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All it takes is one guitar note piercing through a pitch-black arena — one note dramatically reaching heavenward, as if it’s waking up — to recognize the guitarist. As soon as David Gilmour struck the introductory high E of “5 A.M.,” with only a soft red light and some even softer synths accompanying him, the packed audience at New York City’s Madison Square Garden on Monday cheered. The lights slowly faded in, Gilmour’s famous slouch came into focus, and all of the weepy notes he could coax from his...

Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon was announced in 1973 at a press conference held at the London Planetarium, a spectral site which mirrored the album cover’s beam of light refracted through a triangle into a rainbow. Perhaps the iconic prismatic image provided the initial idea for fans to sync the classic film The Wizard of Oz (1939) to the album’s rock soundscape.

The band’s history with movies is vast and varied. They scored films in the aftermath of the demise and departure of the band’s founder, Syd Barrett. The success of Dark Side of the Moon also helped the group become motion picture producers, investing in the 1975 comedy Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The Wall, directed by Alan Parker and starring Bob Geldof, pushed boundaries and redefined a rock opera on film. And while the bassist/vocalist/songwriter Roger Waters didn’t let Stanley Kubrick...

Earlier this week, Roger Waters blasted Facebook for daring to approach him about the use of his song “Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2” in an advertisement for Instagram. “It arrived this morning, with an offer for a huge, huge amount of money,” Waters said at a pro–Julian Assange event. “And the answer is, ‘Fuck You. No fuckin’ way.’”

“I only mention that because this is an insidious movement of them to take over absolutely everything,” he continued. “I will not be a party to this bullshit, [Mark] Zuckerberg.”

The...

A few years after Pink Floyd concluded its supersized world tour in support of A Momentary Lapse of Reason, they played a one-off gig in 1990 alongside Paul McCartney, Genesis, and Eric Clapton, among others — all winners of the prestigious Silver Clef Award, which honors outstanding services to the British music industry.

It took place at the Knebworth House in Hertfordshire, England, and Pink Floyd played some of their greatest hits, including “Wish You Were Here,” “Comfortably Numb,” and “Money.” Now the band is releasing the performances — which previously appeared in...

Thirty years ago this month, 120,000 rock fans gathered at the grounds of the Knebworth House in Knebworth, England, for one of the biggest all-star concerts in the history of the U.K. The lineup featured Tears for Fears, Status Quo, Cliff Richard and the Shadows, Robert Plant with surprise guest Jimmy Page, Genesis, Eric Clapton, Phil Collins solo, Dire Straits, Elton John, Paul McCartney, and Pink Floyd.

Picking an act to close out the night probably wasn’t easy, but the organizers ultimately went with Pink Floyd. They hit the...