Although David Gilmour joined Pink Floyd after they had already released their first album, he became a fundamental part of the band, bringing the necessary emotion to his guitar parts and creating incredible solos that became part of Rock history.
They are the most successful Progressive Rock band of all time and many of their peers were inspired by their work. Throughout his career, Gilmour has spoken about several of those artists, including Yes and their classic guitarist Steve Howe.
What is David Gilmour’s opinion on Yes and Steve Howe
Although Pink Floyd is considered a Progressive Rock band, David Gilmour doesn’t like his music to be labeled that way. In fact, he said he didn’t like most of the bands that are in that category. “I wasn’t a big fan of most of what you’d call Progressive Rock. I’m like Groucho Marx: I don’t want to belong to any club that would have me for a member,” he told Classic Rock magazine. However, the musician already praised Yes’ guitarist Steve Howe. Gilmour said he is an example of what Prog Rock is and called him a lovely guitar player who can really play that kind of music.
“I never talked about Progressive Rock and thought that we were, whatever Progressive Rock is. To me, Progressive Rock is, you know, very, very serious players who can really do their stuff. The wonderful Steve Howe, lovely guy, lovely guitar player. But I never thought about us (Pink Floyd) in those terms at all,” David Gilmour said in an interview with Rick Beato in 2025 (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage). A couple of decades before, he answered fans’ questions in Q magazine and one was “Who did you hate most out of Genesis, E.L.P., Yes or King Crimson?”
His answer was:
“Probably Yes, E.L.P., Genesis and King Crimson in that order… Oh God what am I saying? Funnily enough, I don’t really like pop groups very much,” David Gilmour said. Gilmour was most likely joking when he said that and his praise for Steve Howe shows that he respects the music of Yes and Asia. However, judging from his comments over the years, he is not particularly fond of what is generally considered Progressive Rock. Throughout his career, he has mentioned more artists like The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Brian Wilson and various Blues guitarists as his main influences.
Steve Howe is a fan of David Gilmour and almost joined Pink Floyd before him
Pink Floyd could have had a very different career if Steve Howe had joined the band before David Gilmour. Around the time Syd Barrett was no longer reliable enough to perform or play properly, due to his mental state, Howe was invited to replace him on at least one occasion. However, Barrett showed up that day and Howe lost the chance to maybe join the band as he said in an interview with Classic Album Review in 2023.
“I was asked to stand in for Syd (Barrett) because they’d lost him. He’d lost himself somewhere and I was meant to be disappointed not to get that opportunity. Because I did get to the show on time, I was ready with my guitar but Syd showed up. So I thought ‘ahhh, well, good and bad, good for Syd, bad for me. I know the way that played out, particularly with Roger Waters, (since) he was delighted to get David in to play guitar, to get somebody like me, who’s a solid player you can rely on.”
“I’ll show up, I’ll play the right notes on the right order and I’ll be in tune. But Syd was on another plateau, due some indulgences we won’t go into. But basically he was a bit of a space cadet and somehow that’s the reputation the group had. So yeah, things could have been very different,” Steve Howe said (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage).
Howe thinks Pink Floyd is one of the greatest bands in the world
During the same conversation, Howe praised David Gilmour and called Pink Floyd one of the greatest bands in the world. He also considered them to be one of the first groups to create what became known as Progressive Rock. “Pink Floyd really is one of the great bands of Rock and Roll. Because they were there then, in the early days with Syd and you know, they’re a great band. They’re still playing great music and I love David Gilmour’s guitar work, it’s so much his personality.”
“So I think a lot of things develop, you know. They were the seeds for Yes, ELP, Genesis, King Crimson, really. 1967 was really an incubator for what was to come. When people ask me where Prog Rock come from I usually say psychedelia,” Steve Howe said (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage).
He once revealed that his favorite David Gilmour guitar solo is from “Another Brick on The Wall”. Howe said the guitarist played many “knockout solos” and he described this one as expressive, emotive and satisfying.
Pink Floyd is the most successful Progressive Rock band of all time, with an estimated amount of more than 250 million records sold. Yes also became a successful group but sold less, more than 30 million records. Steve Howe joined Yes in 1970, two years after the band was formed, leaving in 1981. He returned from 1990 to 1992, 1995 to 2004 and has been a member of the band since 2009.