Syd Barret

Tortured Genius

Syd Barrett was born Roger Keith Barrett, in Cambridge, England on January 6, 1946. He was given his nickname "Syd" after a local Cambridge drummer, Sid Barrett, Syd changed the spelling to separate himself from his namesake.

He is known as the founding member of Pink Floyd. It is said that he came up with the name. The story goes that one night they band was playing a gig and another band on the agenda had the same name as them. At the time they were known as "The Tea Set". He decided on the name The Pink Floyd Sound because of two old jazz musicians that influenced him, Pink Anderson and Floyd Council. Some people still refer the band as The Pink Floyd or The Floyd.

After only two albums with the band however, Syd's drug use caught up to him and he was no longer contributing to the band. The transition from Syd to David Gilmour was not an easy one because they had known each other previously and the band was in an awkward stage for awhile.

The band wrote two songs about Syd, "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", and Wish You Were Here". Although those are the only two that are definitely about him, Syd was forever the band's influence.

Eventually Syd completely left the band. He went on to make three solo albums before completely closing himself off from the outside world. He was never heard from and rarely seen all the way until his death in 2006.

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