Storm Thorgerson, Legendary Pink Floyd Album Designer, Dies Aged 69


Storm Thorgerson has died at the age of 69 after a long battle with illness.

If you don’t instantly recognise Thorgerson’s name, you’ll almost certainly recall his work. The English graphic designer is most famous for working on album art for the likes of Pink Floyd, 10cc, and Led Zeppelin.

Dubbed “the best album designer in the world” by writer Douglas Adams, Thorgerson was responsible for some of the most famous album covers in history.

In a career that lasted over four decades, Thorgerson will perhaps be best remembered for his work with English progressive rock band Pink Floyd. His design for 1972 album Dark Side of the Moon is recognized as one of the most iconic in popular music history.

Thorgerson worked on fifteen Pink Floyd albums in all, his services secured as a teenage friend of guitarist Roger Gilmour.

He also collaborated with artists as diverse as Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Peter Gabriel, Scorpions, Genesis, Europe, Styx, Dream Theater, The Cranberries, Yourcodenameis:milo, The Mars Volta, Muse, and Biffy Clyro.

In a statement released Thursday, Thorgerson’s family said his death “was peaceful and he was surrounded by family and friends.” The artist is known to have suffered a stroke in 2003, and had reportedly been ill for some time.

Thorgerson, whose art veered towards the bizarre and the psychedelic, designed some truly peculiar album covers. The cover for Pink Floyd’s Atom Heart Mother, which Thorgerson said had left the record company “completely berserk,” features a single image of a cow staring out from a field. His Dali-esque design for The Cranberries’ Bury The Hatchet depicts a disembodied eye staring at a crouching, naked figure in a desert, while another Thorgerson-designed Pink Floyd cover featured a blinking LED light in early versions.

Speaking to BBC News in 2010, Thorgerson discussed how, “People pay me for my thoughts and my dreams. I think in that sense I’m very fortunate.”

Storm Thorgerson is survived by his mother Vanji, his son Bill, his wife Barbie Antonis, and her two children Adam and Georgia. You can view some of his most memorable work below.

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