Pink Floyd founding member Syd Barrett dead at 60

[illusionofjoy]

From the Associated Press:

LONDON - Syd Barrett, the troubled Pink Floyd co-founder who spent his last years in reclusive anonymity, has died, the band said Tuesday. He was 60.

A spokeswoman for the band said Barrett died several days ago, but she did not disclose the cause of death. Barrett had suffered from diabetes for years.

The surviving members of Pink Floyd — David Gilmour, Nick Mason, Roger Waters and Richard Wright — said they were "very upset and sad to learn of Syd Barrett's death."

Piper At The Gates of Dawn was released in 1967. Every track on the album - save "Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk" - was penned by Syd Barrett. By 1968, the subsequent release A Saucerful of Secrets only had one song on it which was written by Barrett ("Jugband Blues," for the curious). Such was the rapidity of his decline.

Barrett would haunt the band from then on out - particularly in their famous 70's releases. Dark Side of the Moon (1973) is nothing less than a 40-minute cycle of madness while the obvious touchstone and tribute is 1975's Wish You Were Here. Still, even on The Wall (1979), lines such as "the obligatory Hendrix perm" (from the song "Nobody Home) reference Syd and some of his antics (it is rumoured that before one show, he crushed tablets of some medicine into his hair in an attempt to give it more body).

Without Syd Barrett, there may have been a Pink Floyd, but they probably wouldn't have evolved into one of my all-time favourite bands.