Pink Floyd's David Gilmour gets honor from Queen Elizabeth

AP ^ | 11-8-03

[steppenwolffe]

LONDON (AP) - Pink Floyd guitarist Dave Gilmour received an honor from Queen Elizabeth II, before joking that the monarch was probably not his greatest fan.

"I suspect that if she has listened to Pink Floyd it has been one of her children or grandchildren playing it and she is more likely to be the one to say 'turn it off,' but I do not know her taste in music," said Gilmour, 57, after he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, or CBE, in a ceremony Friday at Buckingham Palace.

Gilmour received the honor from the queen for his services to music after a 30-year career with the rock group, which recorded classic albums including "Dark Side of the Moon" and "The Wall."

"She said Pink Floyd had been doing it for a very long time and I had to agree," he said.

Gilmour also has recently turned to charity work, donating $7.5 million to the homeless charity Crisis.

Others honored included pianist Jools Holland, 45, who was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, or OBE, for his services to music. The former Squeeze keyboardist rose to fame after playing gigs in pubs in London's East End.

"I would not have believed that music would bring me such a great honor and I think it is wonderful as it can encourage other musicians to see where things can lead," Holland said.

Gilmour and Holland were among several Britons named in the queen's birthday honors list in June. There are a series of ceremonies throughout the year to bestow the honors, largely selected by the government.

[rs79bm]

I've always ranked Gilmour up there with my top 5 guitarists. He had quite a few spectacular shows in the early 90's.

[metalboy]

Maaan...I just posted a few weeks ago about England handing these things out like gumballs for a penny mickey..I said the Queen might as well stand in the back of a pickup truck and wing these medals out into the crowds, and here she is doing it again! Hey, I`m just waiting when Keith Richards gets knighted

[Akira]

As if the Queen never dropped acid and watched The Wall...

[Yardstick]

====Commander of the Order of the British Empire====

Man, David Gilmour gets even cooler.

[Lizavetta]

Queens as far back as Elizabeth the First handed out goodies to society favorites, courtiers, boyfriends, rakes, and the like. This is nothing new.

[rdb3]

Gotta love Pink Floyd.

[wardaddy]

A good fellow. Great demeanor and class and modest.

One of the few rock stars I can say I'd really like to know.

Smart too.

And made a lot of truly melodic long lasting sounds with less effort.

I still listen to that live double album late at night in bed with a stogie....feels so good.

Well deserved!

[gymbeau]

Yeah, Dave's my number two guitarist, behind Pete Townshend.
I wonder when Pete'll get his due; they give it to people like Elton and McCartney, and the Stones, none of whom are worthy of tying Townshend's shoes.
Not just a great guitarist but an even greater composer.

cheers

[teldon30]

Agree 100%

No one is as cool and laid back as David Gilmour when he's in the zone rolling out perfect solos which you can never add to or take away a single note to improve upon. Pure and tasty licks.

[Paul Atreides]

Gilmour also has recently turned to charity work, donating $7.5 million to the homeless charity Crisis.

Puts his money where his mouth is. More than can be said for most celebs.

[CrazyIvan]

Oh, by the way.....which one's Pink?

[teldon30]

were you ever a sonarman? ;)

[Liberal Classic]

[wolficatZ]

"Oh, by the way.....which one's Pink? "

Syd Barrett!

[Lancey Howard]

I think I still have my Madcap Laughs album around here somewhere.

"And if the band you're in starts playing different tunes, I'll see you on the dark side of the moon."

[11B3]

I agree as well - there are few (if any) who can match the depth and emotion of his solos. His rifts in Comfortably Numb are my favorites.

[Delta 21]

Werent there a few scenes from "The Wall" that got the movie banned in England when it first came out?

[wardaddy]

Just for fun

http://guitar.about.com/library/weekly/aa010201a.htm

[GOPyouth]

Gilmour is a kick a$$ musician. For a laid back performance folks need to pick up his live acoustic set that was released about a year ago. He's in a small theatre and has a couple of folks playing with him.

The PULSE concert will be released on DVD sometime this next year. That's one bada$$ show!!! Perfect example of the light shows they do.

For the Waters fans out there (me included), check out his In the Flesh dvd concert done a year or 2 ago. Great show with a group of amazing musicians. This stuff is just all around good music. Bands today can only dream of selling as many albums as Floyd did.