David Gilmour joined the fledgling Pink Floyd as singer and guitarist in 1967 shortly before the departure of maverick Syd Barrett. Following an incident in 1970 where the band’s gear was stolen in New Orleans and they cancelled their US tour, Gilmour purchased the fairly nondescript black Fender Stratocaster in Manny’s Music, a New York City guitar dealers. After several modifications to the paint and the features of the guitar, it was ready to make its mark on the world.

The Black Strat- David Gilmour’s well-worn 1969 Fender Stratocaster

Speaking to Prog Magazine before the Black Strat’s initial sale in 2019, Gilmour said “it became my main guitar, the one I used pretty much on everything, unless there was a reason to want a different sound. So that’s definitely on ‘Meddle’, it’s on ‘Dark Side of the Moon’, ‘Comfortably Numb’. The four notes at the beginning of ‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond’ popped out of this very guitar, because it was there and in my hands! What can you say? It’s definitely earned its keep.”

After rifts with Pink Floyd founder Roger Waters, Gilmour reignited his solo career with UK number one album ‘On An Island’ in 2006, which saw the restored Black Strat in use for recording and touring. In 2008, Fender’s Custom Shop created a Signature Black Stratocaster in its honour, fitting to Gilmour’s specifications. His guitar tech Phil Taylor, who was responsible for its modifications and upkeep, published ‘The Black Strat’ in 2007, a chronicling of its physical evolution.

In 2019, David Gilmour parted with the guitar at a charity sale in New York, at the famed Christie’s auction house. It sold for a then-highest value of $3.975 million (currently just shy of £3 million) to US billionaire Jim Irsay, whose collection also contained other top-selling guitars from Gilmour, Kurt Cobain, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, George Harrison and John Lennon. Its value was surpassed in 2020 by the $6 million (£4.5 million) sale of Cobain’s 1959 Martin D-18E acoustic guitar, best known for its use on Nirvana’s 1994 ‘MTV Unplugged’ set.

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Following Irsay’s passing in May last year, his collection estimated to be worth over $1 billion is currently being auctioned off, again at Christie’s. According to Billboard, the Black Strat was the subject of an intense 21-minute bidding war, before being sold to an as-yet unnamed online buyer for a staggering new peak of $14.5 million (£10.9 million). Also sold this week was Grateful Dead legend Jerry Garcia’s custom-made “Tiger” guitar, which went for over $10 million (£7.5 million).

David Gilmour celebrated his 80th birthday last week, on the 6th of March, also the 20th anniversary of ‘On An Island’. His latest release is 2024 album ‘Luck and Strange’ and it’s 2025 live performance recording ‘The Luck and Strange Concerts’, both of which are available for purchase on his website.

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The record had also topped the charts when it was originally released in 1975, and the success of the reocrd means that Pink Floyd are now the artist with the longest span between their first and last Number One albums, with it having been over 50 years since their first one.

David Gilmour celebrated on Friday and wrote on Instagram, “Raising a glass to the wonderful news that Wish You Were Here is the UK’s Christmas Number 1 album.”

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It is Pink Floyd’s second Number One album of the year, with their other one being ‘Pink Floyd At Pompeii – MCMLXXII’, the live album of a 1971 show that was released as a concert film in 1972, and then re-released earlier this year with newly mixed audio.

While it is the band’s first Number One album around Christmas time, they have had a Number One single at Christmas in 1979 with ‘Another Brick In The Wall, Pt. 2′. ‘Wish You Were Here’ tops the charts this year ahead of albums from Olivia Dean, Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter, Sam Fender, and Michael Bublé.

The Top 10 on the Official Album Charts this Christmas:

1. Pink Floyd – ‘Wish You Were Here’

2. Olivia Dean – ‘The Art Of Loving’

3. Taylor Swift – ‘The Life Of A Showgirl’

4. Michael Bublé – ‘Christmas’

5. Sabrina Carpenter – ‘Man’s Best Friend’

6. Sam Fender – ‘People Watching’

7. Fleetwood Mac – ‘Rumours’

8. The Weeknd – ‘The Highlights’

9. Fleetwood Mac – ’50 Years – Don’t Stop’

10. Oasis – ‘(What’s The Story) Morning Glory?’

To celebrate the re-release of ‘Wish You Were Here’, Pink Floyd have launced multiple pop-up stories across the UK, Europe and the US, where they are selling an exclusive edition of the Brain Damage fanzine.

