued a press release stating that Waters had quit the band and they intended to continue without him.^[9][12] Gilmour assumed full control of the group and produced A Momentary Lapse of Reason in 1987 with some contributions from Mason and Richard Wright.^[9] Wright officially rejoined the band after the release of the album for a lengthy world tour and helped create 1994's The Division Bell.^[9] 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.

In 1986, Gilmour purchased the houseboat Astoria which is moored on the River Thames near Hampton Court, and transformed it into a recording studio.^[12] The majority of the two most recent Pink Floyd albums, as well as Gilmour's 2006 solo release On an Island, were recorded there.^[12]

Gilmour at Live 8 in July 2005

On 2 July 2005, Gilmour played with Pink Floyd—including Roger Waters—at Live 8. The performance caused a temporary 1343% sales increase of Pink Floyd's album Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd.^[13] Gilmour donated all of his resulting profits to charities that reflect the goals of Live 8 saying:

Though the main objective has been to raise consciousness and put pressure on the G8 leaders, I will not profit from the concert. This is money that should be used to save lives.^[13]

Shortly after, he called upon all artists experiencing a surge in sales from Live 8 performances to donate the extra revenue to Live 8 fund-raising. After the Live 8 concert, Pink Floyd were offered £150 million to tour the United States, but the band turned down the offer.^[14]

On 3 February 2006, he announced in an interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica^[15][16] that Pink Floyd would most likely never tour or write material together again. He said:

I think enough is enough. I am 60 years old. I don't have the will to work as much any more. Pink Floyd was an important part in my life, I have had a wonderful time, but it's over. For me it's much less complicated to work alone.

Regarding agreeing to play at Live 8, he said:

There was more than one reason, firstly to support the cause. The second one is the energy consuming an uncomfortable relationship between Roger and me that I was carrying along in my heart. That is why we wanted to perform and to leave the trash behind. Thirdly, I might have regretted it if I declined.

On 20 February 2006, Gilmour commented again on Pink Floyd's future when he was interviewed by Billboard.com, stating, "Who knows? I have no plans at all to do that. My plans are to do my concerts and put my solo record out."

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".^[12] 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.^[12] The single entered the UK Top 75 charts at number nineteen and remained steady for three weeks.^[17]

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,^[12] another reunion of the core group members became impossible. Gilmour said of Wright

In the welter of arguments about who or what was Pink Floyd, Rick's enormous input was frequently forgotten. He was gentle, unassuming and private but his soulful voice and playing were vital, magical components of our most recognised Pink Floyd sound. Like Rick, I don't find it easy to express my feelings in words, but I loved him and will miss him enormously. I have never played with anyone quite like him.^[18]

In May 2010 Roger Waters told the Associated Press that Gilmour "is completely disinterested in anything like [another reunion]. After Live 8, I could have probably gone for doing some more stuff, but he's not interested, so it is what it is."^[19]

Solo projects[link]

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 No. 26, his 1978 self-titled solo debut peaked at No. 29 in 1978 and 1984's About Face peaked at No. 32 in 1984).

The 1970s & 1980s[link]

Gilmour performing in Brussels in 1984, on his About Face tour

Taking time off from Pink Floyd's schedule, Gilmour also took up various roles as a producer, sideman and even concert sound engineer^[9] for a wide variety of acts which included^[9] former bandmate Syd Barrett, Paul McCartney, Kate Bush, Berlin, Grace Jones, Tom Jones, Elton John, Eric Clapton, B. B. King, Seal, Sam Brown, Jools Holland, Bob Dylan, Pete Townshend, The Who, Supertramp, Levon Helm, Robbie Robertson, Alan Parsons, and various charity groups among others.

In 1985, Gilmour was a member of Bryan Ferry's band. He played on Ferry's album Boys and Girls, as well as the song "Is Your Love Strong Enough" for the US release of the Ridley Scott-Tom Cruise film Legend. A music video for the latter was created, incorporating Ferry and Gilmour into footage from the film^[9] (released as a bonus on the 2002 "Ultimate Edition" DVD release). Later that year, Gilmour played with Ferry at the London Live Aid concert;^[9] his first meeting with Ferry's keyboard player Jon Carin, later to tour with Pink Floyd.

David Gilmour also took part in a comedy skit titled "The Easy Guitar Book Sketch" with comedian Rowland Rivron and fellow British musicians Mark Knopfler, Lemmy from Motorhead, Mark King from Level 42, and Gary Moore. Guitar tech Phil Taylor explained in an interview that Knopfler used Gilmour's guitar rig and managed to sound like himself when performing in the skit.^[20]

The 1990s[link]

In 1994, Gilmour played guitar for the video game Tuneland, along with the additional saxophonist for Pink Floyd, Scott Page.

