42 Facts About Nick Mason

Nicholas Berkeley Mason was born on 27 January 1944 and is an English drummer and a founder member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd.

Nick Mason has been the only constant member since the band's formation in 1964, and is the only member to appear on every Pink Floyd album.

Nick Mason was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 as a member of Pink Floyd.

Nick Mason was brought up in Hampstead, London, and attended the Hall School, Hampstead, and Frensham Heights School, near Farnham, Surrey.

In September 1963, Waters and Nick Mason moved into a flat near Crouch End in London, owned by Mike Leonard, a part-time tutor at the nearby Hornsey College of Art and the Regent Street Polytechnic.

Nick Mason does sing lead vocals on two unreleased but heavily bootlegged tracks, "Scream Thy Last Scream", penned by original leader Syd Barrett and "The Merry Xmas Song".

Nick Mason joined Waters on the last two nights of his 2002 world tour to play drums on the Pink Floyd song "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun", and he played drums on some concerts of Waters' European tour in 2006, and during performances in Los Angeles and New York City in the United States.

Nick Mason joined Gilmour and Wright again for the encore during Gilmour's show at the Royal Albert Hall, London, on 31 May 2006.

Nick Mason has claimed to be the link between Gilmour and Waters.

Nick Mason stated in 2006 that Pink Floyd had not officially disbanded, but with the death of Wright in 2008, the band effectively came to an end, as confirmed by Gilmour.

In spite of this, Nick Mason has continued to join Waters onstage on occasion.

On 12 May 2007, Nick Mason joined Waters on stage at Earls Court to play The Dark Side of the Moon.

Again, on 12 May 2011, Nick Mason was featured on the encore "Outside the Wall" at a concert by Waters, who was performing The Wall in its entirety.

Unlike the other members of Pink Floyd, Nick Mason has rarely played an instrument other than his drum kit or large array of percussion instruments, although he used tapes and contributed sound effects to many Pink Floyd albums.

However, on the Profiles album Nick Mason released with Rick Fenn in 1985, he is credited with keyboards.

Nick Mason can be seen playing a vibraphone in the promo video for "Lie for a Lie", but it is unknown if he actually played on the recording.

Nick Mason has said that he took some failed piano and violin lessons as a child before taking up drums.

Nick Mason has worked with other musicians, including a drummer and producer for Steve Hillage, Robert Wyatt, the Damned and Gong.

Nick Mason performed in the closing ceremony of the 2012 Olympic Games on 12 August 2012.

Nick Mason produced and played on the charity single "Save the Children ", which featured Beverley Knight, Mick Jagger and Ronnie Wood and which was released in May 2015 in aid of Save the Children's Nepal Earthquake Appeal.

On 17 October 2012, Nick Mason was presented with a BASCA Gold Badge Award in recognition of his contributions to music.

Nick Mason's style was gentler and more laid back than that of other progressive rock drummers of the time.

Nick Mason used Premier drums in the 1960s and occasionally in the 1970s.

Nick Mason currently uses Drum Workshop drums, pedals and hardware.

Nick Mason's kit is a DW double bass kit with the Dark Side of the Moon logo on the drums.

Nick Mason has used Paiste cymbals during his entire career with Pink Floyd and currently uses a mixture of Paiste Traditional, Signature and 2002 cymbals.

Nick Mason endorses Remo drumheads, Latin Percussion and Pro-Mark sticks.

Nick Mason owns and races several classic cars, and has competed successfully at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

In 1998, Nick Mason published a book, Into the Red, in which he documents his experience with his cars, along with some histories.

Nick Mason is associated with the Italian manufacturer Ferrari, and estimates he has owned 40 Ferrari cars.

Nick Mason was invited by Ferrari to purchase one of the 400 Enzo models, which he let Jeremy Clarkson borrow for reviewing purposes on an episode of the BBC motoring programme Top Gear.

Nick Mason agreed, on the sole condition that throughout the review, Clarkson promoted the release of the book Inside Out: A Personal History of Pink Floyd.

Nick Mason appeared on Season 2, Episode 8 of The Grand Tour.

Nick Mason competed and won against Stewart Copeland for the title of "fastest rock drummer from a band that begins with a P" in the show's Celebrity Face Off segment.

The couple divorced in the late 1980s and Nick Mason is married to his second wife Annette Lynton, an actress known for her adjudication role on the second series of Treasure Hunt in 1984.

Nick Mason is a qualified pilot, and flies an Aerospatiale AS 350 Squirrel helicopter in specially painted colours.

Nick Mason is part of Football Ventures, a consortium that bought Bolton Wanderers Football Club out of administration in August 2019.

Nick Mason's portrait was painted by semi-finalists in a December 2021 episode of Portrait Artist of the Year.

In common with Roger Waters, Nick Mason has played concerts to raise funds for the Countryside Alliance, a group which campaigned against the ban on fox hunting with the Hunting Act 2004.

Nick Mason is a board member and co-chairman of the Featured Artists' Coalition.

On 26 November 2012, Nick Mason received the Honorary title of Doctor of Letters from the University of Westminster at the presentation ceremony of the School of Architecture and Built Environment.

Nick Mason was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2019 New Year Honours, "for services to music", and was presented with the award by Prince William, Duke of Cambridge at Buckingham Palace on 2 May 2019.