‘I missed out on superstardom with Pink Floyd but I’ve no regrets’: Band’s former lead singer, 74, reveals how he gave up performing for RAF posting

Chris Dennis, from Anglesey, North Wales, played in the first gig Pink Floyd played under that name

He left when he was posted to Bahrain and the group went to sell 250 million records



Mr Dennis says he has always been proud of his former band mates' success

The grandfather set up his own recording studio and built up a collection of guitars which were auctioned off



He may have turned his back on a multimillionaire lifestyle and rock immortality but Pink Floyd's first singer said he had 'no regrets' about quitting the band.



Chris Dennis was playing with Roger Waters and Nick Mason in the early 1960s when the group performed their first gigs as Pink Floyd.



Mr Dennis, 74, left to take up a RAF posting in Bahrain just a year after he joined because he thought the band was not 'going anywhere'.



Founder: Chris Dennis, pictured with one of the beloved guitars he put up for auction, said he has always been proud of Pink Floyd's success

Original: A rare picture of the first ever gig performed under the name Pink Floyd at a party in Surrey in 1966 with Syd Barrett, left, Bob Klose, Chris Dennis, centre, and Roger Waters, right

He then went on to set up his own studio while Pink Floyd became one of the biggest bands of the twentieth century, recorded classics such as Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here and sell 250 million albums worldwide.



But far from being bitter about his decision, Mr Dennis said he has always been proud of their success.

The grandfather of eight, who lives with his wife Pam in Llangefni, Anglesey, North Wales, said: ' I’ve no regrets. I helped start the biggest rock band in the world and it enabled me to hang out with the likes of Jimi Hendrix - that’s enough for me.'

By the time Mr Dennis had returned to the UK from Bahrain, Pink Floyd’s first album Piper At The Gates Of Dawn had been released.

He said: 'When I first picked up Floyd’s first record in a store, I felt nothing but proud of them. I was so pleased and happy that they had made it.'

He added: 'To be honest, I didn’t even like the sort of music Pink Floyd were playing at the time - so they probably wouldn’t have had the success they’ve had if I had continued to play in the band.

'I ’m not bitter or jealous at all of the success of the other guys - that doesn’t even come into it. The band was a bit of fun back then and I was a bit of a joker.

'My only regret was I only wish I’d taken more photographs of the guys then. I was never really a fan of their music, but the stuff they do now is just wonderful.'

Memento: A picture of the band taken by Syd Barrett in 1966 featuring Bob Klose, left, Richard Wright, Roger Waters, centre, Chris Dennis, on top of the car, and Nick Mason taken in 1966

Rare: A picture of Pink Floyd at the height of their fame signed by Nick Mason. Chris Dennis said his only regret is not taking more pictures

Iconic: Pink Floyd pictured following their last concert together in 2005 at the Live8 concert in Hyde Park. (L to R) Dave Gilmour, Roger Waters, Nick Mason and Richard Wright, who died in September 2008. Founding member Syd Barrett died in 2006 and Bob Klose left the band in 1965 Mr Dennis recorded with the band during their first studio session and was with them when Syd Barrett came up with the name Pink Floyd.

He joined the group in 1963 after meeting founding member guitarist Bob Klose as a technician with the RAF posted to Uxbridge, London.



A year later he recorded with the band alongside Roger Waters, Richard Wright, drummer Nick Mason and Barrett.

He said: 'I was in a music shop in Soho looking for a guitar and I saw Bob and he introduced me to Roger Waters.



'They explained they were looking for a singer for their band and said: "We’ll put you in". Of course I said yes.

'I had been in bands since I was a 16-year-old lad, playing in various skiffle bands and I knew Bob from the gig circuits in Cambridge when I was posted there. He used to come round and jam with my band.'

Mr Dennis rehearsed regularly with the band before becoming the frontman for their first set of gigs.



He said: 'We would rehearse in the house they shared. We at that time we didn’t even have a name - and believe me, it was a dispute.

'We were rehearsing blues songs for our first gig at a private party in Surrey. It was mostly covers we did back then, we’d practice at the house two or three times a week.

'On the night of the gig, Syd ran through and said, "I’ve got a name, it’s going to be called Pink Floyd." Well, I didn’t like it at the time because it didn’t make sense.'

He left a year later when he was posted to Bahrain but said he was going to leave anyway because he did not like Pink Floyd's music.

He said: ‘I was on the edge of leaving the band anyway - Roger and I had a difference of opinion with it came to music.

Different paths: Chris Dennis in front of his four-bedroom Anglesey home

Passion: Chris Dennis continued to play in bands after leaving Pink Floyd, left, and built up a collection of 20 guitars - three of which he put up for auction, right



No regrets: Mr Dennis, pictured with one of his guitars, set up his own studio after quitting Pink Floyd

'He liked the traditional blues music like Muddy Waters, where I was more into the more up-beat blues you could dance too - like the Stones and Chuck Berry.

'He wouldn’t like if we didn’t play it exactly right - I was getting a bit fed up and I didn’t think it was going anywhere.

' I was planning on leaving anyway because I wasn’t into the music they were playing - I wanted to play blues music.

'And when I came back they never asked me back in the band. They had a completely different sound anyway, they had changed their style.



'I’d finished with it. The band was a six month blip in my life. It was good but I had moved on from it.'

Mr Dennis pursued a career in music after leaving the RAF in 1973.



He set up his own studio in Cambridge and laid down tracks for the likes of Dave Berry, The Glitter Band's Tony Leonard and members of Shakin Stevens.



He has also built up a collection of 20 guitars - three of which he recently put up for auction.



The Sunburst Stratocaster and Fender Squire Stagemaster sold for almost £500 but a Gretch Eddie Cochrane worth £600 failed to sell.



Mr Dennis has continued to play but admits he is more likely to play to a group of friend's at a party than thousands of people in an arena.



He said: ' I speak to Nick two or three times a year and maybe Roger once a year - but I have to say they do move in different circles to me now.'