How Pink Floyd handled 'Have a Cigar' live when Roy Harper wasn't available – 1975 tour

On the 1975 Wish You Were Here tour, Roy Harper sang “Have a Cigar” at select shows – most famously at Knebworth that July. But when Harper wasn’t around, the band didn’t fall back on a prerecorded track. David Gilmour stepped up and sang it himself, handling the verses in his own voice.

Gilmour’s live vocals are noticeably different from Harper’s raspier, more theatrical delivery. Bootlegs from the tour confirm he sang it straight, no backing tape. The song stayed in the set through the end of the year, with Gilmour owning the vocal for the rest of the tour – and for all subsequent Pink Floyd performances of the track after that.