Syd Barrett passes away at 60.

[Bill 213]

LONDON -? ? ? ? Syd Barrett, the troubled genius who co-founded Pink Floyd but spent his last years in reclusive anonymity, has died, a spokeswoman for the band said Tuesday. He was 60.
 
The spokeswoman ? who declined to give her name until the band made an official announcement ? confirmed media reports that he had died. She said Barrett died several days ago, but she did not disclose the cause of death. Barrett had suffered from diabetes for many years.

Barrett co-founded Pink Floyd in 1965 with?Roger Waters,? Nick Mason and Rick Wright, and wrote many of the band's early songs. The group's jazz-infused rock made them darlings of the London psychedelic scene, and the 1967 album "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn" ? largely written by Barrett, who also played guitar ? was a commercial and critical hit.

However, Barrett suffered from mental instability, exacerbated by his use of LSD. His behavior grew increasingly erratic, and he left the group in 1968 ? five years before the release of Pink Floyd's most popular album, "Dark Side of the Moon." He was replaced by David Gilmour.

Barrett released two solo albums ? "The Madcap Laughs" and "Barrett" ? but soon withdrew from the music business altogether.

He spent much of the rest of his life living quietly in his hometown of Cambridge, England, where he was a familiar figure, often seen cycling or walking to the corner store.

Despite his brief career, Barrett's fragile, wistful songs influenced many musicians, from? ? ? ? David Bowie ? who covered the Barrett track "See Emily Play" ? to the other members of Pink Floyd, who recorded the album "Wish You Were Here" as a tribute to their troubled bandmate.

The band spokeswoman said a small, private funeral would be held.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Really sad, I'd have loved to seen him out in public with Floyd onstage one more time.? If you don't have the Madcap Laughs album, get it...Dark Globe = great song. Rip Syd.

*note had to fix Yahoo News entry which omitted Roger Waters as a founding member and put David Gilmour in there twice

[loretian]

That is really sad.

It was foolish, but I always hoped he'd somehow make some sort of return to the music scene, and do one last album or something.

[Neemo]

RIP syd

[rubinone]

Thats's really sad!!

Last week I saw Roger Waters perform entire Dark Side Of The Moon and a bunch of classic Pink Floyd songs among them "Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun" with wonderful Syd Barret projections.

Shine On You Crazy Diamond!

[Will]

RIP Syd.

Fuck drugs.

[Evolution]

R.I.P

[Thorazine Shuffle]

I'm just glad that the 3 years he spent with PF funded his life comfortably for the past 40 years.

Gilmour and crew also took "very" good care for him as well.

This is a sad day for me.

[Genesis]

Shit, I can't believe it...
RIP Syd.

As rubinone said, Shine On You Crazy Diamond!

[chineseblues]

RIP Syd 

[Bill 213]

That is really sad.

It was foolish, but I always hoped he'd somehow make some sort of return to the music scene, and do one last album or something.

Not really sure or not if you're into bootlegs or such, but there's a yahoo group for Syd that compiled a 17 disc set of rare and unreleased stuff he did his last few years before dissappearing.  It has outakes from his first two solo albums, some super rare Floyd stuff and his third unreleased album in it.  If you can track that down it's good stuff.  They'll trade it to you from what I hear.  I downloaded a few things off of it, but I've yet to get the whole thing.

[Jamie]

RIP Syd

[Hammy]

R.I.P

[Izzy]

Shine on you crazy diamond

RIP

[Mandy.]

That sucks!

R.I.P, Syd 

[GNR_Green]

RIP

[Malcolm]

R.I.P. Sid
Shine On You Crazy Diamond

[GypsySoul]

 

God bless his soul.? Rest In Peace Syd.

[Mattattack]

I love the Syd Barret era of Pink Floyd, when they were truly psychedelic. It's a shame he was a drug casualty. Pipers and Saucerful of Secrets are the best albums Floyd ever made.

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

He dies a day after I purchase my first Floyd album. 


Rest In Peace


Just Say No


What did he die of?  I heard complications from schizophrenia?

[Neemo]

nice writeup on cnn.com

Pink Floyd legend Syd Barrett dies
Musician a major influence on British psychedelia

Tuesday, July 11, 2006; Posted: 3:45 p.m. EDT (19:45 GMT)


Pink Floyd in 1967: Roger Waters, Nick Mason, Syd Barrett and Richard Wright.?

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Syd Barrett, the eccentric guitarist who founded Pink Floyd but later left the music business to live quietly and somewhat reclusively, has died at the age of 60, according to a spokeswoman for the band.

A spokeswoman for Pink Floyd told the Press Association: "He died very peacefully a couple of days ago. There will be a private family funeral."

"Syd was the guiding light of the early band lineup and leaves a legacy which continues to inspire," the surviving members of Pink Floyd -- Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Nick Mason and Richard Wright -- said in a statement.

They were "very upset and sad to learn of Syd Barrett's death."

The singer and guitarist, born Roger Keith Barrett on January 6, 1946, founded the band in 1965 with Waters, Mason and Wright. (Its name was derived from two American bluesmen, Pink Anderson and Floyd Council.)

He wrote many of the early hits for the avant-garde rock band, including the 1967 album "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn" and the band's first hit singles, "Arnold Layne" and "See Emily Play."

His songs were odd and charming combinations of childlike lyrics and swirling melodies, often augmented with strange arrangements. The titles alluded to space, the occult and sometimes nonsense: "Astronomy Domine," "Lucifer Sam," "Chapter 24."

Consider some lyrics of "Bike," from "Piper": "I know a mouse, and he hasn't got a house / I don't know why, I call him Gerald / He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse."

Pink Floyd, taken under the wing of Beatles engineer Norman Smith, had early success, but Barrett, suffering from mental problems and heavy drug use, started demonstrating erratic behavior, including catatonia during concerts. He left the band in 1968. He was replaced by David Gilmour, who had joined the band as its fifth member earlier that year.

Barrett put out two noted solo albums, "The Madcap Laughs" and "Barrett," both in 1970.

In 1975, during the recording of Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" album, Barrett showed up unannounced at the studio -- ironically, during the recording of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond," a song about him. He had become overweight and shaved his eyebrows; the other members didn't recognize him at first.

"Wish You Were Here" was dedicated to Barrett.

Much of British psychedelic music was influenced by Barrett, and a number of musicians have credited him, according to Allmusic.com.

In a statement, David Bowie said that Barrett had been a "major inspiration."

"His impact on my thinking was enormous," Bowie wrote on his Web site. "A major regret is that I never got to know him. A diamond indeed."

Barrett had since lived in anonymity in the eastern English city of Cambridge. According to The Associated Press, he suffered from diabetes.

The spokeswoman said a low-key, private funeral would be held. She did not disclose the cause of death.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/Music/07/11/britain.floyd/index.html