Syd Barrett

Who was Syd Barrett?

Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett was an English musician, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and painter, best remembered as a founder member of the band Pink Floyd. He was the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter during the band's psychedelic years, providing major musical and stylistic direction in their early work; he is also credited with naming the band. Barrett left the group in April 1968 amid speculations of mental illness exacerbated by drug use, and was briefly hospitalised.

He was musically active for less than ten years, in which he recorded four singles with Pink Floyd, the debut album, plus several unreleased songs. In 1969, Barrett started off a solo career with the release of the single, "Octopus", which foreshadowed his first solo album, The Madcap Laughs, which was recorded over the course of one year with five different producers. Nearly two months after Madcap was released, Barrett began working on his second – and last – album, Barrett, which was released in late 1970, before going into self-imposed seclusion lasting until his death in 2006. In 1988, an album of unreleased tracks and outtakes, Opel, was released by EMI with Barrett's approval.