Syd Barrett Caricature

Syd Barrett Caricature, shown here in 1971, age 25 at his manager’s office, London.

Barrett was an English singer, songwriter, and musician who co-founded the band Pink Floyd in 1965. Barrett named the group and was their original lead singer, guitarist and principal songwriter. He was ousted in April 1968 after David Gilmour took over as their new guitarist and was briefly hospitalized amid speculation of mental illness and his excessive use of psychedelic drugs.

Barrett was musically active for less than ten years. With Pink Floyd, he recorded four singles, their debut album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967), portions of their second album A Saucerful of Secrets (1968), and several unreleased songs. Barrett debuted his solo career in 1969 with the single “Octopus” from his first solo album, The Madcap Laughs (1970). The album was recorded over the course of a year with five different producers and included two tracks featuring members of Soft Machine. He recorded and released one more album, Barrett (1970), produced by Gilmour and featuring contributions from former Pink Floyd band mate Richard Wright. In 1972, Barrett left the music industry, retired from public life and strictly guarded his privacy until his death. In 1988, EMI released an album of unreleased tracks and outtakes, Opel, with Barrett’s approval.

Barrett was known for affecting a strong English accent when singing, and his innovative guitar work and use of techniques such as dissonance, distortion and feedback influenced many musicians. Pink Floyd recorded several tributes and homages to him, including the 1975 song suite “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” and the 1979 rock opera The Wall. Following his withdrawal from the industry, Barrett continued painting and dedicated himself to gardening.

Through late 1967 and early 1968, Barrett became increasingly erratic, partly as a consequence of his reported heavy use of psychedelic drugs such as LSD. There is also speculation that he suffered from schizophrenia. Once described as joyful, friendly, and extroverted, he became increasingly depressed and socially withdrawn, and experienced hallucinations, disorganized speech, memory lapses, intense mood swings, and periods of catatonia.

One of the striking features of his change was the development of a blank, dead-eyed stare. He did not recognize old friends, and often did not know where he was.

Barrett had one noted reunion with the members of Pink Floyd, in 1975 during the recording sessions for Wish You Were Here. He attended the Abbey Road session unannounced, and watched the band working on the final mix of “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” — a song that happened to be about him. By that time, the 29-year-old Barrett had become quite overweight, had shaved off all of his hair (including his eyebrows), and his former band mates did not initially recognize him. Barrett’s behavior at the session was erratic; he spent part of the session brushing his teeth.

In 1996, Barrett was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Pink Floyd, but he did not attend the ceremony.

After suffering from diabetes for several years, Barrett died at home in Cambridge on July 7, 2006, aged 60. The cause of death was pancreatic cancer.