David Gilmour

David Gilmour learned to play guitar from a Pete Seeger tutorial book, but he also counts Bill Haley & His Comets’ “Rock Around the Clock” and Lead Belly as early influences. ∙ In the mid-’60s, he and his childhood friend (and future Pink Floyd bandmate) Syd Barrett were arrested while busking during a summer visit to Saint-Tropez, France. ∙ In 1967, while trying to find success in France with the band Bullitt, Gilmour was hospitalized for malnutrition, which motivated him to move back to England, where he soon joined Pink Floyd. ∙ Gilmour cowrote, coproduced, and sang lead on Pink Floyd’s first No. 1 US Mainstream Rock chart hit, 1987’s “Learning to Fly.” ∙ Pink Floyd were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 and are one of the most successful rock bands of all time, having sold more than 250 million albums worldwide. ∙ He championed 16-year-old Kate Bush, paying her to record three songs—which landed her a record deal—and executive producing two tracks on her 1978 debut, The Kick Inside. ∙ In addition to releasing four solo albums, he’s a go-to guitarist who’s played on songs by Paul McCartney, Bryan Ferry, Ringo Starr, B.B. King, and Elton John. ∙ Gilmour was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2003.