27/1/1944
Record updated 27-Jan-22
Drummer for Pink Floyd.
He was brought up in Hampstead, London (many online biographies mistakenly cite the street address, Downshire Hill - sometimes as "the Downshire Hills" - as a district of Birmingham) and attended Frensham Heights boarding school, Surrey. He later studied at the Regent Street Polytechnic, where he teamed up with Roger Waters, Bob Klose and Richard Wright in 1964 to form Sigma 6.
Mason is the only person to have remained with the band since its inception in 1965. He has played on every Pink Floyd album since 1965.
Despite conflicts over ownership of the name 'Pink Floyd', Roger Waters and Nick Mason are now on good terms. Mason joined Waters on the last two nights of his 2002 world tour to play drums on the Floyd song "Set the Controls For The Heart Of The Sun".
In July 2005 Mason joined Gilmour, Wright and, for the first time in 3 years, Waters on stage for a four song set at the Live 8 concert in London.
Mason has done a small amount of work with other people, notably as a drummer and producer for Steve Hillage and Robert Wyatt, drummer for Michael Mantler and producer for The Damned.
He is married (to his second wife, Nettie) and has four children; two daughters from his first marriage and two sons from his second. They live in the Wiltshire town of Corsham in the former home of Camilla Parker Bowles. As Floyd's recording and touring schedule grew more sporadic, Mason was left with more time to pursue his favourite hobby, auto racing. He owns (through his company Ten Tenths) and races several classic cars, and has competed successfully at the 24 hours of Le Mans. He is also a qualified pilot.
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