On 14 December 1999, Gilmour played a show at the Cavern Club in Liverpool with Paul McCartney, Mick Green, Ian Paice & Pete Wingfield.

The 2000s[link]

In 2001 and 2002, he performed a small number of acoustic solo concerts in London and Paris, along with a small band and choir, which was documented on the In Concert release.^[12] In 2003, Rolling Stone placed Gilmour at number 82 in a list of the hundred greatest guitarists of all time.^[21]

On 24 September 2004, Gilmour performed a three song set (tracks 28–30) at The Strat Pack concert at London's Wembley Arena, marking the 50th anniversary of the Fender Stratocaster guitar.

Gilmour in performance, Frankfurt 2006

On 6 March 2006, his 60th birthday, he released his third solo album, On an Island,^[12] and a day later it was released in the US; it debuted at No. 1 in the UK charts.^[22] The album reached the top five in Germany and Sweden, and the top six in Billboard 200.^[23][24] Produced by Gilmour along with Phil Manzanera and Chris Thomas, the album features orchestrations by renowned Polish composer Zbigniew Preisner.^[12] The album features David Crosby and Graham Nash performing background vocals on the title track, Robert Wyatt on cornet and percussion, and Richard Wright on Hammond organ and vocals.^[12] Other contributors include Jools Holland, Phil Manzanera, Georgie Fame, Andy Newmark, B. J. Cole, Chris Stainton, Willie Wilson, Rado ‘Bob’ Klose on guitar and Leszek Możdżer on piano.^[12] The album also features Gilmour's debut with the saxophone.^[12]

Gilmour toured Europe, US and Canada from 10 March to 31 May 2006 to promote On an Island. There were 10 shows in the US and Canadian leg of the tour. Pink Floyd alumnus Richard Wright, and frequent Floyd collaborators Dick Parry, Guy Pratt and Jon Carin, also accompanied him on the tour. More shows took place in Europe from July to August in 2006.

In a press release to promote the tour, David Gilmour stated:

I'm rather hoping that with this tour announcement, people will believe me when I say, honestly, this is the only band I plan to tour with!

On an Island reached number one on the UK charts. On 10 April 2006, the album was certified platinum in Canada, with sales of over 100,000 copies. The album also gave Gilmour his first US Top 10 album as a solo artist.

A video recording of a show from Gilmour's solo tour, titled Remember That Night – Live At The Royal Albert Hall^[25] was released on 17 September 2007.^[12] The double DVD, directed by David Mallet, contains over five hours of footage, including an on-the-road documentary and guest appearances by David Bowie and Robert Wyatt.^[12] The two and a half hour concert features band members Richard Wright of Pink Floyd, Phil Manzanera of Roxy Music, Steve DiStanislao on drums, and various Pink Floyd regulars such as Dick Parry, Guy Pratt and Jon Carin.^[12] The 20-page booklet accompanying the DVD, features over 80 photos selected from studio recording and touring.^[12]

The final show of David Gilmour's On an Island tour took place at the Gdańsk Shipyard on 26 August 2006.^[12] The concert was held before a crowd of 50,000, and marked the twenty-sixth anniversary of the founding of the Solidarity trade union.^[12] The concert was notable for the inclusion of "A Great Day For Freedom" as part of the encore.^[12]

The show was recorded, resulting in a live album and DVD release: Live in Gdańsk.^[12] The concert was the only occasion on which Gilmour performed the tour material with an orchestra, using the 40-strong string section of the Polish Baltic Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Zbigniew Preisner, who was responsible for On An Island's orchestral arrangements.^[12]

On 25 May 2009, he participated in a concert at the Union Chapel in Islington, London. The concert was part of the 'Hidden Gigs' campaign against hidden homelessness, which is organised by Crisis, a UK-based national charity campaigning against homelessness. In the concert he collaborated with the Malian musicians Amadou and Mariam.^[26]

On 4 July 2009, he joined his friend Jeff Beck onstage at the Royal Albert Hall. David and Jeff traded solos on Jerusalem and closed the show with Hi Ho Silver Lining.

The 2010s[link]

On 11 July 2010, Gilmour gave a performance for the charity Hoping Foundation with Roger Waters in Oxfordshire, England.^[29] Also performing were Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Nick Cage and Tom Jones. The performance was presented by Jemima Khan and Nigella Lawson. According to onlookers, it seemed clear that Gilmour and Waters had ended the their long-running feud and seemed to be the best of friends, laughing and joking together along with their respective partners. Waters subsequently confirmed via his Facebook page that Gilmour would play "Comfortably Numb" with him during one of his shows on his upcoming The Wall Live tour – Gilmour performed the guitar solo on 12 May 2011 at the O2 Arena, London and, with Nick Mason, played with the rest of the band playing "Outside The Wall" at the conclusion of the show.

