Pink and Floyd were inspired by two of Syd Barrett's favorite Carolina bluesmen, Pink Anderson and Floyd Council, whom he combined. 1)
People, particularly in the record industry, frequently assumed Pink Floyd was the name of a member of the band. In 1975, the band sent this up with the lyric “which one's Pink?” on the 'Wish You Were Here' song 'Have A Cigar'. 2)
'Arnold Layne', their first single and a minor hit at the time (it has since become a classic), was inspired by a real-life individual Roger Waters knew who stole women's clothes and panties from laundry lines.3)
The psychedelic b-side to ‘Arnold Lane,' ‘Candy and a Currant Bun,' was faithfully performed by Mars Volta and given away free with the album ‘The Bedlam in Goliath'. 4)
During the second half of the 1960s, The Pink Floyd (as they were then known) became regulars at Camden's Roundhouse and the famed UFO Club. 5)
The name The Pink Floyd was used until the late 1960s, when it was dropped shortly after Syd Barrett's departure. Syd's acid-induced schizophrenia became so severe that the band had no choice but to continue without him, and they parted ways on the way to a gig in 1968. 6)
Barrett famously showed up at Abbey Road during Roger Waters' recording of the voice for 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond', which was written about him. He'd gained a lot of weight, shaved his brows, and shaved off most of his hair. 7)
Pink Floyd also performed as The Tea Set in a previous iteration. This nickname was chosen following a slew of name changes, including Sigma 6, Meggadeaths, the Abdabs and the Screaming Abdabs, Leonard's Lodgers, and the Spectrum Five. 8)
A film of their 1967 Alexandra Palace presentation, which was part of the renowned '14 Hour Technicolor Dream', survived and is available on DVD. Yoko Ono is there performing an art installation, and John Lennon is photographed among the crowd, despite the fact that the two had not met at the time. 9)
The title of the 1970 album 'Atom Heart Mother' was supposedly inspired by a newspaper story about a woman being equipped with the world's first atomic pacemaker.10)
Lulubelle III was the name of the cow on Pink Floyd's “Atom Heart Mother” album. 11)
For ‘Atom Heart Mother,' Hipgnosis, the outfit behind most of Pink Floyd's album covers, actually provided the band with the inverted swimmer that would later become the cover of Def Leppard's legendary ‘High ‘n' Dry' record. The band turned it down in favor of the cow. 12)
For a while, ‘The Dark Side of the Moon' was the best-selling record in the world (it is currently the third best-selling album of all time).13)
Peter Watts, a Pink Floyd road manager at the time, provided the laughing heard on ‘The Dark Side of the Moon' tracks ‘Speak to Me' and ‘Brain Damage'.14)
Dark Side of the Moon is claimed to precisely match with The Wizard of Oz, leading to conspiracy claims that the band wrote it specifically for that purpose. To put an end to the rumors, Nick Mason stated that they had planned to soundtrack The Sound of Music instead. 15)
One of Pink Floyd's most memorable covers is from their 10th studio album, 'Animals', which features Battersea Power Station with a flying pig in the distance. Both the porcine balloon and the title were inspired by George Orwell's Animal Farm, which influenced much of the lyrical substance. 16)
Storm Thorgerson worked almost as an auxiliary member of the band to create the classic album cover for 'The Dark Side of the Moon'.17)
Bob Geldof starred in Pink Floyd's movie version of “Do They Know It's Christmas?” as well as introducing the world to Live Aid and taking a song about classroom shootings to number one (the Boomtown Rats' “I Don't Like Mondays”). 18)
Roger Waters last appeared on a Pink Floyd album, 'The Final Cut,' which he created and wrote entirely on his own (David Gilmour expressed misgivings about the record later).19)
In the mid-1980s, Waters took the other Pink Floyd members to court in the hopes of preventing them from using the name any longer. He recently stated that he regretted the lawsuit.20)
Douglas Adams, author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, called the album 'The Division Bell'. 21)
Richard Wright was fired from the band during the 'The Wall' sessions for failing to pull his weight. He rejoined Pink Floyd for their 1987 Gilmour-led 'A Momentary Lapse of Reason' album, but was not reinstated as a full member until the group performed 'The Division Bell' in 1994. 22)
Charlie Gilmour is David Gilmour's adoptive son and the son of Sampson and novelist Heathcote Williams. Charlie was imprisoned in 2011 for causing violent disturbance during student fee protests after memorably swinging from a union flag on the Cenotaph while under the influence of liquor and LSD. 23)
In December 2013, Roger Waters sparked an international uproar and was accused of antisemitism by comparing current Israelis to Nazis. In a magazine interview, he remarked of Palestinian “oppression,” “the parallels with what happened on in Germany in the 1930s are so crushingly evident”.24)
Waters joined Mason, Gilmour, and Wright in 2005 for their first (and final) gig together since Earl's Court in 1981. The special occasion was Live8, an event organized by – who else? – Bob Geldof to put pressure on G8 leaders and Make Poverty History.25)
Pink Floyd's band members routinely multitasked on their albums, however drummer Nick Mason only ever delivered vocals to one song in their whole catalog. “One of These Days” was the title of the song.26)
Pink Floyd would produce visual effects for their live shows in a variety of cheap yet effective ways early in their career, before they had the means to back up their goals. One of these methods included covering their lights with colorful condoms! 27)
Pink Floyd was stationed at Abbey Road Studios in 1967 to record their debut album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. The Beatles were recording Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in the building next door at the same time. It's safe to say it was a fantastic year for music. 28)
Around the time of Pink Floyd's 1970 album Atom Heart Mother's release, famed director Stanley Kubrick approached the band and asked for permission to utilize a portion of the album's 23-minute-long title track for the soundtrack of his film A Clockwork Orange. However, because he was unsure about which pieces would be used and what would be done with them, Pink Floyd declined permission.29)
Pink Floyd is well-known for creating live music CDs. In the instance of one 1972 live album, however, it was recorded in an amphitheater in the ancient city of Pompei. They performed without a live audience to hear them. 30)