In the singles chart, Kylie Minogue got her first ever Christmas Number One with ‘XMAS’, making her the first female solo artist to top the chart in four different decades. She successfully topped the charts over festive classics from Wham! and Mariah Carey, and got the eighth Number One single of her career.

The news comes exactly fifty years following the release of the original album, which debuted on September 12 1975. ‘Wish You Were Here 50’ is due to arrive on December 12 as a deluxe box set. Fans will also be able to hear the new version on digital platforms, and own it on 3LP, 2CD and Blu-ray.

The forthcoming reissue offers “an exciting new perspective into one of Pink Floyd’s most iconic and best-loved records” as publicised on a recent press release. The anniversary edition features six previously unreleased alternate versions and demos.

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It also includes 25 bonus tracks made up of nine studio rarities, and 16 live recordings captured by the renowned bootlegger Mike Millard at Pink Floyd’s Los Angeles Sports Arena concert on April 26, 1975. The live audio has been meticulously restored and remastered by Steven Wilson. Elsewhere, the Blu-ray edition gives fans the chance to watch three live screen films from the band’s 1975 tour, as well as a Storm Thorgerson short film.

Alongside the collection are exclusive collectable merchandise including refillable lighters, tshirts and a stage crew jacket.

To celebrate the announcement of the album reissue, Pink Floyd have shared a previously unreleased and unheard early demo recording of ‘Welcome To The Machine’. The earlier demo displays the same atmospheric ambience that Pink Floyd became so recognisable for but also shows how far the track developed from the original demo.

Fifty years on, the album’s sound is as resonant, important, and emotionally charged as ever. The anniversary edition features timeless tracks which remain cornerstones of rock history. The anniversary edition offers a comprehensive delve into the defining moment in Pink Floyd’s creative journey.

The 50^th anniversary edition of ‘Wish You Were Here’ can be pre-ordered at the link here.

Wilson said it was “an honour”, adding: “Ever since my dad brainwashed me as a kid by playing The Dark Side of the Moon on repeat, Pink Floyd have been my favourite band. They are my Beatles, deeply ingrained in my musical DNA. I first saw Pompeii from a grainy print at a local cinema. It made an incredible impression on me with its untethered and exploratory rock music made by four musicians who seemed to epitomise the notion of intellectual cool.”

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NME awarded the ‘Pompeii – MCMLXXII’ concert film four stars in a review. It said, in part: “As such, Pink Floyd At Pompeii: MCMLXXII captures a moment that’s as bygone as the good citizens of Pompeii themselves. Here was an uncompromising, visionary band who, over the four years since losing their frontman Syd Barrett, had been given several avant-garde experimental albums to explore their new identity: 1970’s ‘Atom Heart Mother’, for instance, featured a cow on the cover and a roadie eating breakfast for 13 minutes.”

If the band holds the spot until Friday, they’ll add their latest release to their list of chart-topping albums, making the seventh alongside ‘Atom Heart Mother’ (1970), ‘Wish You Were Here’ (1975), ‘The Final Cut’ (1983), ‘The Division Bell’ (1994), ‘Pulse (Live)’ (1995) and ‘The Endless River’ (2014). This milestone would see the iconic British band make it on the list of other artists with the most UK number 1 albums such as George Michael or Blur.

In the midweek charts this week, Sabrina Carpenter’s latest album ‘Short’N’Sweet’ is making its was back up into the Top 3 whilst Ed Sheeran’s ‘+-=÷× (Tour Collection)’ re-enters the Top 5, pushed by the announcement of his eighth studio album ‘PLAY’ and the strong debut of his new single ‘Old Phone’. Erasure’s frontman Andy Bell’s first solo album ‘Ten Crows’ also made it in the Top 5, currently tracking at number 4 whilst singer-songwriter Andrew Cushin is aiming for his first Top 10 album with his latest release ‘Love Is For Everyone (10)’ with Alex Warren’s ‘You’ll Be Alright, Kid (Chapter 1)’ is following close behind at number 12.

Final chart positions will be confirmed this Friday by the Official Charts Company. The band’s movie is available for purchase of their official website.

The restoration effort uses the original 35mm footage, accompanied with newly mixed audio, courtesy of Steven Wilson. The 2025 version of the film will be the fourth iteration, and with the upcoming film featuring documentary footage of the band working on ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’, it seems it will be a remaster of the 1974 edition, which was the most commercially successful cut too. The accompanying soundtrack album marks the first time that an album has been released alongside a theatrical cut too.

