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Syd Barrett has died, only thirty-five years late.

Syd Barrett, the troubled genius who co-founded Pink Floyd but spent his last years in reclusive anonymity, has died, a spokeswoman for the band said Tuesday. He was 60.

The spokeswoman — who declined to give her name until the band made an official announcement — confirmed media reports that he had died. She said Barrett died several days ago, but she did not disclose the cause of death. Barrett had suffered from diabetes for many years.

Barrett co-founded Pink Floyd in 1965 with Roger Waters [ed], Nick Mason and Rick Wright, and wrote many of the band’s early songs. The group’s jazz-infused rock made them darlings of the London psychedelic scene, and the 1967 album ”The Piper at the Gates of Dawn” — largely written by Barrett, who also played guitar — was a commercial and critical hit.

However, Barrett suffered from mental instability, exacerbated by his use of LSD. His behavior grew increasingly erratic, and he left the group in 1968 — five years before the release of Pink Floyd’s most popular album, ”Dark Side of the Moon.” He was replaced by David Gilmour.

I quite like Piper at the Gates of Dawn and some of the early Pink Floyd singles. I don’t particularly care for Barrett’s solo work, although during the height of my Floyd fandom I owned all of his albums.

… also read Jody Rosen. While I enjoy Piper at the Gates, I concur with Rosen that a) the best of Pink Floyd’s later work in much better than Barrett Floyd, and b) that Dark Side etc. would not have been possible had Barrett remained in the band.

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