David Jon Gilmour, known as David Gilmour (born 6 March 1946 in Cambridge, England, United Kingdom) is an English musician and multi-instrumentalist, who was the guitarist, lead vocalist and one of the songwriters of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd.
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. Gilmour and his siblings were encouraged by their parents in their musical abilities. Gilmour has a younger brother, Peter, who has been a guitarist for a slightly longer time than Gilmour. Gilmour attended The Perse School on Hills Road, Cambridge, which he “didn’t enjoy” but where he 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. In 1954, Gilmour bought his first single, Bill Haley’s “Rock Around the Clock”. At age 13, Gilmour was given his first guitar, a Tatay, by his neighbour, Gilmour started learning how to play using a book and record set by Pete Seeger.
In September 1962, he studied modern languages to A-Level and, along with Syd Barrett, went to Cambridge Technical College. Despite not finishing the languages course, Gilmour would eventually become a fluent French speaker. Gilmour and Barrett spent their lunchtime practising guitar together, Barrett would often refer to Gilmour as “Fred”. They were not yet bandmates, however, and Gilmour started playing in the band Jokers Wild in 1962, which Gilmour left in 1967.
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” (about Roger’s father) , “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. Neither Waters nor Gilmour showed much enthusiasm to work together again, with Gilmour being quoted as saying that he would rather spend his time pursuing his solo career.
Much to everyone’s surprise, Gilmour and Waters reunited once again on July 11, 2010 for a charity performance for “The Hoping Foundation,” an organization that supports Palestinian refugee kids. At Ronnie Scott’s club in London, the duo performed four songs together: “To Know Him is to Love Him” (a cover of the old Teddy Bear’s song), “Wish You Were Here,” “Comfortably Numb,” and finally (after a special request) “Another Brick in the Wall Part 2.” Once again, just like after the Live 8 Reunion, speculation began regarding future reunions. No official Pink Floyd reunion has yet been set, but Gilmour did promise that he would join Roger Waters for one show on his 2010-11 “The Wall” tour, performing “Comfortably Numb.” The show that Gilmour is set to play is being kept a secret to surprise fans and (most likely) to prevent scalpers from selling tickets at outrageous prices.
The door now seems slightly ajar that David Gilmour and Roger Waters may possibly work with each other again, either as a duo, or as Pink Floyd once again. On Roger Waters facebook page, he wrote: “We (played together), and it was fucking great! End of story. Or possibly beginning.”
As a solo artist, David Gilmour has released 3 studio albums; David Gilmour (1978), About Face (1984), and On An Island (2006). In September 2008, he released his first live album Live In Gdansk , a recording of a concert he and his band performed in Gdansk Shipyard during his 2006 On An Island tour. In addition, he has two live DVDs - 2002’s mostly acoustic “In Concert” and 2007’s Remember That Night.
