Brian May’s opinion on Pink Floyd and David Gilmour

Queen co-founder and guitarist Brian May was lucky enough to have seen some of the greatest British bands playing when they were still in the pubs circuit around London. A few years before forming Queen he had the chance to see one of the first Pink Floyd shows with the guitarist and singer David Gilmour, who ended up replacing Syd Barrettt in the band. Over the decades May talked about the groundbreaking Progressive Rock band and gave his opinion on them and Gilmour.

What is Brian May’s opinion on Pink Floyd and David Gilmour

“Well I’ve loved Pink Floyd since ‘I was a kid’, you know, they were a little bit ahead of us. I remember seeing them at the Royal College of Art with one oil slide as a light show. It’s a whole different universe that they created,” he said in an interview with V&A. But curiously, his favorite era of Pink Floyd is the first one with Syd Barrett and he told Rick Beato in 2022 that ‘The Piper at the Gates of Dawn” is the pinnacle of the band for him.

“I saw your piece on ‘Comfortably Numb’ and I thought it was phenomenal. I was aware of ‘Comfortably Numb’, I know the record, kind of. But it was never the big Floyd album to me. ‘Piper at the Gates of Dawn’ (1967) is kind of the pinnacle for me. It’s a very old-school thing to say but I still love that because it was just breathtaking, dangerous  and whatever.”

He continued:

“But what I’m trying to say was that I was aware of it, but I wasn’t aware of it. Listening to your analysis I became much, much more aware of what was going on in that song. Much more appreciative of it. Now, that’s rare. Normally you listen to a music critic and they tend to kind spoil your enjoyment because they go ‘Oh yeah, this was taken from here, the guy’s out of tune or whatever”.”

“(You show other interesting things), so you’ve interpreted ‘Comfortably Numb’ for me and made it grow in my estimation and in my life. It became part of my life, so thank you for that,” Brian May said (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage).

Brian May saw one of the first Pink Floyd shows with David Gilmour

Although his favorite era of the band did not feature David Gilmour, he is a big fan of the guitarist and had the chance to see one of the very first Pink Floyd shows with Gilmour. They also played together when they were both part of the “Smoke on the Water” cover recorded by many music stars in 1988 for the Live Aid Armenia project, which was a humanitarian effort by the British music industry to raise money for those affected by an earthquake in the country.

“A beautiful player. I love him and I have an enormous respect for him. I saw one of his first shows with Pink Floyd, which I’ll never forget. He was doing crazy things with a bottleneck, which fitted right in with their kind of chaotic performances at the time. He’s always been a great favorite of mine. A beautiful player.

“And we did play together for Armenia at one point. I asked him to come in and play ‘Smoke on the Water’ for Armenia Relief. I occasionally see him, we don’t keep that well in touch. But I’m very well aware of what magnificent work he does,” he told Guitar World in 2020. The band Smile, which he and Roger Taylor were part of before forming Queen, opened for Pink Floyd.

He covered “Have a Cigar” with Foo Fighters

Back in 2000, Foo Fighters and Brian May joined forces to cover Pink Floyd’s classic song “Have a Cigar,” from the album “Wish You Were Here,” for Mission: Impossible II, the blockbuster directed by John Woo and starring Tom Cruise.

In an interview at the time, he revealed that although he was aware of the Pink Floyd record, he had not really delved into it until then. “The ‘Wish You Were Here’ album is not something that I delved into at great length. So I remember ‘Have a Cigar’, but when the boys played it to me, it was kind of like a new song to me. I realized I hadn’t really listened to it and I was confused by the timing changes for a moment. But I think lyrically, it’s pretty interesting. It’s kind of a cynical view at the music business, of course.”

“We like that kind of thing, I think the Foo’s identify with it and I do, obviously. I mean, it’s not dissimilar content to something like ‘Death On Two Legs’, which Freddie wrote. I think all bands have bad experiences with the business side. But we have good experiences with the music, which keeps us all going,” Brian May said in the making-of of the version (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage).