Singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, David Gilmour is best known for his work as the guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the rock band Pink Floyd. It is estimated that by 2012 the group had sold over 250 million records worldwide.
In 2005, Mr Gilmour was appointed CBE for his services to music. He was awarded with the Outstanding Contribution title at the 2008 Q Awards and in 2011 Rolling Stone magazine ranked him number 14 in their list of the greatest guitarists of all time.
The young David Gilmour was teaching himself to play the guitar by the time he arrived at The Perse. He is on record as not having enjoyed his time at the School. While here, however, he met future Pink Floyd guitarist Syd Barrett and bassist Roger Waters, who attended Cambridgeshire High School for Boys.
Mr Gilmour and Mr Barrett were later students together at Cambridge Technical College, and spent their lunchtimes practising guitar. In late 1962, Mr Gilmour joined the blues-rock band Jokers Wild. In late 1967 David Gilmour became the fifth member of Pink Floyd.
Primarily regarded as a lead guitarist, Mr Gilmour’s prowess saw Guitar World readers vote his solos, Comfortably Numb, Time and Money, into the top 100 Greatest Guitar Solos of all time; Comfortably Numb came in fourth. He is also a proficient multi-instrumentalist, playing bass, keyboards, synthesiser, banjo, lap steel, mandolin, harmonica, saxophone and drums.
As well as recording four solo albums, he has produced, been a sideman and acted as sound engineer for acts including Paul McCartney, Kate Bush, Eric Clapton, Elton John and Bob Dylan.
Mr Gilmour’s charity support has included Crisis, Oxfam, the European Union Mental Health and Illness Association, Greenpeace, Amnesty International, Teenage Cancer Trust and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. In 2019, Gilmour auctioned 120 of his guitars for charity, at Christie’s in New York, including his Black Strat which sold for $3,975,000, making it the most expensive guitar ever sold at auction. The auction raised $21,490,750, with the proceeds going to the environmentalist charity ClientEarth.
His awards include the 2008 Ivor Novello Lifetime Contribution Award, recognizing his excellence in music writing and an honorary doctorate from Anglia Ruskin University.