Pink Floyd

Wish You Were Here is the ninth studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 12 September 1975. Inspired by material the group composed while performing around Europe, Wish You Were Here was recorded during numerous recording sessions at Abbey Road Studios in London, England. Some of the songs on the album critique the music business, others express alienation and the track "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" is a tribute to Syd Barrett, whose mental breakdown had forced him to leave the group seven years earlier after the release of the group's debut studio album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. It was also lead writer Roger Waters' idea to split "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" into two parts and use it to bookend the album around three new compositions, introducing a new concept as the group had done with their previous album, The Dark Side of the Moon. As with The Dark Side of the Moon, the band used studio effects and synthesizers, and brought in guest singers to supply vocals on some tracks of the album. These singers were Roy Harper, who provided the lead vocals on "Have a Cigar", and the Blackberries, who added backing vocals to "Shine On You Crazy Diamond".