Pink Floyd

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  • Year:
    1996
  • Inducted by:
    Billy Corgan
  • Category:
    Performers

Introduction

Pink Floyd were the architects of two major music movements—psychedelic space-rock and blues-based progressive rock—and became known for their biting political, social and emotional commentary.

With 1973's Dark Side Of The Moon and 1979's The Wall, the band created two of the most ambitious (and best-selling) albums of all time—and underscored that personal torment could resonate on a massive level. 

Hall of Fame Essay

1996

Andy Mabbett

Just how did a band named for two Georgia bluesman, Pink Anderson Floyd Council, journey from England’s idyllic Cambridge to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

From its beginnings as an improvising blues-band psychedelic band with pop hit singles to a period when journalists insisted on describing Pink Floyd, mistakenly as “electronic rockers”; from the ubiquitous Dark Side of the Moon to being the first rock band played in space; from tales of an underwear thief to the doom and gloom of The Wall, Pink Floyd have always been bigger, better and braver than the rest.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Program Cover 1996
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Smashing Pumpkins Singer Billy Corrigan Inducts Pink Floyd into the Rock Hall
they were never a singles-driven band, a lesson forever needed to be learned in this particular business
Billy Corgan

Photography: Kevin Mazur, WireImage