Roger Waters, David Gilmour, and Roger (Syd) Barrett were acquainted as school kids in Cambridge, England. At the age of 15, Syd played electric guitar, 12-string, and bass guitar with experience in local blues. He joined Gilmour in a duo that was short-lived. Then he moved to London, sharing a flat with Roger Waters and studied painting at a local college. At that time, Waters was studying architecture at the Polytechnic located on Regent Street. 

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Waters, being a bit older than Syd, had already teamed up with Nick Mason and Rick Wright in various R&B acts, one of which was named Meggadeath.

 

All of the aforementioned members had experienced middle-class and/or rather affluent background influences in education (Haberdasher's School, London College of Music), and musical opportunity (violin, piano, drums).

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The nucleus of Waters, Mason, & Wright went on (after dissolving its former act) to seek another group. Waters invited Bob Close and Syd Barrett to join. The band became known as The Pink Floyd Sound (1965). Syd claims the name came to him in a vision, although sources state the name Pink Floyd is more complex than that.

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Syd became lovers with LSD and began writing which shifted the genre of the band from R&B to a more psychedelic quality. Bob Close was at odds with this change and was ousted by the end of 1965, much as a product of the band's romanticism with this new mysterious quality that Syd had induced in his writings.

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By 1967, as the group was gaining momentum in popularity and recognition, Syd began falling apart. Although his writing was fantastic, his live performances were becoming increasingly erratic.

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The band went to America to promote a single but Syd's zombie-esque behavior caused the manager (Andrew King) to cancel the tour and return to England. 

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At that point, the band joined with Jimi Hendrix on tour and played chart hits (which they loathed), all while trying to keep Syd as a writer without losing him. Syd became even worse which led to Waters inviting old pal David Gilmour into the band for reliable lead guitar, and so that Syd could keep writing (which he was very good at).

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Syd finally departed the band in March 1968, which left the band not only without a song writer, but also without a manager, as King also departed. Syd did appear on some tracks, post-hoc, but for the majority, Syd went into solitude to produce a few solo pieces and then, sadly, faded into the black.

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It is still fairly understood that some of Pink Floyd's most hallmark pieces are inspired  to this day, by Roger (Syd) Barrett, AKA "Pink" (1946-2006). Shine on, you crazy diamond.