History Music / SydBarrett

With the band, Barrett recorded 3 singles and ''Music/ThePiperAtTheGatesOfDawn'' (writing nearly all the songs), but his mental health started to decline considerably as a result of excessive drug use, though many believe his breakdown would have happened anyway. He was subsequently forced to leave the band at the start of 1968 during the making of their second album ''Music/ASaucerfulOfSecrets'', and was replaced by Music/DavidGilmour. The rest of the band to this day feel extreme guilt for not being able to help him properly, though there was really very little they could do.

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* AmbiguousDisorder: Just ''what'' exactly made Syd Barrett deteriorate is a very debated topic. Majority opinion says he suffered from latent schizophrenia, brought out by excessive drug use, and possibly UsefulNotes/AspergerSyndrome, as schizophrenia typically manifests in the late teens or early adulthood. Some of his mates blamed his decline entirely on LSD, which reportedly was being snuck in Syd's food and drinks by "friends" of his, and others claim Bipolar Disorder or the like. There is even a small minority who think that Syd was completely lucid throughout his life, and simply did what he did because of dissatisfaction with the music business.

In January 1972, Barrett performed in a band called "The Last Minute Put Together Boogie Band", which would evolve onto form the band Stars with John "Twink" Alder [[note]]Who was in Music/ThePrettyThings just long enough to play on ''Music/SFSorrow''[[/note]] on drums and Jack Monck on bass. Their performances ranged from brilliant to disastrous, and after reading a negative review the fragile Barrett quit immediately. The last time Barrett tried to record was in 1974, and that didn't go very well at all. After that, Barrett retired from the music industry for good.

After his departure, Barrett would go on to creating two solo albums. The first, ''Music/TheMadcapLaughs'', was marred by poor production at certain songs (the ones produced by former band-mates Music/RogerWaters and David Gilmour), but the second, ''Music/{{Barrett}}'', came off better (this time produced by Gilmour and with contributions by Richard Wright). He gave only one performance in that era -- with Gilmour on bass and Jerry Shirley from Humble Pie on drums -- only to leave the stage after four songs. He did perform for the BBC twice, though, and those performances would eventually be officially released.

In January 1972, Barrett performed in a band called "The Last Minute Put Together Boogie Band" which would go onto form the band Stars with John "Twink" Alder [[note]]Who was in Music/ThePrettyThings just long enough to play on ''Music/SFSorrow''[[/note]] on drums and Jack Monck on bass. Their performances ranged from brilliant to disastrous, and after reading a negative review the fragile Barrett quit immediately. The last time Barrett tried to record was in 1974, and that didn't go very well at all. After that, Barrett retired from the music industry for good.

* GrowingUpSucks: He was a proverbial "Literature/PeterPan" who loved all things "childhood". He was particularly affected by the death of his father as a pre-teen.

-->'''Peter Jenner:''' Syd was a handsome boy, he was beautiful and one more part of the tragedy is that he became such a fat slob, he became ugly. He was true flower power. He came out in this outrageous gear, he had this permanent, which cost 20 pounds at the time, and he looked like a beautiful woman, all this Thea Porter stuff. He had a lovely girlfriend, Lindsay, [[https://i.ibb.co/RPdtGTN/a9-2016-03-01-06-37-58-UTC.jpg she was the spitting image]] of Syd.

Barrett would visit Pink Floyd one last time in 1975 -- coincidentally, just as they were completing their tribute to him, "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" off of ''Music/WishYouWereHere''. Upon revisiting them, his hair and eyebrows were shaved off and he had gained quite a bit of weight; [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b6/Syd_Barrett_Abbey_Road_1975.jpg this dramatically changed appearance]] and signs of further mental decline reduced Waters and Wright to tears. Apart from a brief encounter with Waters at Harrods a few years later, Barrett would never see the members of Pink Floyd again after that. Eventually, he moved in his mother's house and became a full-on recluse.

* {{Guyliner}}: He wore this during his brief solo career. The effect was rather creepy, giving rise to his eyes being described as "black holes in the sky" in Pink Floyd's [[Music/WishYouWereHere "Shine On You Crazy Diamond"]]

* SoBeautifulItsACurse: A possible case. He was constantly swamped by fans, especially horny fangirls...So sometime between 1974-75 he apparently got into overeating binges to get fat and shaved off all his hair (including brows & body). This resulted in him looking like [[Franchise/TheAddamsFamily Uncle Fester]] when he visited Abbey Road during the recording of ''Music/WishYouWereHere''.

* LooksLikeCesare: [[https://i.ibb.co/BNJZHwz/b20-2016-03-01-06-37-58-UTC.jpg Syd Barrett]] in [[https://i.ibb.co/kysMd4W/a10-2016-03-01-06-37-58-UTC.jpg some photos]]. In fact, he may have been the style inspiration for musical artists such as Music/MarcBolan, [[Music/TheCure Robert Smith]] and [[Music/SiouxsieAndTheBanshees Siouxsie Sioux]].

* BasementDweller: He went back to live with his mother after leaving the music business.

** There are pictures of Syd a [[https://i.ibb.co/nfTw6Zg/Annotation-2020-04-12-144243.png few years later]], just in his early thirties with a seriously receding hairline as well.

Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett (6 January 1946 - 7 July 2006) was the legendary front-man of Music/PinkFloyd in their [[PsychedelicRock Psychedelic]] years. He recorded 3 singles and a now-classic album, ''Music/ThePiperAtTheGatesOfDawn'' (writing nearly all the songs) with them, but his mental health started to decline considerably (brought on by excessive drug use, though many believe his breakdown would have happened anyway), and as a result he was forced to leave at the start of 1968 during the making of their second album ''Music/ASaucerfulOfSecrets'' (with one song written by him), replaced by Music/DavidGilmour. The rest of the band to this day feel extreme guilt for not being able to help him properly, though there was really nothing they could do.

After his departure, Barrett would go on to creating two solo albums. The first, ''Music/TheMadcapLaughs'' was marred by poor production at certain songs (the ones produced by former band-mates Music/RogerWaters and David Gilmour), and the second, ''Music/{{Barrett}}'', came off better (this time produced by Gilmour and with contributions by Richard Wright). He gave only one performance in that era - with Gilmour on bass and Jerry Shirley from Humble Pie on drums - only for Barrett to leave the stage after four songs. That performance has been bootlegged. He did perform for the BBC twice though, and those performances would eventually be officially released.

In January 1972, he performed in a band called "The Last Minute Put Together Boogie Band" which would go onto form the band called Stars with John "Twink" Alder [[note]]Who was in Music/ThePrettyThings just long enough to play on ''Music/SFSorrow''[[/note]] on drums and Jack Monck on bass. Their performances ranged from brilliant to disastrous, and after reading a negative review the fragile Barrett quit immediately. The last time Barrett tried to record was in 1974, and that didn't go very well at all. After that, Barrett retired from the music industry for good. He would visit Pink Floyd one last time in 1975 - coincidentally just as they were completing their tribute to him, "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" off of ''Music/WishYouWereHere''; his hair and eyebrows were shaved off and he had gained quite a bit of weight. [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b6/Syd_Barrett_Abbey_Road_1975.jpg His dramatically changed appearance]] and further mental decline reduced Waters and Wright to tears. Apart from a brief encounter with Waters at Harrods a few years later, he would never see the members of Pink Floyd again. Eventually, he moved in his mother's house and became a full-on recluse. He approved of an odds and ends [[GreatestHits compilation album]] called ''Opel'' which is now part of his official discography, and continued to receive royalties from Gilmour for his work with Pink Floyd, which he lived on.

Barrett (who went back to using his original name Roger) would [[ReclusiveArtist live as a recluse and was often annoyed by paparazzi and fans]]. Time did little to diminish interest in his work, and he had become a legendary figure. But he simply wanted to be left alone. His physical health started to decline in the 1990's due to diabetes and stomach ulcers. Barrett died in 2006 from pancreatic cancer. The rest of Pink Floyd were naturally devastated, and others who cited Barrett as a major influence, such as Music/DavidBowie, were also upset. But his work with Pink Floyd ensures his legacy, and Barrett remains fondly remembered to this day. His solo work is often seen as a prime example of OutsiderMusic.

* GrowingUpSucks: He was a proverbial "Literature/PeterPan" who loved all things "childhood".

* BadassBeard: [[http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-I7p_zD2e4sg/UV-e2YtdvwI/AAAAAAAAKcQ/WGh6txD9T8c/s1600/Syd+Barrett+Stars+3.jpg Barrett]] during his brief stint in Stars in 1972. It's also the only known photo of him during that period.

Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett (6 January 1946 - 7 July 2006) was the legendary front-man of Music/PinkFloyd in their [[PsychedelicRock Psychedelic]] years. He recorded 3 singles and a now-classic album, ''Music/ThePiperAtTheGatesOfDawn'' (writing nearly all the songs) with them, but his mental health started to decline considerably (brought on by excessive drug use, though many believe his breakdown would have happened anyway), and as a result he was forced to leave at the start of 1968 during the making of their second album ''Music/ASaucerfulOfSecrets'' (with one song written by him), replaced by David Gilmour. The rest of the band to this day feel extreme guilt for not being able to help him properly, though there was really nothing they could do.

In January 1972, he performed in a band called "The Last Minute Put Together Boogie Band" which would go onto form the band called Stars with John "Twink" Alder [[note]]Who was in Music/ThePrettyThings just long enough to play on ''Music/SFSorrow''[[/note]] on drums and Jack Monck on bass. Their performances ranged from brilliant to disastrous, and after reading a negative review the fragile Barrett quit immediately. The last time Barrett tried to record was in 1974, and that didn't go very well at all. After that, Barrett retired from the music industry for good. He would visit Pink Floyd one last time in 1975 - coincidentally just as they were completing their tribute to him, "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" off of ''Music/WishYouWereHere''; his hair and eyebrows were shaved off and he had gained quite a bit of weight. [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b6/Syd_Barrett_Abbey_Road_1975.jpg His dramatically changed appearance]] and further mental decline reduced Waters and Wright to tears. Apart from a brief encounter with Waters at Harrods a few years later, he would never see the members of Pink Floyd again. Eventually, he moved in his mother's house and became a full-on recluse. He also went back to using his given name, Roger. He approved of an odds and ends [[GreatestHits compilation album]] called ''Opel'' which is now part of his official discography, and continued to receive royalties from Gilmour for his work with Pink Floyd, which he lived on.