David Gilmour of Pink Floyd fame is celebrating his 71st birthday today. The celebrated guitarist joined Pink Floyd during the tail end of 1967, aiming to take on some of Syd Barrett’s responsibilities while allowing him to stay on with the band. Unfortunately, Barrett’s headspace made it untenable for him to continue on, and Barrett left the group shortly after Gilmour’s joining.
Gilmour was with Pink Floyd from that point on, up until their final reunion performance on July 2nd, 2005 at Live 8. As the band evolved, Gilmour’s role within it did too, eventually taking control of the band in 1985 following Roger Waters’ departure from the band. Gilmour took on the lead and produced Pink Floyd’s A Momentary Lapse In Reason (1987) and The Division Bell (1994), as well as on The Endless River (2014), the group’s final album on which Pink Floyd keyboardist Rick Wright appears posthumously. However, while Gilmour was dedicated to Pink Floyd, he by no means neglected his own personal projects, putting out a successful body of solo work throughout his career and touring as a solo artist after Pink Floyd’s disbandment.
To celebrate Gilmour’s birthday, we’ve collected a few of our favorite recent David Gilmour live moments for your listening and viewing pleasure. First off, you can watch the complete version of Pink Floyd’s Pulse, a pro-shot recording of their concert on October 20, 1994 during the band’s Division Bell tour.
Next up, check out this HD video of David Gilmour performing with Rick Wright from Gilmour’s solo shows during the end of May in 2006 at Robert Albert Hall during his On An Island tour.
In 2006, also during that infamous run at Robert Albert Hall, the legendary David Bowie stopped by to help Gilmour with “Arnold Layne” and set-closer “Comfortably Numb.” You can watch David Bowie and Gilmour tear into “Comfortably Numb” below.
Off of David Gilmour In Concert is this beautiful unplugged version of “Wish You Were Here.” The video and audio was shot during June 2001 during Robert Wyatt’s Meltdown Concert in London.
Finally, here is footage from Pink Floyd’s final reunion performance with Roger Waters during the Live 8 concert in 2005. Watch it and celebrate Peter Gilmour’s legacy with one of the greatest rock bands of all time and to remind yourself to look forward to the future work of this amazing musician.