The film was directed by Adrian Maben, who also conceived of the project. Maben envisioned the would-be concert as an “anti-Woodstock”, where the amphitheater itself could be used as an instrument, and the band would play amongst the natural sounds of their environment. Drummer Nick Mason revealed that Maben described the idea as being “where there would be nobody present, and the music and the silence… would mean as much as, if not more than, a crowd of thousands.”

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Filmed in 1971 and released in 1972, the first version of the film featured just the performance. Two years later, at Maben’s suggestion, the film was recut, now including 20 minutes of documentary footage of the band in the studio recording ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’.. In 2002, a special director’s cut was released which introduced new edits, including footage from the Apollo missions, and heavily edited the setlist included from the performance, including omitting some songs entirely.   

The music video for the recently released ‘One Of These Days’ has racked up 300k views on YouTube in four days, and has been noted for its focus on the drumming of Nick Mason. One X user noticed the lack of footage of the rest of the band, which consisted of Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Richard Wright, and Mason. Another Floyd fan responded that the original footage had been lost before the original cut had even been released. Still, the video gives one of rock’s greatest, yet often under-appreciated drummers, his dues.

  Despite the various revisions of the order in which the tracks appear in the film, ‘Echoes’ always bookends the film, with the first part always appearing as one of the opening two tracks, and part two as a finale. The accompanying soundtrack album seems to match the original cut’s track listing, meaning ‘Echoes – Part One’ will play after the opener, ‘Pompeii’. It also appears that all of the tracks have gone under a remastering process too, with all album tracks labeled as ‘2025 Mix’ on streaming platforms.

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Pink Floyd’s performance in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius remains one of the band’s many iconic moments, and has inspired a range of artists, including Radiohead, Beastie Boys (whose inspiration is evident in the music video for ‘Gratitude’), and even David Gilmour, who returned to the venue in 2018. In Nick Mason’s own words, the film is a “rare and unique document of the band performing live in the period prior to ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’”.

Just as rumours were circulating surrounding Pink Floyd’s deal with Sony Music, the Financial Times were the first to report that the sum would be an eye-watering $400 million.

The deal between Sony Music and Pink Floyd comprises recorded-music rights but not songwriting rights, with the rights belonging to the track’s individual writers. It also included rights to name and likeness especially surrounding merchandise, theatrical and similar rights.

Sony Music has reportedly acquired Pink Floyd’s recorded music rights for around $400 million, including name and likeness rights, but excluding song copyrights. pic.twitter.com/5ylhg0mNX0

— Eric Alper (@ThatEricAlper) October 4, 2024

Prior to the deal made between Pink Floyd and Sony Music, Music Business Worldwide reported, the royalties from Pink Floyd’s music went into two companies: Pink Floyd (1987) and Pink Floyd Music Limited. The first company included the music released after Roger Waters’ departure in 1985, while the second included tracks from prior to 1985.

It is certainly one of the biggest deals hashed out over recent years, including Sony’s reported purchase of Queen’s catalogue, which included publishing rights, ‘name and likeness’ rights and recorded music rights outside of North America, for well over $1 billion, earlier this year.

As the reports were flooding in over Pink Floyd’s interest in selling their catalogue, they received heightened attention from many potential buyers including Sony Music Group, Warner Music Group, BMG, Hipgnosis, Concord, Primary Wave and Blackstone.

Pink Floyd may have gotten $400m for their catalog, but Roger Waters’ controversial political statements against Israel and Ukraine definitely devalued it, as the original asking price was $500 million. https://t.co/z0FC9qz4OF — Variety (@Variety) October 3, 2024

With no new music on the way and with the odds for a reunion from the legendary rock band being slim to none, as a result of the ongoing feud surrounding the differing socio-political stances between David Gilmour and Roger Walters. The sale of Pink Floyd’s music catalogue further highlights the possible end of Pink Floyd.

The deal struck out by Pink Floyd proves there is a change in attitude from the music industry. It is evident there is a growing demand for music and entertainment companies to fight for the rights of iconic musicians whose back catalogue spans decades and chart-topping hits.

Besides from the purchase of Queen’s catalogue, Sony (alongside the financial aid of Eldridge Industries) successfully acquired Bruce Springsteen’s publishing and recorded music catalogue in 2021.

At an everyday level, due to the nature of the deal, we should expect to hear some of Pink Floyd’s most iconic tracks in commercials and video games.

Despite its prominence which has grabbed the attention of many media outlets, for instance Variety, NME, Financial Times and Independent, both Pink Floyd and Sony Music are yet to comment on the nature of the deal.