Gilmour released an album with The Orb in 2010 entitled Metallic Spheres,^[30] on which he co-wrote every track and their subsequent parts, and produced, played guitar and sang.

Personal life[link]

Gilmour in 2005

Gilmour's first marriage was to American-born model and artist Virginia "Ginger" Hasenbein, on 7 July 1975.^[31] He had four children from this union, Alice (born 1976), Clare (born 1979), Sara (born 1983, a fashion model^[32]), and Matthew (born 1986). The children originally attended a Waldorf School, but Gilmour called their education there "horrific".^[33] In 1994, he married journalist Polly Samson, and the couple have four children, Charlie (Samson's son with Heathcote Williams whom Gilmour adopted), Joe, Gabriel and Romany. Charlie's voice can be heard on the telephone to Steve O'Rourke, at the end of "High Hopes" (The Division Bell).

Gilmour has been associated with various charity organisations. In May 2003, Gilmour sold his house in Little Venice to the ninth Earl Spencer and donated the proceeds worth £3.6 million to Crisis to help fund a housing project for the homeless. He has been named a vice president of the organization.^[34] Other charities to which Gilmour has lent support include Oxfam, the European Union Mental Health and Illness Association, Greenpeace, Amnesty International,^[9] The Lung Foundation, Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy,^[9] Teenage Cancer Trust, and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).^[35] He also donated £25,000 to the Save the Rhino foundation in exchange for Douglas Adams's name suggestion for the album that became The Division Bell.^[12]

Gilmour is also an experienced pilot and aviation enthusiast. Under the aegis of his company, Intrepid Aviation,^[9] he had amassed a collection of historical aircraft. He later decided to sell the company, which he had started as a hobby, feeling that it was becoming too commercial for him to handle. In a BBC interview, he stated:

Intrepid Aviation was a way for me to make my hobby pay for itself a little bit, but gradually over a few years Intrepid Aviation became a business because you have to be businesslike about it. Suddenly I found instead of it being a hobby and me enjoying myself, it was a business and so I sold it. I don't have Intrepid Aviation any more. I just have a nice old biplane that I pop up, wander around the skies in sometimes...^[36]

On 22 May 2008, Gilmour won the 2008 Ivor Novello Lifetime Contribution Award.^[37]

In autumn 2008, he was awarded for outstanding contribution for music by the Q Awards. He dedicated his award to his bandmate Richard Wright, who died in September 2008.^[4]

On 11 November 2009, Gilmour received an honorary doctorate from the Anglia Ruskin University.^[38]

Musical style[link]

Gilmour on piano, in Düsseldorf during his About Face tour in 1984

Gilmour is best known for his lead guitar work. Gilmour's solo style is often characterised by blues-influenced phrasing, expressive note bends and sustain. In 2011, Gilmour was rated the 14th greatest guitarist by Rolling Stone. In January 2007, Guitar World readers voted Gilmour's solos, "Comfortably Numb", "Time" and "Money" into the top 100 Greatest Guitar Solos ("Comfortably Numb" was voted the 4th, "Time" was voted the 21st and "Money" was voted the 62nd greatest solo of all time).^[39]

In his early career with Pink Floyd, Gilmour played a multitude of Fender Stratocasters. One of his popular guitar solos ("Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2") was played on a 1955 Gibson Les Paul Gold Top guitar equipped with P-90 pick-ups.^[40][41] In 1996, Gilmour was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Pink Floyd. Gilmour's solo on "Comfortably Numb" was voted as one of the greatest guitar solos of all time in several polls by listeners and critics.^[42]

Although mainly known for his guitar work, Gilmour is also a proficient multi-instrumentalist. He also plays bass guitar (which he did on some Pink Floyd tracks),^[12][43] keyboards, synthesiser, banjo, harmonica, drums (as heard on the Syd Barrett solo track "Dominoes",^[12] and other songs where he opted to play all the instruments) and lately, the saxophone.^[44]

Music equipment[link]

Some of the equipment Gilmour has used either on his solo or Pink Floyd records and tours.

Main electric guitars[link]

