Wish You Were Here is Pink Floyd’s ninth studio album, first released in September 1975.

Inspired by material the group composed while performing across Europe, Wish You Were Here was recorded in numerous sessions at London’s Abbey Road Studios.

Some of the songs critique the music business, others express alienation, and “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” is a tribute to Syd Barrett, whose mental breakdown had forced him to leave the group seven years earlier. It was lead writer Roger Waters’ idea to split “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” into two parts and use it to bookend the album around three new compositions, introducing a new concept as the group had done with their previous album, The Dark Side Of The Moon.

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.”

The album became an instant commercial success, and the album has since been acclaimed by critics and appears on Rolling Stone’s list of “The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.” Band members Richard Wright and David Gilmour have each cited ‘Wish You Were Here’ as their favourite Pink Floyd album, and the album is widely regarded as the group’s magnum opus.