40 Celebrities We Need To Keep Safe From 2016

POMPEI, ITALY – JULY 07: David Gilmour performs at Anfiteatro Scavi di Pomei on July 7, 2016 in Pompei, Italy. (Photo by Francesco Prandoni/Redferns)

26. David Gilmour

This past year has not been kind to older British musicians. After losing Lemmy Kilmister and David Bowie, I started to panic when I realized that they were both around the same age as Sir David Gilmour of Pink Floyd. That panic led to frantic googling to make sure that there had been no rumors of illness or paparazzi photos of Sir David looking frail. Fortunately, he is alive and well and on tour promoting his latest solo album, Rattle That Lock. (Roger Waters and Nick Mason are doing well too. Unfortunately, Syd Barrett and Rick Wright both passed away in 2006 and 2008 respectively.)

I’ve been a Pink Floyd fan for as long as I can remember. I grew up in the 70s and I remember being mesmerized, as a kid, by the sounds that Pink Floyd used in their music, the cacophony of ticking clocks and alarms in “Time,” the cha-ching of the cash register at the beginning of “Money.” Although Pink Floyd didn’t start the concept album trend, they certainly mastered it with Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall. In high school, I listened to The Wall so much that I wore out my cassette tape. Their Pulse tour in 1994 (June 20th, 1994, Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City to be exact) was the best show I’ve ever seen. I was so obsessed that the first website I ever built was a Pink Floyd fan site on Geocities, complete with scrolling marquees and midi files. I can’t remember the exact title but it had something to do with “Publius Enigma” which you should totally google sometime. As much as I love Pink Floyd, collectively, Sir David Gilmour has always been my favorite member.

Aside from being one of the most talented musicians of modern times, Gilmour is also a humanitarian and philanthropist. He’s been active in charities related to poverty, homelessness, animal rights, environmentalism, and music therapy. Please don’t take him, 2016!

-April

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