Roger "Syd" Barrett flared with sudden brilliance across psychedelic and progressive rock as Pink Floyd's founder, original vocalist, principal songwriter, and lead guitarist. He shaped nearly all of the band's debut, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, issued in 1967. Early in 1968 erratic conduct led to his exit—whether voluntary or enforced—and he added guitar and vocals to two tracks on the follow-up, A Saucerful of Secrets. His central position in the original quartet prompted many observers to doubt the remaining members could continue; the group's management in fact chose to retain Barrett and release the others. Pink Floyd never again matched the whimsical levity and volatile drive of the Barrett period.
After withdrawing for a time, Barrett resurfaced in 1970 with the solo albums The Madcap Laughs and Barrett. Both received substantial input from his former colleagues, above all David Gilmour, who produced the greater part of the sessions; musicians from Soft Machine also contributed. The resulting recordings convey a loose, incomplete, folk-tinged quality. Barrett's off-kilter wit, playful verbal invention, and memorable melodies move unpredictably between inspiration and disorder. Though they lack the focused intensity of his 1967 work with Pink Floyd, the albums supply compelling, poignant windows into a creative intelligence that had apparently unraveled under the weight of early fame and heavy drug use.
Mounting psychological difficulties prompted Barrett to retreat into near-total seclusion after these releases, and he issued no further material. Initial sales were modest, yet a devoted following gradually formed. Over the next two decades Barrett's music and aura continued to exert growing influence; new-wave psychedelic artists such as Julian Cope, the Television Personalities, and especially Robyn Hitchcock have repeatedly cited his decisive impact. The following eventually justified the late-1980s release of Opel, an album of unreleased takes and outtakes, together with his BBC session recordings.
From 1973 onward Barrett lived quietly at his mother's house in Cambridge, declining visits from fans and offers to perform. He did appear unannounced during the 1975 sessions for Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here, but once recognized he was asked not to participate. Occasional photographs that surfaced showed an unremarkable man whose expression often seemed irritable. After several years of managing diabetes, Barrett died peacefully in July 2006 at the age of sixty.
