His tenure as lead guitarist of Pink Floyd stands as the defining arc of David Gilmour's career — a role that placed him at the center of one of rock music's most enduring acts and drew on a range of genres from blues rock and psychedelic rock to progressive and ambient music.

Gilmour was born in Cambridge, with sources placing his birth date in either 1944 or 1946 on the sixth of March. He was educated at Anglia Ruskin University and went on to work not only as a guitarist and singer but as a songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and executive producer. A citizen of the United Kingdom, he built his practice across rock, art rock, blues rock, psychedelic rock, progressive rock, and ambient music — a breadth that shaped the texture of his work throughout his career.

Among the honours he received are the Commander of the Order of the British Empire and the Order of the Badge of Honour. Beyond his musical roles, Gilmour is also a licensed aircraft pilot. His work with Pink Floyd as lead guitarist remains the fixed point around which his broader output — as producer, songwriter, and composer — finds its context, and the CBE stands as formal recognition of that body of work by the United Kingdom, the country of which he is a citizen.