This new direction in the music industry defines a resurgence in iconic and ‘classic’ musicians, it is one method of many to keep musical legacies alive and allow for multi-generations to enjoy the same music.

The return of one of the UK’s most prolific guitarists comes in the form of a full-length studio album Luck And Strange, which was released on 6 September 2024 by Sony Music and is his fifth studio solo album to date. It has been nine years since English guitarist and singer-songwriter has released an album.

It is one of three of his solo albums to hit number-one status – the other two being On An Island (2006) and Rattle That Lock (2015) – alongside a flurry of singles from Luck and Strange steadily dropped since April 2024. With the first being The Piper’s Call followed by Between Two Points and Dark and Velvet Nights, the album’s title-track was released this week.

According to Rolling Stone, the album was recorded over five months at Gilmour’s Medina Studio in Hove and at Mark Knopfler’s British Grove Studios in London, with the producer Charlie Andrew.

The album grapples with themes regarding mortality and age. Turning 78 this year, it is no wonder these subjects are clearly on his mind. David Gilmour is best known for being one of the members of prolific rock band, Pink Floyd. He joined the band in 1967 and was part of the group during their most successful period. Pink Floyd, one of the most acclaimed and highest-selling bands of all-time, created some of the most ground-breaking albums in music history: The Dark Side of the Moon (1973), Wish You Were Here (1975), Animals (1977) and The Wall (1979).

He ranks at #28 on the Rolling Stone greatest guitarist of all-time list. If you haven’t listened to them already, here is a list of David Gilmour’s solo studio albums:
– David Gilmour (1978)
– About Face (1984)
– On an Island (2006)
– Rattle That Lock (2015)
– Luck and Strange (2024)

He is equally incredible live and David Gilmour will begin his Luck and Strange tour this month. So far, he has announced September-November shows through his website at Circus Maximus in Rome, Royal Albert Hall in London, the Intuit Dome and Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles as well as Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Luck and Strange is out and available on vinyl, CD and digital formats.

Luck and Strange tracklist:

1. Black Cat
2. Luck and Strange
3. The Piper’s Call
4. A Single Spark
5. Vita Brevis
6. Between Two Points with Romany Gilmour
7. Dark and Velvet Nights
8. Sings
9. Scattered

Bonus tracks
10. Yes, I Have Ghosts with Romany Gilmour
11. Luck and Strange (original Barn Jam)

The sale of 5.9 million units this year is the highest amount of vinyl records sold in a single year in the UK since 1990. This past week, with the aid of Christmas sales, set yet another record with 250,000 records being sold in the UK, the highest amount for any week since the start of the 21st century.

The immense popularity of vinyl sales this year can positively be attributed to a number of artists, not least American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, who has a staggering three albums in the top 10 biggest-selling records this year. Swift, unsurprisingly then perhaps, also claimed the honour of being the artist behind the year’s best-selling album. Her LP 1989 (Taylor’s Version), a re-recording of Swift’s fifth album, 1989, originally released in 2014, sold 78,767 units. The other Swift albums that made the top 10 list include the other album she re-recorded this year, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), and her latest original studio LP Midnights.

The Rolling Stones album Hackney Diamonds, released in October this year, came second in the top 10 list and is followed closely by Lana Del Rey’s Did You Know There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd. Other albums to feature in the list include Blur’s latest LP The Ballad of Darren, Fleetwood Mac classic Rumours, Pink Floyd’s iconic The Dark Side of the Moon, and Lewis Capaldi’s Broken by Desire to be Heavenly Sent.

Commenting on the recent surge in popularity of vinyl records, BPI chief executive Dr Jo Twist OBE said, “Led by vinyl, the resurgence of physical product underlines the resilience of the UK music market at a time when streaming consumption continues to hit record levels.

She continued, “Whilst LP sales have now been on an upward path for the past 16 years, it is encouraging to see a stabilisation in demand for CD, as well as new generations of music fans falling in love with the cassette. It is giving people more choice than ever in how they enjoy their favourite music.”

The resurgence in popularity of the vinyl record is a trend not likely to slow down anytime soon, despite streaming services dominating the airwaves. The pleasure of physically owning an LP and adding it to a colourful and diverse collection are among the reasons for buying records, as American anti-folk singer-songwriter Jeffrey Lewis eloquently illustrates in his 2019 single ‘LPs‘. Watch the music video below:

The show was advertised as a Dark Side of the Moon performance as Waters, as Waters had just released The Dark Side of the Moon Redux, a re-recording of legendary Pink Floyd album that celebrated its 50 year anniversary this year. Before Waters got to performing songs from the album however, he proceeded to set up a laptop and sit behind a desk reading portions of his memoirs to the audience. The audience grew angry.

