Pink Floyd initially earned recognition for their psychedelic rock music, and, as they evolved, for their progressive rock music. They are known for philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative cover art, and elaborate live shows. One of rock music's most successful acts, the group has sold over 200 million albums worldwide.

Pink Floyd had moderate mainstream success and were one of the most popular bands in the London underground music scene in the late 1960s as a psychedelic band led by Syd Barrett; however, Barrett's erratic behaviour eventually forced his colleagues to replace him with guitarist and singer David Gilmour. After Barrett's departure, singer and bass player Roger Waters gradually became the band's leader from around 1977 until his eventual departure from the group. The band recorded several albums, achieving worldwide success with The Dark Side of the Moon (1973), Wish You Were Here (1975), Animals (1977), and The Wall (1979). In 1985, Waters declared Pink Floyd defunct, but the remaining members, led by Gilmour, sued Waters for rights to the name; they continued recording and touring as Pink Floyd and enjoyed commercial success with A Momentary Lapse of Reason (1987) and The Division Bell (1994), eventually reaching a settlement with Waters over the use of the name.

Waters performed with the band for the first time in 24 years on July 2, 2005 at the London Live 8 concert, playing to Pink Floyd's biggest audience ever.

Pink Floyd evolved from an earlier rock band, formed in December 1965, which was at various times called Sigma 6, The Meggadeaths, and The Abdabs. When the band split up, some members — guitarists Rado "Bob" Klose and Roger Waters, drummer Nick Mason, and wind instrument player Rick Wright — formed a new band called 'Tea Set'. After a brief stint with a lead vocalist named Chris Dennis,guitarist and vocalist Syd Barrett joined the band, with Waters moving to bass.

Released in August 1967, the band's debut album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, is today considered to be a prime example of British psychedelic music,and was generally well-received by critics at the time. It is now viewed as one of the best debut albums by many critics.The album's tracks, predominantly written by Barrett, showcase poetic lyrics and an eclectic mixture of music, from the avant-garde free-form piece "Interstellar Overdrive"to whimsical songs such as "The Scarecrow".

As the band became more popular, the stresses of life on the road and a significant intake of psychedelic drugs took their toll on Barrett, whose mental health had been deteriorating for several months. Barrett's strange behaviour has often been attributed to his drug use.In January 1968, guitarist David Gilmour joined the band to carry out Barrett's playing and singing duties, though evidently Jeff Beck was considered.

With Barrett's behaviour becoming less and less predictable, and his almost constant use of LSD, he became very unstable, occasionally staring into space while the rest of the band performed. During some performances, he would just strum one chord for the duration of a concert, or randomly begin detuning his guitar.The band's live shows became increasingly ramshackle until, eventually, the other band members simply stopped taking him to the concerts. The last concert featuring Barrett was on January 20, 1968 on Hastings Pier.

The double album Ummagumma, was a mix of live recordings and unchecked studio experimentation by the band members, with each member recording half a side of a vinyl record as a solo project.Though the album was realised as solo outings and a live set, it was originally intended as a purely avant-garde mixture of sounds from "found" instruments. The subsequent difficulties in recording and lack of group organization led to the shelving of the project. The title is Cambridge slang for sexual intercourse and reflects the attitude of the band at the time.

The band's sound was considerably more focused on Meddle (1971), with the 23-minute epic "Echoes" taking up the second side of the LP. "Echoes" is a smooth progressive rock song with extended guitar and keyboard solos and a long segue in the middle consisting largely of synthesised music produced on guitars, organs, and synths, along with backward wah pedal guitar sounding like samples of crows cawing, described by Waters as a "sonic poem".

The release of Pink Floyd's massively successful 1973 album, The Dark Side of the Moon, was a watershed moment in the band's popularity. Pink Floyd had stopped issuing singles after 1968's "Point Me at the Sky" and was never a hit-single-driven group, but The Dark Side of the Moon featured a U.S. Top 20 single ("Money").The album became the band's first #1 on U.S. charts and,is one of the biggest-selling albums in U.S. history, with more than 15 million units sold,and one of the best-selling albums worldwide, with more than 40 million copies sold.The critically-acclaimed album stayed on the Billboard Top 200 for an unprecedented 741 weeks (including 591 consecutive weeks from 1976 to 1988),establishing a world record. It also remained 301 weeks on UK charts.

Wish You Were Here, released in 1975, carries an abstract theme of absence: absence of any humanity within the music industry and, most poignantly, the absence of Syd Barrett. Well-known for its popular title track, the album includes the largely instrumental, nine-part song suite "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", a tribute to Barrett in which the lyrics deal explicitly with the aftermath of his breakdown.
In a famous anecdote, a heavyset man, his head and eyebrows completely shaved, wandered into the studio while the band was mixing "Shine On You Crazy Diamond". The band could not recognise him for some time, when suddenly one of them realised it was Syd Barrett. On being asked how he had put on so much weight, he retorted "I've got a big fridge in the kitchen and I've been eating a lot of pork chops".

