Claim: Pink Floyd's lead singer was Syd Barrett.

Roger Keith `` Syd '' Barrett -LRB- 6 January 1946 -- 7 July 2006 -RRB- was a British musician , composer , singer-songwriter , and painter . Best known as a founder member of the band Pink Floyd , Barrett was the lead singer , guitarist and principal songwriter in its early years and is credited with naming the band . Barrett was excluded from Pink Floyd in April 1968 after David Gilmour took over as their new guitarist , and was briefly hospitalised amid speculation of mental illness .   Barrett was musically active for less than ten years . With Pink Floyd , he recorded four singles , their debut album -LRB- and contributed to the second one -RRB- , and several unreleased songs . Barrett began his solo career in 1969 with the single `` Octopus '' from his first solo album , The Madcap Laughs -LRB- 1970 -RRB- . The album was recorded over the course of a year with five different producers -LRB- Peter Jenner , Malcolm Jones , David Gilmour , Roger Waters and Barrett himself -RRB- . Nearly two months after Madcap was released , Barrett began working on his second and final album , Barrett -LRB- 1970 -RRB- , produced by Gilmour and featuring contributions from Richard Wright . Two years later , he left the music industry , retired from public life and strictly guarded his own privacy until his death in 2006 . In 1988 , an album of unreleased tracks and outtakes , Opel , was released by EMI with Barrett 's approval .   Barrett 's innovative guitar work and exploration of experimental techniques such as dissonance , distortion and feedback influenced many musicians . His recordings are also noted for their strongly English-accented vocal delivery . After leaving music , Barrett continued with painting and dedicated himself to gardening . Pink Floyd wrote and recorded several tributes to him , most notably the 1975 album Wish You Were Here , which included `` Shine On You Crazy Diamond '' , as homage to Barrett .