Wish You Were Here is the ninth studio album by English rock band Pink Floyd. It was released on 12 September 1975 by Harvest Records in the United Kingdom and a day later by Columbia Records in the United States. Inspired by material the group composed while performing around Europe, Wish You Were Here was recorded during numerous recording sessions at Abbey Road Studios in London, England. Two of the album's four songs criticise the music business, another expresses alienation and the multi-part track "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" is a tribute to Syd Barrett. Barrett's mental breakdown had forced him to leave the group seven years earlier after the release of the group's debut studio album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. It was lead writer Roger Waters' idea to split "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" into two parts that would bookend the album around three new compositions and to introduce a concept linking them all. The band had used a linking concept for their previous album, The Dark Side of the Moon, to great success. As with The Dark Side of the Moon, the band used studio effects and synthesizers and brought in guest singers to supply vocals on some tracks of the album. These singers were Roy Harper, who provided the lead vocals on "Have a Cigar", and the Blackberries, who added backing vocals to "Shine On You Crazy Diamond".
