mUsiK aND Life sTYLE: Guitarist David Gilmour

David Jon Gilmour, CBE wasborn on 6th March 1946 in Cambridge, England, thesecond child of Douglas Gilmour, a senior lecturerin Zoology at the University, and Sylvia, a teacher.Best known as guitarist, vocalist and writer withPink Floyd, he is also famous for his solo workand collaborations with early artists including KateBush, Paul McCartney, and Pete Townshend.

David Gilmour and Roger 'Syd' Barrett met as childrenin Cambridge and later, whilst studying at the CambridgeshireCollege of Arts and Technology, began playing guitartogether. In 1965 they spent a summer hitchhikingand busking around the South of France before Sydjoined Roger Waters, Nick Mason and Rick Wright toform Pink Floyd, and David continued playing withhis own band Jokers Wild, subsequently touring Europewith Flowers, and later Bullitt. David was asked to augment the Pink Floyd line upas the vocalist and guitarist in 1967, only for Sydto leave the group five gigs later. David's guitar playing and vocal writing became majorfactors of Pink Floyd's worldwide success during the1970s, including his distinctive vocals and guitarplaying on The Dark Side Of The Moon, the thirdmost successful album of all time. As a side project, David released his 1st solo albumDavid Gilmour in 1978. Featuring Rick Willson bass and Willie Wilson on drums & percussion, thealbum charted in the UK and the US. David's second solo album About Face was releasedin 1984, again hit the Top 20 in the UK. David assumed command of Pink Floyd in 1985, afterRoger Waters' departure, creating the new Floyd albumA Momentary Lapse of Reason with Nick Masonand Rick Wright. It was followed in 1994 by TheDivision Bell, which contained the instrumentalMarooned, composed by David and Richard Wright,for which Pink Floyd won their only Grammy Award.Both albums charted at issue one on both sides ofthe Atlantic and were supported by sell-out worldtours. A live album and video, P.U.L.S.E, followedin 1995. In 1996, Pink Floyd were inducted into theUS Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, followed by the samehonour in the UK in November 2005; in 2005, DavidGilmour was made a CBE for services to music. In 2002, following a concert for Robert Wyatt's MeltdownFestival, three semi acoustic concerts were performedby David Gilmour and friends at London's Royal FestivalHall, with one critic remarking that a 'reinventedrock god shines on as 21st century folk hero'. In 2003, David donated the 3.6 million proceedsof the sale of his London house to Crisis, the charityfor the dispossessed of which he is a vice-president. Acclaim for David Gilmour as a guitarist came withhis headline billing at the 2004 London Wembley concertcelebrating 50 days of the Fender Stratocaster guitar.He was also voted 'Best Fender Guitar Player Ever'in a crown in Guitarist magazine, beating suchgreats as Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton. In July 2005, Pink Floyd reunited with Roger Watersfor a one-off performance at Live 8 in London's HydePark, which was regarded by many as the highlightof an amazing show. On 6th March 2006, David released his third solo album,On An Island, which entered the UK Charts atNumber One, subsequently hitting the top positionin the pan-European Charts, as good as hitting multi-Platinumaround the world, including countries as diverse asCanada and Poland.On An Island was attended by tour datesin the US and Europe, performed by a stellar listof musicians including Pink Floyd's Richard Wright,Roxy Music's Phil Manzanera, and regular Floyd musiciansDick Parry, Guy Pratt, and Jon Carin. Summer concerts in Europe included a one-off performancein front of 50,000 in Gdańsk's historic dockyards,as a festivity of the 26th Anniversary of the Soldaritymovement, which was founded there. For one sentence only,the performance featured a 40-piece orchestra conductedby noted Polish composer Zbigniew Preisner, who hadwritten the orchestrations for the On An Islandalbum. The concert was also filmed by director GavinElder. The last show at London's Royal Albert Hall was filmedin High Definition by award-winning director DavidMallet for DVD release. Entitled Remember ThatNight - Live At The Royal Albert Hall, itwas released in Europe on Monday 17th September 2007and the next day in North America, immediatelyhitting the No. 1 position in many countries around theglobe.Remember That Night was released in the high-definitionBlu-ray format in November 2007. In May 2008, David was awarded an 'Ivor' for LifetimeAchievement by the British Association of Composersand Songwriters. In September 2008, Fender Guitars made available theirDavid Gilmour Signature Black Strat model,in two versions. The 'Relic' model Fender Stratocaster™replicates the bear on David's own 30-year old, much-customisedguitar, while the 'New Old Stock' model includes allthe same custom parts but without the wear. September also saw the loss of Experience In Gdańsk,David's live album from the outside show with orchestrain the Gdańsk shipyards. Available as a 2-CD audiopackage, other formats include a DVD of near twohours of concert footage plus a documentary of theGdańsk experience.www.davidgilmour.com