Founded in 1965, the band originally consisted of students Syd Barrett, Nick Mason, Roger Waters, and Richard Wright. They first gained popularity performing in London's underground music scene during the late 1960s, and under Barrett's creative leadership they released two charting singles and a successful debut album. David Gilmour joined as a fifth member in December 1967, and Barrett left the band in April 1968 due to his deteriorating mental health. After Barrett's departure, Waters became the band's primary lyricist and by the mid-1970s, their dominant songwriter, devising the original concepts behind their critically and commercially acclaimed albums The Dark Side of the Moon (1973), Wish You Were Here (1975), Animals (1977), The Wall (1979) and The Final Cut (1983).
Wright left Pink Floyd in 1979, followed by Waters in 1985. Gilmour and Mason continued as Pink Floyd and Wright subsequently joined them as a paid musician. They continued to record and tour through 1994; two more albums followed, A Momentary Lapse of Reason (1987) and The Division Bell (1994). Inducted into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996, and the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005, as of 2013 they have sold more than 250 million records worldwide, including 74.5 million certified units in the United States.
After nearly two decades of acrimony, they reunited in 2005 for a performance at the global awareness event Live 8. Barrett died in 2006 and Wright in 2008. In 2011, Gilmour and Mason joined Waters at one of his The Wall Tour shows at The O2 Arena in London.
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Wish You Were Here is the ninth studio album by the English progressive rock group Pink Floyd, released in September 1975. It explores themes of absence, the music business and former band member Syd Barrett's mental decline. Inspired by material the band composed while performing across Europe, Wish You Were Here was recorded in numerous sessions at London's Abbey Road Studios. The premise of the album was based on a song written by the band called "Shine On You Crazy Diamond". "Shine On" was a tribute to Barrett, who, coincidentally, made an impromptu visit to the studio while it was being recorded. It was lead writer Roger Waters' idea to split the "Shine On" in two parts and use it to bookend the album around three new compositions, forming a new concept similar to their previous album, The Dark Side of the Moon .
As with that record, the band made use of studio effects and synthesizers for Wish You Were Here. Additionally, the band brought in guest singers to supply their vocals to some tracks, another feature from their previous album. These singers included Roy Harper, who provided the lead vocals on "Have a Cigar", and The Blackberries, who made guest background vocals on "Shine On". Wish You Were Here was released in the early autumn of 1975. The album became an instant commercial success and record company EMI was unable to print enough copies to satisfy demand. Although it initially received mixed reviews, the album has since been acclaimed by critics and appears on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Band members Richard Wright and David Gilmour have each declared Wish You Were Here their favorite Pink Floyd album.
01. Shine On You Crazy Diamond, [Part One].mp302. Welcome To The Machine.mp3
03. Have A Cigar.mp3
04. Wish You Were Here.mp3
05. Shine On You Crazy Diamond, [Part Two].mp3
