The shifting appearance of Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour

[popcorn]

I am fascinated by the shifting appearance of Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour.

As a young man, David Gilmour was positively dreamy. Chiseled cheekbones, bulging biceps, luscious locks, kissable lips.







Then middle age seemed to hit him harder than anyone has been hit by middle age in history. I'm no Floyd historian, but the transformation seems to have taken place in a matter of months, somewhere around 1984. There seems to have been a brief Rik Mayall stage (my chronology is probably not right here but whatever):





Before morphing into the very epitome of middle-class British middle age:



Look at this video of him rehearsing in 1984. I am absolutely compelled by his appearance and demeanour. Has anyone ever better exemplified this look? It's quintessential dad. Clarkson could never come close to this. Even Status Quo don't quite do it, I think. They're too low-brow.





Absolutely incredible. He was the dad's dad. The dad a generation of dads aspired to be.





Then he got older and fatter, but this is a much less interesting look:



Now he's old and bald and sometimes a bit frightening-looking, but has lost some weight and is well within normal parameters for his age, I think:





Here is a moment in a documentary about his home life where he sings the Postman Pat theme at a picnic while the interviewer watches like a naturalist watching a badger from a concealed position.

Remember when you were young?

[Stoneage Dinosaurs]

That's a decline spiral reminiscent of Colin Baker.

[Depressed Beyond Tables]

Great to see a man age naturally, gracefully, honestly. Keef Richards with his eyeliner and dyed hair is a clinical embarrassment by comparison.

[Shit Good Nose]

I think the middle age dad look actually started before '84, in fact as far back as 1978 - clean shaven, hair tidier than normal (though still long), chubbing up slightly, and markedly different looking than the fuzzed hippy from less than a year previous.  Then we get to The Wall, a few shows in and the hair starts to get shorter and his face has the beginning of that "old Dave before his time" look, despite still being only 34.

I think of all of them Roger Water has aged the best.

Mind you, Syd didn't look too bad when he lost all the weight and slightly "re-normalised" in the late 70s/early 80s.  I think a lot of people to this day assumed he was forever the obese mentalist that turned up during the recording of Wish You Were Here.

[biggytitbo]

Man gets older shocker.


He could absolutely 100% have had it off with a young Kate Bush if he wanted, and he didn't. This makes him the most noble man that ever lived.

[newbridge]

I feel like he's fairly good looking at every age there, to be honest.

[BlodwynPig]

I always liked 80s Dad Mullet Gilmour

[Dr Syntax Head]

One of my guitar teachers looked like dad Gilmour. In fact so did all his mates. It's a middle age guitar player thing. It's going to happen to me in about 2 months.

[ajsmith2]

The irony is of course (as mentioned by sgn above) that Roger Waters was a hideously ugly guy back in the 60s and 70s, but unexpectedly matured into the hunky Richard Gere - a - like of today. Gilmour hasn't aged well, but not unusually so, whereas Waters transformation is remarkably singular. I've never seen any other public figure end up so visually prepossessing after such an unpromising start.

[gmoney]

I find him slightly terrifying in his old age. I saw him on Jools Holland once and he reminded me of a Primary school teacher who goes apeshit at the kids. 

[Shit Good Nose]

The irony is of course (as mentioned by sgn above) that Roger Waters was a hideously ugly guy back in the 60s and 70s, but unexpectedly matured into the hunky Richard Gere - a - like of today. Gilmour hasn't aged well, but not unusually so, whereas Waters transformation is remarkably singular. I've never seen any other public figure end up so visually prepossessing after such an unpromising start.

There's hope for me yet - I'm objectively a bit of an uggo, but I keep being told I'm the spitting image of my uncle on my mum's side, who became a silver fox when he hit mid to late 40s.  Fingers crossed big things happen within the next decade...

[Better Midlands]

Had to revive this golden oldie

[Absorb the anus burn]

Why is Gary Coleman's thumb on fire?

[Nowhere Man]

Yeah, Roger Waters was a right gawky looking fella in the 60s/70s



But he looks positively quite handsome nowadays.



I've never seen such a cosmic shift in musician's appearances quite like with Waters/Gilmour.

I once heard someone say something to the effect that Waters kept the hair and gained the looks, but lost the voice. Whereas Gilmour lost the hair, lost the looks, but kept the voice.

[purlieu]

While I do quite like a lot of '80s fashion, it was a terrible, terrible age to hit middle age.

[popcorn]

To clarify, I do not marvel that he was handsome but became ugly, or that a young man became old, exactly. It's more that in the 80s and 90s he hit a kind of quintessential middle-aged British man look that I'm not sure anyone has ever matched, a transformation made more amazing by the fact that, apparently only five minutes earlier, he was a psychedelic 70s dreamboat.

[Serge]

I have mentioned on here before that the picture of Gilmour and Mason from the gatefold sleeve of 'Momentary Lapse...' does make them look like the entertainment at a social club c.1987. "Scampi at half past nine!"

[thraxx]

Gilmour's appearance synthesized into one word: Tory.

[Dr Syntax Head]

I have mentioned on here before that the picture of Gilmour and Mason from the gatefold sleeve of 'Momentary Lapse...' does make them look like the entertainment at a social club c.1987. "Scampi at half past nine!"

James May on the left there

[Dr Syntax Head]

Gilmour's appearance synthesized into one word: Tory.

He's still one of the few guitar players I can not get bored listening to solo for hours

[BlodwynPig]

Yeah, Roger Waters was a right gawky looking fella in the 60s/70s



But he looks positively quite handsome nowadays.



I've never seen such a cosmic shift in musician's appearances quite like with Waters/Gilmour.

I once heard someone say something to the effect that Waters kept the hair and gained the looks, but lost the voice. Whereas Gilmour lost the hair, lost the looks, but kept the voice.

A befuddled Jeremy Paxman with Naomi Watts, earlier...enjoying the scampi.

[popcorn]

Gilmour's appearance synthesized into one word: Tory.

He's given millions to charity and recently played in support of Labour, so I think that's unlikely, but yes, this is definitely the look.

[thraxx]

He's given millions to charity and recently played in support of Labour, so I think that's unlikely, but yes, this is definitely the look.

Well good on him.  He does look like a Tory MP on his day off in his Marlow town house though.

[Glebe]

Maybe Gilmour actually is literally a shape-shifter... I imagine he'd manage such a talent, he's got enough prowess on the guitar!

[purlieu]

Didn't Gilmour sell his house and give all the money to Shelter or something? He's always seemed like an absolutely lovely bloke.

[Dr Syntax Head]

Gilmour is one of the good guys

[gilbertharding]

Would someone who is on a proper computer rather than a phone (like me) outline with pictures what happened to Dave Crosby in between The Byrds second LP and the start of CSN?

Actual metamorphosis.

[BlodwynPig]

Would someone who is on a proper computer rather than a phone (like me) outline with pictures what happened to Dave Crosby in between The Byrds second LP and the start of CSN?

Actual metamorphosis.

he featured in that David Gilmour documentary I think? Thin?

[biggytitbo]

Yeah, Roger Waters was a right gawky looking fella in the 60s/70s



But he looks positively quite handsome nowadays.



I've never seen such a cosmic shift in musician's appearances quite like with Waters/Gilmour.

I once heard someone say something to the effect that Waters kept the hair and gained the looks, but lost the voice. Whereas Gilmour lost the hair, lost the looks, but kept the voice.

First pic is a young Chris Langham, second Richard Gere reflected in the back of a spoon.

[Brundle-Fly]

XTC's Andy Partridge said as a teenager, he always dreamed of looking like Syd Barrett.



He added, "Careful what you wish for..."