Pink Floyd became the first rock band to perform in space

November 26, 1988: Pink Floyd in orbit

It is August 1988, in the impressive Nassau Coliseum stadium on Long Island, New York. On the stage, David Gilmour, Richard Wright et Nick Mason – who make up the group Pink Floyd – play their biggest songs: “The Great Gig in the Sky“, “Wish You Were Here“, “Time“, “Shine on you Crazy Diamond“…As much success as the three musicians must now perform without their former songwriter Roger Waterswho left the ship three years earlier.

A concert that will remain memorable in the heads of fans, since this performance will be filmed by more than twenty cameras, and will result in the recording of a double live album, “Delicate Sound of Thunder“an opus mixed in the very prestigious Abbey Road studios, in London, and which will be released on November 22, 1988.

At the same time, on the other side of the planet, another type of concert is taking place: preparing for a space trip, Soyuz TM-7. On board, two Russian cosmonauts, Alexander Volkov and Sergei Krikaliovand an astronaut, the French Jean-Loup Chrétien. The three men are expected in Kazakhstan, more precisely in Baikonur Cosmodromefor a launch scheduled for November 26. With the same opinion, the three space men decide to take a cassette of the Pink Floyd album to play once they arrive at the MIR space station.

At this time, it is still unclear whether the three men played the 104 minutes of the albumbut one thing is certain: since November 26, 1988, Pink Floyd became the first rock band to perform in space. Like the song of Frank Sinatra“Fly Me to the Moon“, first song played on the moon, perhaps the Pink Floyd continues to accompany astronauts around the world on their space missions ? Perhaps the question should be asked Thomas Pesquet.