David Gilmour

Ancestors

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Biography

Father: Douglas Gilmour

Mother: Sylvia Wilson

David is best known as the lead guitarist & singer for Pink Floyd. He was born to Douglas Gilmour, a senior lecturer in zoology at the University of Cambridge, and his mother, Sylvia (née Wilson), a teacher & film editor. Gilmour has three siblings: Peter, Mark and Catherine.

Gilmour's parents encouraged him to pursue his interest in music. In late December 1967, drummer Nick Mason approached Gilmour and asked him if he would be interested in joining Pink Floyd. He accepted and soon afterward became their fifth member. By the late 1970s, Gilmour began to think that his musical talents were being underused by Pink Floyd, so in 1978 he channelled his ideas into the eponymous solo album, David Gilmour, which showcased his guitar playing and songwriting skills. In 1985 Gilmour assumed full control of the group. Gilmour explained: "I had a number of problems with the direction of the band in our recent past, before Roger left. I thought the songs were very wordy and that, because the specific meanings of those words were so important, the music became a mere vehicle for lyrics, and not a very inspiring one. Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here were so successful not just because of Roger's contributions, but also because there was a better balance between the music and the lyrics than there has been in more recent albums".

Pink Floyd has become one the most successful rock bands & has been inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. In 2011, Gilmour was rated the 14th greatest guitarist by Rolling Stone magazine. In January 2007, Guitar World readers voted Gilmour's solos, "Comfortably Numb", "Time" and "Money" into the top 100 Greatest Guitar Solos ("Comfortably Numb" was voted the 4th, "Time" was voted the 21st and "Money" was voted the 62nd greatest solo of all time).

Gilmour's first marriage was to American-born model and artist Virginia "Ginger" Hasenbein, on 7 July 1975. The couple had four children: Alice (born 1976), Claire (born 1979), Sara (born 1983) and Matthew (born 1986). They originally attended a Waldorf School, but Gilmour called their education there "horrific". In 1994, he married journalist Polly Samson. His best man was his teenage friend and Pink Floyd album artwork designer Storm Thorgerson. The couple have four children: Gilmour's adopted son Charlie (born 1991 to Samson and Heathcote Williams), Joe (born 1995), Gabriel (born 1997) and Romany (born 2002).

Sources

• England & Wales, Birth Index, 1916-2005 about David J Gilmour

Name: David J Gilmour Mother's Maiden Surname: Wilson Date of Registration: Jan-Feb-Mar 1946 Registration district: Cambridge Inferred County: Lincolnshire Volume Number: 3b Page Number: 797 Source Information: Ancestry.com. England & Wales, Birth Index, 1916-2005 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008. Original data: General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes. London, England: General Register Office.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Gilmour