Among the members of Pink Floyd, Syd Barrett is often regarded as the most misunderstood.

Although he was instrumental in founding the band and came up with their name, Barrett’s legacy is complex. He departed from Pink Floyd in early 1968, following a challenging period marked by his declining mental health, substance abuse, and an increasing inability to collaborate effectively. Afterward, he oscillated in and out of the public eye, displaying more erratic behavior and experiencing periods of isolation.

In 1975, Pink Floyd released “Shine On You Crazy Diamond,” a song clearly written in tribute to their former bandmate: “Remember when you were young? You shone like the sun.”

Barrett passed away from pancreatic cancer in July 2006 at the age of 60.

“Do find time today to play some of Syd’s songs and to remember him as the madcap genius who made us all smile with his wonderfully eccentric songs about bikes, gnomes, and scarecrows,” said David Gilmour at that time (via Billboard). “His career was painfully short, yet he touched more people than he could ever know.”

There was much more to Barrett than the numerous wild tales — some true, some not — that surrounded his life. Below are six lesser-known facts about the late artist.

1. He Was a Scout Patrol Leader in His Youth

As a teenager, Barrett was a Scout with the 7th Cambridge troop, eventually becoming a patrol leader. Interestingly, this is where he met a boy named Tim Renwick. Decades later, Renwick would serve as a touring guitarist for Pink Floyd, many years after Barrett had left. “I go way back with the band,” Renwick later explained. “I actually went to school with Roger Waters and Syd Barrett. They were four years older than me, but I remember them quite clearly…Syd, believe it or not, was my patrol leader in the Scouts! He was a very impressive and charismatic bloke, as was Roger.”

2. One of His School Teachers Was Roger Waters’ Mother

Barrett first met Waters when they both attended Morley Primary School. As it happened, Waters’ mother was a teacher there and Barrett was one of her pupils.

3. His Family Did Not Call Him Syd

If you read any interview with Rosemary Breen, Barrett’s youngest sister and the person with whom he was closest in his later years, you’ll notice that she only refers to him by his legal name, Roger. This is because no one in the Barrett family ever called him by his nickname — he was only “Syd” outside of the home.

4. He Originally Went to College to Study Painting

In 1962, Barrett was an art student at the Cambridgeshire College of Arts and Technology, where he first met Gilmour. Two years later he attended the Camberwell College of Arts in London. Despite never graduating from formal art school, Barrett continued painting throughout his life.

“Roger worked in a variety of styles — though he admired no one after the impressionists — and you could say he came up with his own type of conceptual art,” Breen said in a 2006 interview. “He would photograph a particular flower and paint a large canvas from the photograph. Then he would make a photographic record of the picture before destroying the canvas. In a way, that was very typical of his approach to life. Once something was over, it was over. He felt no need to revisit it.”

5. At One Point He Nearly Joined a Religious Sect

In 1965, members of Pink Floyd began exploring Sant Mat, a sect of Sikhism dating back to 13th century India, likely influenced by drug use. Barrett wanted to fully convert but was reportedly deemed too young.

Watch Syd Barrett and Roger Waters’ Be Interviewed in 1967

6. He Wrote Most of the Songs on Pink Floyd’s First Album

Statistically speaking, Waters wrote the most songs for Pink Floyd overall; however, what you might not know is that Barrett wrote the majority of the songs on the band’s first album, 1967’s The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. “The era of Syd being in the band was something completely different,” Gilmour shared in 2019. “But you know Syd was a friend of mine, and his talent was exceptional. A quirky original sort of thing.”

Listen to ‘Bike’ From ‘The Piper at the Gates of Dawn’