Gilmour playing a Fender Stratocaster in 1984

• Fender
  • Stratocaster
    • Gilmor's main stage and studio guitar is a 1969 Fender Stratocaster. Black with a black pickguard, it has white pick-up covers and knobs. It does not have the original neck. The guitar has a added switch that combines the neck and bridge pick-ups. It has a Seymour Duncan SSL-1C (SSL-5 Prototype) bridge pick-up. The guitar strap that Gilmour pairs with this instrument once belonged to Jimi Hendrix.
    • His main guitar for the post-Roger Waters era Pink Floyd tours was a red 1984 '57 Stratocaster reissue. It had a set of EMG SA active pick-ups. This guitar still continues to be used for specific songs during Gilmour's live performances.
    • David Gilmour owns Stratocaster # 0001. This is not the first model made.
    • Cream coloured '57 reissue Stratocaster. This guitar was used on Gilmour's 1984 solo tour and also during the early part of the 1987–1990 Pink Floyd tour. During the 1994 Pink Floyd tour it was used as a spare guitar. During Pink Floyd's Live 8 set sidesman Tim Renwick was seen playing it. It has the same EMG setup as his red '57 Reissue model. After it was used for Live 8 the neck from the cream Stratocaster was transferred to Gilmour's main black Stratocaster.
    • '57 Lake Placid Blue. (Serial number #0040). This guitar was used during The Wall recording sessions.
    • Double-neck Stratocaster. Custom made body by guitar builder Dick Knight and using standard Fender necks. It was used in the early 1970s.
    • 1959 sunburst Stratocaster body with a 1963 neck with a rosewood fingerboard. This guitar was given to Gilmour by Steve Marriott. David didn't like the guitar enough to use it for very long but did like the neck better than the original one on his black Stratocaster and the two were switched. The sunburst model was used as A spare and for slide guitar in subsequent years.
    • White with white pickguard. Used in the late 1960s. Received as a gift from the rest of the band.^[45] It was stolen in 1970.
    • Gilmour used a Stratocaster equipped with the Doug Wilkes 'Answer' sliding pick-up system on the 'Momentary Lapse of Reason' recording.
  • Telecaster
    • Blonde body with white pickguard. Used on the On an Island tour.
    • '52 Butterscotch Reissues with black pickguard. Used between 1987 and 1995. The first guitar was tuned in Dropped D rather than a standard tuning and was used for "Run Like Hell". The second served as a backup instrument and had a regular guitar tuning. Gilmour used this guitar for Astronomy Domine.
    • '59 Custom Telecaster with sunburst ash body, white binding on the body, rosewood fingerboard, and a white pickguard. A Gibson Humbucker was briefly placed in the neck position but this was removed before it was used on the Animals' recording sessions. Last seen at rehearsals during the On an Island tour.
    • '61 Telecaster used during The Wall recording sessions. Also used live in the post-Waters era for "Run Like Hell". Last seen on the Syd Barrett memory concert in 2007.
    • 1960s brown-faded body. Used in the late 1960s.
    • 1960s blonde ash body with white pickguard. This was Gilmour's main guitar during his first year with Pink Floyd, but it was lost by an airline company in 1968, prompting Gilmour to buy the brown-faded Telecaster.^[46]
  • Esquire '55 Sunburst body a.k.a. "The workmate Tele". Neck pick-up added. Used at the recording sessions for his first solo album, and The Wall recording sessions and subsequent tour. Also seen when Gilmour performed with Paul McCartney in the late 1990s.

Other electrics[link]

Along with the Fender models (his primary choice for electrics), Gilmour has also used: a Gibson Les Paul goldtop model with P-90 pick-ups and a Bigsby vibrato bridge. It was used for the guitar solo on 'Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2' and the solo in 'Comfortably Numb.' Gilmour also plays a Gretsch Duo-Jet and a Gretsch White Falcon (as well as a 'White Penguin'), a Bill Lewis 24-fret Guitar (used during Meddle and Dark Side of the Moon recording sessions) and a Steinberger GL model which was his main guitar during A Momentary Lapse of Reason recording sessions.

Acoustics[link]

Gilmour has used many different acoustic guitars throughout his career including a Gibson "Chet Atkins" classical model, a Gibson J-200 Celebrity acoustic guitar.^[47] Gilmour's list of Ovation models including a Legend 1619-4, a Legend 1613-4 nylon string guitar, both used during The Wall recording sessions.^[47][48] Martin models used include: a D-35.^[47][48] a D12-28 12-string.^[47] and a D-18.^[47] Gilmour's large acoustic collection also includes many models from Taylor, Takamine and Guild.

Steel guitar[link]

Gilmour playing lap steel guitar, 26 January 1977

Throughout his recording career David Gilmour has added a different element to his guitar style with his use of steel guitars. A 1950s Fender 1000 twin neck pedal steel guitar was used frequently in the early 1970s. Originally purchased from a pawn shop while Gilmour was in Seattle in 1970, it was used during recording of "One of These Days" from "Meddle" and "Breathe" and "Great Gig in the Sky" from The Dark Side of the Moon.^[49] Other Fenders owned by Gilmour include a Deluxe lap steel (seen during The Division Bell tour in 1994.^[49] ) and also a Champ lap steel model. Along with the Fender steel models Gilmour has also used: a Gibson EH150, and two Jedson models: one red (1977-tuned D-G-D-G-B-E for Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Parts 6–9, 1987–2006: Tuned E-B-E-G-B-E for High Hopes) and one blonde.^[49] He also uses a ZB steel model.^[48]