1979's epic rock opera The Wall, conceived by Waters, dealt with the themes of loneliness and failed communication, which were expressed by the metaphor of a wall built between a rock artist and his audience. The deciding moment in which to conceive The Wall was during a concert in Montreal, Canada in which Roger Waters spat on an audience member as he attempted to climb up on stage - it was this point where Waters felt the alienation between audience and band. This album gave Pink Floyd renewed acclaim and their only chart-topping single with "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)".The Wall also included the future concert staples "Comfortably Numb" and "Run Like Hell".

Their 1983 studio album, The Final Cut, was dedicated by Waters to his father, Eric Fletcher Waters. Even darker in tone than The Wall, this album re-examined many previous themes, while also addressing then-current events, including Waters' anger at Britain's participation in the Falklands War, the blame for which he laid squarely at the feet of political leaders.

1992 saw the box set release of Shine On. The 9-disc set included re-releases of the studio albums A Saucerful of Secrets, Meddle, The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals, The Wall, and A Momentary Lapse of Reason. A bonus disc entitled The Early Singles was also included. The set's packaging featured a case allowing the albums to stand vertically together, with the side-by-side spines displaying an image of the Dark Side of the Moon cover. The circular text of each CD includes the almost illegible words "The Big Bong Theory".

The band's next recording was the 1994 release, The Division Bell, which was much more of a group effort than Momentary Lapse had been, with Wright now reinstated as a full band member, but not appearing much on the album.The album was received more favourably by critics and fans alike than Lapse had been,but was still heavily criticised as tired and formulaic.It was the second Pink Floyd album to reach #1 on both the UK and U.S.charts.

The band released a live album entitled P*U*L*S*E in 1995. It hit #1 in U.S. and featured songs recorded during the "Division Bell" tour from concerts in Londons Earl Court. The Division Bell concerts featured a mix of classic and modern Pink Floyd. The Pulse album has an entire performances of The Dark Side of the Moon.
On January 17, 1996, the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.Waters did not attend.

On July 2, 2005, the band reunited for a one-off performance at the London Live 8 concert. This time, however, they were joined by Waters - the first time all four band members were on stage together in 24 years. The band performed a four-song set consisting of "Speak to Me/Breathe/Breathe (Reprise)", "Money", "Wish You Were Here", and "Comfortably Numb", with both Gilmour and Waters sharing lead vocals. At the end of their performance Gilmour said "thank you very much, good night" and started to walk off the stage. Waters called him back, however, and the band shared a group hug that became one of the most famous images of Live 8.

Many fans expressed hope that the band's Live 8 appearance would lead to a reunion tour, and a record-breaking US$250 million deal for a world tour was offered,but the band have made it clear that they have no such plans. In the weeks after the show, however, the rifts between the members seem to have mostly healed. Gilmour confirmed that he and Waters are on "pretty amicable terms".

On January 31, 2006, David Gilmour issued a joint statement on behalf of the group stating that they have no plans to reunite, refuting rumours from several media outlets.Gilmour later stated in an interview with La Repubblica that he is finished with Pink Floyd and wishes to focus on solo projects and his family. He mentions that he agreed to play Live 8 with Waters to support the cause, to make peace with Waters, and knowing he would regret not taking part.

2007 saw the 40th anniversary of Pink Floyd's signing to EMI and the 40th anniversary of the release of their first three singles "Arnold Layne", "See Emily Play" and "Apples and Oranges" and their debut album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. This was marked by the release of a limited edition set containing mono and stereo mixes of the albums, plus tracks from the singles and other rare recordings.

In November of 2007, Pink Floyd will release a new CD box set (Titled: The Boy, The Man) containing all fourteen studio albums newly remastered with original vinyl artwork plus new artwork from Storm Thorgerson. In addition there will be a DVD featuring the individual members of the band discussing the 40th anniversary and landmarks of their career.

Discography

The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (August 5, 1967)
A Saucerful of Secrets (June 29, 1968)
Music from the Film More (July 27, 1969)
Ummagumma (October 25, 1969)
Atom Heart Mother (October 10, 1970)
Meddle (October 30, 1971)
Obscured by Clouds (June 3, 1972)
The Dark Side of the Moon (March 24, 1973)
Wish You Were Here (September 15, 1975)
Animals (January 23, 1977)
The Wall (November 30, 1979)
The Final Cut (March 23, 1983)
A Momentary Lapse of Reason (September 7, 1987)
Delicate Sound of Thunder (November 22, 1988)
The Division Bell (March 30, 1994)
P*U*L*S*E (May 29, 1995)
Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live 1980-81 (March 23, 2000)