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Add the andPOP Facebook Application(andPOP) - Pink Floyd co-founder and psychedelic rock icon Syd Barrett has died. He was 60 years old.
An unidentified source close to the band said Barrett died on Friday, according to Reuters. Various media reports say that the cause of death was complications from diabetes.
"The band are naturally very upset and sad to learn of Syd Barrett's death," said Pink Floyd in a statement on Tuesday. "Syd was the guiding light of the early band line-up and leaves a legacy which continues to inspire."
For the last 30 years, Barrett had been living a quiet, reclusive life in Cambridge, England, where he was born in 1946.
He was the main force behind Pink Floyd's influential debut album, 1967's "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn." But by 1968, his unpredictable and bizarre behaviour cause him and the band to sever ties. The rift was mainly blamed on Barrett's experimentation with LSD.
Barrett would go on to release two solo albums in 1970 -- "The Madcap Laughs" and "Barrett" -- before all but disappearing from the world of music.
Many believe that Pink Floyd's "Shine On You Crazy Diamond," from 1975's "Wish You Were Here" LP, is a tribute to Barrett.
In recent years, a few candid photographs of a bald, sombre-looking man in the pages of UK tabloids were the most that people saw of Barrett.
