David Jon Gilmour is a 75-year-old renowned English musician, guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is also a philanthropist, passionate about climate change, animal rights, and homelessness. He is best known for being a guitarist and a co-lead vocalist of the rock band Pink Floyd. According to Rolling Stone, he is one of the top fifteen top guitarists of all time. As much as building a career in music might be a gamble, the gamble has paid off for David Gilmour. This is as he has achieved a net worth of $180 million during his six-decade career. How did he achieve all this? Read on as we dig deeper into his early life, career, and net worth.
Early Life
David Jon Gilmour was born on March 6th, 1946, in Cambridge, England, and raised in Grantchester. According to Wikipedia, he grew up in a well-off family as his father, Douglas Gilmour, was a zoology professor at the University of Cambridge and his mother Sylvia was a teacher and later, a well-known film editor for BBC. David’s parents played a huge role in his music career as they encouraged him to pursue music. David listened to Rock’N Roll albums from a young age, gaining interest in guitars. By the age of ten, David knew how to play the guitar. David Gilmour attended Perse School on Hills Road, Cambridge, and later on proceeded to Cambridge Shire high school for boys, where he met Pink Floyd guitarist Syd Barret and bassist Roger Waters. In 1962, Rogers joined the Cambridge Shire college of arts and technology, studying A-level modern languages. Eventually, David learned how to speak fluently in French despite not completing his course. He would practice playing the guitar with Barret, who had also begun studying at the college during his free time.
Pink Floyd
In 1962, David Gilmour joined a blues-rock band known as Jokers Wild. However, the group was not successful as it recorded a one-sided album and a single, but only 100 copies were made. He later embarked on a tour in France with another blues band but later returned to London after his equipment was stolen. During his stay in London, David stopped by to watch Pink Floyd record the song “See Emily Play.” Unfortunately, by then, Barret had begun suffering mental health problems and could not recognize Gilmour, despite being close friends in college. In 1967, Gilmour was invited to the band to cover for Syd Barret. However, the intention was not to completely replace him but rather play guitar while he continued contributing to the group as a non-performing songwriter. By March 1968, Barrett had become too much to work with and eventually left the group, and Gilmour took up all his duties, including the lead vocal role together with Richard wright. In the next few years, Pink Floyd reached what we can describe as an emblem of rock success following the release of albums like The Dark Side of the Moon in 1973, Wish You Were Here in 1975, Animals in 1977, The Wall in 1979, and The Final Cut. However, during the making of The Wall Film and The Final Cut, the relationship between Gilmour and Waters became strained. Eventually, Waters left the group in 1985, claiming that Pink Floyd was a “spent force creatively.” This led to Gilmour assuming leadership of the band, and in 1987, they produced the album A Momentary Lapse of Reason and The Division Bell in 1994. Generally, Pink Floyd reached its world prominence as one of the most commercially successful bands of all time, with over 250 million records to date. Therefore, it is not wrong to say that Pink Floyd was the turning point of Gilmour’s career.
Solo Career
The negative energy created in the band during the making of The Wall album, film, and The Final Cut led to the beginning of Gilmour’s solo career, which proved successful until the 2010s. Gilmour produced successful studio albums such as About Face in 1985, On an Island in 2006, and Rattle That Rock in 2015.
Intrepid Aviation
Intrepid Aviation was an aviation museum that was founded by Gilmour to operate his collection of antique aircraft. It was a way for Gilmour to exercise his hobby, but the company portrayed great financial performance. Eventually, Gilmour ended up selling the company for an undisclosed fee, given that it became more of a business and less of a hobby.
Guitar Auction
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Gilmour had gained a reputation for his large collection of guitars and was said to have over 100 guitars. Well, this was only until 2019 when Gilmour auctioned off some of his popular guitars in Los Angeles. The auction turned out to be more successful than Gilmour expected as he raised around $21.5 million. One of his most famous guitars, The Black Stratocaster, sold for $3.9 million, becoming one of the most expensive guitars auctioned in the world. Additionally, another of his popular guitars, the White Stratocaster, auctioned for $1.8 million. This contributed generously to his net worth. However, Gilmour donated all the proceeds from his guitar auction to charities for climate change.
Real Estate
Another hefty contribution to his net worth was the sale of his home in west London in 2002. Gilmour had purchased the property for 300,000 pounds but earned 4.5 million pounds during this sale 20 years later. However, he donated the money to a charity to support homeless people. Additionally, in 2014, Gilmour sold his mansion in Greece for around $1.5 million. In 2014, it was reported that Gilmour’s mansion in Greece was going up for sale with a price of about $1.5 million. The mansion was reported to be 5000 square meters with astounding views of the ocean and the mountains.
Songwriting Credits
Despite his booming vocals, Gilmour also contributed to the creative process of some of the most commercially successful Pink Floyd albums. According to Ultimate Classic Rock, it was the thing that prevented The Final Cut from being a Water’s solo project. Even though Pink Floyd split their earnings equally among the members, there were a few exceptions, such as songwriting credits. Striking the gold was not such a walk in the park. Gilmour is passionate, talented, and hardworking, and that is why he is worth what he is worth today.
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