Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett was an English musician, composer, singer, songwriter and painter. A founder member of the band Pink Floyd, Barrett was the lead vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter in its early years and is credited with naming the band. Barrett left Pink Floyd in April 1968 and was briefly hospitalized amid speculation of mental illness exacerbated by drug use. Barrett was musically active for less than ten years. With Pink Floyd, he recorded four singles, their debut album, and several unreleased songs. Barrett began his solo career in 1969 with the single "Octopus" from his first solo album, The Madcap Laughs. The album was recorded over the course of a year with five different producers. Nearly two months after Madcap was released, Barrett began working on his second and final album, Barrett, produced by Gilmour and featuring contributions from Richard Wright. He went into self-imposed seclusion until his death in 2006. In 1988, an album of unreleased tracks and outtakes, Opel, was released by EMI with Barrett's approval. [More at Wikipedia]

January 6th, 1946 in Cambridge as Roger Keith Barrett  /  Died:   Jul 7th, 2006 - at the age of 60