David Gilmour Silver Clef Award Winner 2025

David Gilmour is to receive the flagship O2 Silver Clef Award 2025. This award celebrates outstanding contributions to music and this is not the first time Pink Floyd has been involved with the charity.

The ceremony takes place in London on 2 July 2025, with the awards raising funds for music therapy charity Nordoff & Robbins. More specifically, its happening 18:00 to 23:30 at the JW Marriott Grosvenor House, London W1K 7TN. You can “buy a table” at the event. If you do, please invite me!

David Gilmour will receive the coveted O2 Silver Clef Award, while IDLES are named Best Live Act, Rick Astley to be honoured with the Outstanding Achievement in Music Award, and Soul II Soul will receive the Innovation in Music Award.

David Gilmour said: “It’s such an honour to receive the O2 Silver Clef Award. Music speaks its own language and it’s inspiring to see Nordoff and Robbins using it to make a real difference to people’s lives.

“What they do reminds us of music’s ability to reach across boundaries and bring people together.“

Hasn’t Pink Floyd performed at this event before?

David Gilmour did indeed perform at the Silver Clef Award award winners Knebworth concert in 1990 with Pink Floyd. By all accounts the weather was particularly miserable. It was incredibly rainy and windy which caused much interruption and annoyance. Nobody seemed more annoyed than perhaps Paul McCartney!

The award ceremony that year was held at Knebworth Park on June 30, 1990, and featured a star-studded line-up including Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney, and Cliff Richard, among others.

However, the show was not without some minor controversy. Mark Blake, in his The Inside Story of Pink Floyd book wrote, “Torrential downpours dampened the mood out front and in the back stage enclosure, where middle-aged pop stars and record execs in baggy tailored suits and floppily expensive haircuts huddled in the drinks tent or beneath buckled umbrellas. Pink Floyd arrived in helicopters. On stage, Floyd’s circular screen filled with so much rainwater it had to be abandoned. Paul McCartney, perhaps wondering why an ex-Beatle was playing below Pink Floyd , extended his set with encore after encore, delaying the headliner’s arrival time.”

The concert was attended by around 120,000 people and was broadcast globally on MTV. You can read an account of the event on Brain Damage.

Here is one of my favourite songs from the performance:

As a Brucey Bonus – here is a poster from the 1990 event.

What is the O2 Silver Clef Award?

The O2 Silver Clef Award is an annual music award presented by Nordoff Robbins, the UK’s largest music therapy charity. The award, which has been running since 1976, honours artists for their outstanding contributions to music. The event also serves as a major fundraising initiative to support the charity’s music therapy programs.

Each year, the awards celebrate various categories, including:

• O2 Silver Clef Award for outstanding contribution to music
• Outstanding Achievement Award
• Best Live Act
• Innovation in Music Award
• Best Newcomer Award
• Best Group Award
• Best Female Award
• Best Male Award
• Classical Award

The winners are celebrated at a special ceremony, which includes live auctions and other activities to raise funds for the charity. Past recipients of the O2 Silver Clef Award include legendary artists like David Bowie, Ed Sheeran, and The Rolling Stones.

This year, notable winners include David Gilmour, Rick Astley, IDLES, and Soul II Soul. The event will be held on July 2, 2025, at the JW Marriott Grosvenor House in London.

What charitable events has Pink Floyd been involved in?

Here’s a concise list of Pink Floyd and its members’ charitable performances:

1. Silver Clef Award Winners Concert at Knebworth (June 30, 1990)

• Artist: Pink Floyd
• Cause: Fundraiser for Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy and the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology
• Details: Pink Floyd headlined this monumental benefit concert alongside legends like Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, and Genesis. The event raised vital funds for music therapy programs and provided scholarships for young artists at the BRIT School.

2. The Wall – Live in Berlin (July 21, 1990)

• Artist: Roger Waters
• Cause: Benefit for the Memorial Fund for Disaster Relief
• Details: Staging a spectacular live performance of “The Wall” in Berlin, Roger Waters commemorated the fall of the Berlin Wall. Featuring guest artists like Cyndi Lauper and Van Morrison, the concert supported disaster relief efforts and became one of the largest rock concerts in history.

3. Live 8 Concert (July 2, 2005)

• Artist: Pink Floyd (Reunited classic lineup: David Gilmour, Roger Waters, Nick Mason, Richard Wright)
• Cause: Raising awareness and action against global poverty
• Details: After 24 years apart, Pink Floyd’s original members reunited for this historic event. Their performance at London’s Hyde Park was part of a global series of concerts aiming to pressure G8 leaders to address poverty in Africa. Their set included classics like “Comfortably Numb” and “Wish You Were Here”.

4. Amnesty International’s “The Secret Policeman’s Other Ball” (September 9-12, 1981)

• Artist: David Gilmour
• Cause: Human rights advocacy
• Details: Participating in this benefit show, Gilmour joined other artists to support Amnesty International’s fight against human rights abuses. The event blended comedy and music, raising both funds and awareness for the cause.

5. Teenage Cancer Trust Concerts at the Royal Albert Hall

• Artist: David Gilmour
• Cause: Supporting the Teenage Cancer Trust
• Details: Gilmour has performed multiple times at these annual concerts, helping fund specialized care and support for young people with cancer. His involvement brings star power to the events, boosting fundraising efforts.

6. Crisis “Hidden Gigs” (May 25, 2009)

• Artist: David Gilmour
• Cause: Supporting homelessness charity Crisis
• Details: Gilmour performed at a secret show in London to raise funds and awareness for homelessness. These “Hidden Gigs” aimed to highlight the hidden nature of homelessness and support Crisis’s campaigns.

7. Fender Stratocaster 50th Anniversary Concert (September 24, 2004)

• Artist: David Gilmour
• Cause: Proceeds supporting various charities
• Details: Celebrating the iconic guitar, Gilmour joined other legendary guitarists like Ronnie Wood and Joe Walsh. The event supported charities chosen by the artists, leveraging their talents for good causes.

8. David Gilmour’s Guitar Auction (June 2019)

• Artist: David Gilmour
• Cause: Proceeds donated to ClientEarth
• Details: While not a performance, Gilmour auctioned over 120 of his guitars—including his famed Black Stratocaster—raising $21.5 million. The entire sum was donated to ClientEarth, an environmental charity fighting climate change.

David Gilmour O2 Silver Clef Sources – Silver Clef Awards, 1990 Pink Floyd Silver Clef Tour Book