The Times wrote about the show that “One story involved a duck that came to live in the family home,” and “Another began promisingly as a memory of Floyd’s original leader, Syd Barrett, but revealed nothing more than that Barrett wrote a lot of songs and had an innocent air about him.” calling the whole fiasco a “under-rehearsed, one-man non-show”. The duck story reportedly lasted 20 minutes alone, before leading into more stories about his pets. The audience were unsurprisingly not happy with this, as many started to heckle Waters, whilst other members of the audience simply began to walk out.

In response to this, Waters angrily told those members of the audience to “f**k off”. Critics from the Telegraph described that the whole show “had an unrehearsed air, with a tension exacerbated by Waters’ school masterly demeanor, as he sternly brooked no interruption.”. The audience were understandably growing restless by the constant stories and tirades from Waters. Waters doubled down against this by telling the audience: “If you want to tell stories, tell them in your own time to your own audience in your own f*****g theater. By the way, if you can show constraint and stop shouting again.”

Fans displayed their displeasure via social media, with one person saying via X/Twitter: “Well went to watch Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon remake gig last night at London Palladium with Roger Waters and I simply have no words to describe it and not in a positive way. What an egocentric narcissist he is and to think I paid good money to watch him. Lesson learnt.” The reception online wasn’t all negative however, as one person wrote: “Roger Waters @ Palladium Dark Side of the Moon Redux. Beautiful, raw, stripped back and a true experience! Sometimes self indulgent in the first half but the essence, genius and reimagining was special”

Well went to watch Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon remake gig last night at London Palladium with Roger Waters and I simply have no words to describe it and not in a positive way. What an egocentric narcissist he is and to think I paid good money to watch him. Lesson learnt.

— lorraine burgess (@lorraineburges2) October 10, 2023

Roger Waters @ Palladium Dark Side of the Moon Redux. Beautiful, raw, stripped back and a true experience ! Sometimes self indulgent in the first half but the essence, genius and reimagining was special

— Elliott Moore (@tagomago69) October 8, 2023

Waters did indeed play music alongside his band in the second half of the show, however the first half already set the tone for some fans.

Waters’ defence comes after an investigation by the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) uploaded a video accusing him of repeated derogatory references to Jews. The Dark Side Of Roger Waters, which is available on YouTube, includes a number of serious claims by those who have worked with the outspoken ex-Floyd bassist over the years, including Bob Ezrin, the co-producer behind the band’s acclaimed 1979 album The Wall.

Watch the video below:

Waters, who was initially reluctant to acknowledge CAA’s allegations, has now published a lengthy statement dismissing the documentary as “a flimsy, unapologetic piece of propaganda” and “without any foundation in fact”.

“All my life I have used the platform my career has given me to support causes I believe in,” he wrote. “I passionately believe in universal human rights. I have always worked to make the world a better, more just and more equitable place for all my brothers and sisters, all over the world, irrespective of their ethnicity, religion or nationality, from indigenous peoples threatened by the U.S. oil industry to Iranian women protesting for their rights.”

“That is why I am active in the non-violent protest movement against the Israeli government’s illegal occupation of Palestine and its egregious treatment of Palestinians,” he continued. “Those who wish to conflate that position with antisemitism do a great disservice to us all.”

Waters goes on to explain that the CAA’s core purpose is “waging partisan political campaigns against critics of the state of Israel” and that the organisation “manipulates footage and quotations to serve its agenda”.

“The film totally distorts and misrepresents my views about the Israeli state and its political ideology, Zionism,” he continues. “It relies on a definition of antisemitism that sees criticising Israel as inherently antisemitic and assumes that Zionism is an essential element in Jewish identity. These opinions, clearly shared by the presenter and the two interviewees, are widely contested by many, including many Jewish people.”

Read Waters’ full statement, which also addresses more concrete accusations, here.

The record-breaking songwriter is, of course, no stranger to controversy – allegations of antisemitism have plagued him throughout 2023. He drew criticism earlier this year for performing in a Nazi-like get-up during a concert in Berlin, prompting an investigation from the German police.

Waters, however, has always maintained he is not an antisemite and claims critics are missing the point of his shows.

Photo credit: Sharon Alagna