David Jon Gilmour, CBE was
born on 6th March 1946 in Cambridge, England, the
second child of Douglas Gilmour, a senior lecturer
in Zoology at the University and Sylvia, a teacher.
Best known as guitarist, vocalist and writer with
Pink Floyd, he is also renowned for his solo work
and collaborations with other artists including Kate
Bush, Paul McCartney,
and Pete Townshend.
David Gilmour and Roger 'Syd' Barrett met as children
in Cambridge and later, whilst studying at the Cambridgeshire
College of Arts and Technology, began playing guitar
together. In 1965 they spent a summer hitchhiking
and busking around the South of France before Syd
joined Roger Waters, Nick Mason and Rick Wright to
form Pink Floyd, and David continued playing with
his own band Jokers Wild, subsequently touring Europe
with Flowers, and later Bullitt.
David was asked to augment the Pink Floyd line up
as the singer and guitarist in 1967, only for Syd
to leave the group five gigs later, struggling with
mental illness.
David's guitar playing and song writing became major
factors of Pink Floyd's worldwide success during the
1970s, including his distinctive vocals and guitar
playing on The Dark Side Of The Moon, the third
most successful album of all time.
As a side project, David released his first solo album
David Gilmour in 1978. Featuring Rick Wills
on bass and Willie Wilson on drums & percussion, the
album charted in the UK and the US.
David's second solo album About Face was released
in 1984, again hitting the Top 20 in the UK.
David assumed control of Pink Floyd in 1985, after
Roger Waters' departure, creating the new Floyd album
A Momentary Lapse of Reason with Nick Mason
and Rick Wright. The Division Bell followed
in 1994. Both albums charted at number one on both
sides of the Atlantic and were supported by sell-out
world tours. A live album and video, P.U.L.S.E,
followed in 1995. In 1996, Pink Floyd were inducted
into the US Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, followed by
the same honour in the UK in November 2005; in 2005
David Gilmour was made a CBE for services to music.
In July 2005, Pink Floyd reunited with Roger Waters
for a one-off performance at Live 8 in London's Hyde
Park, which was regarded by many as the highlight
of an astonishing show.
In 2002, following a concert for Robert Wyatt's Meltdown
Festival, three semi acoustic concerts were performed
by David Gilmour and friends at London's Royal Festival
Hall, with one critic remarking that a "reinvented
rock god shines on as 21st century folk hero".
In 2003, David donated the £3.6 million proceeds
of the sale of his London house to Crisis, the charity
for the homeless of which he is a vice-president.
David Gilmour's position in the canon of rock guitar
players can be construed from his headline billing
at the 2004 Wembley concert celebrating 50 years of
the Fender Stratocaster guitar. He was also voted
'Best Fender Guitar Player Ever' in a poll in Guitarist
magazine, beating such greats as Jimi Hendrix and
Eric Clapton.
On 6th March 2006, David released his third solo album,
On An Island, which entered the UK Charts at
Number One, subsequently hitting the top position
in the pan-European Charts, as well as hitting multi-Platinum
around the world, including countries as diverse as
Canada and Poland.
On An Island was accompanied by tour dates
in the US and Europe, performed by a stellar list
of musicians including Pink Floyd's Richard Wright,
Roxy Music's Phil Manzanera, and regular Floyd musicians
Dick Parry, Guy Pratt, and Jon Carin.
Summer concerts in Europe included a one-off performance
in front of 50,000 in Gdańsk's historic dockyards,
featuring a 40-piece orchestra conducted by noted
Polish composer Zbigniew Preisner, who had written
the orchestrations for the On An Island album.
The live show at London's Royal Albert Hall was filmed
in High Definition by award-winning director David
Mallet for DVD release. Entitled Remember That
Night Live At The Royal Albert Hall, it
was released in Europe on Monday 17th September 2007
and the following day in North America, immediately hitting the
No. 1 spot in many countries around the globe.
Featuring the whole concert on Disc 1 (of the 2-disc
set), the second DVD contains bonus material from
the Royal Albert Hall shows, and eight other musical
tracks including the previously unreleased Island
Jam 2007. In addition, there are three documentaries
and a photo gallery.
"Now or then, it's still the perfect show" The
Sunday Times (UK) was a typical comment from the
world's press.
Remember That Night was released in the high-definition
Blu-ray format in November 2007.