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Nicholas Berkeley Mason (born 27 January 1944) is an English drummer and a founder member of the rock band Pink Floyd. He has been the only constant member since the band's formation in 1965, and the only member to appear on every Pink Floyd album. He co-wrote Pink Floyd compositions including "Echoes", "Time", "Careful with That Axe, Eugene" and "One of These Days".
In 1996, Mason was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Pink Floyd. In 2018, he formed a new band, Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets, to perform music from Pink Floyd's early years. Mason collects classic cars and competes in motorsport races, and has produced books and documentaries on the subject.
Mason was brought up in Hampstead, London, and attended the Hall School, Hampstead, and Frensham Heights School, near Farnham, Surrey. While studying architecture at the Regent Street Polytechnic (now the University of Westminster), he formed a band, Sigma 6, an early incarnation of Pink Floyd, with Roger Waters, Bob Klose and Richard Wright in 1964.: Mason meeting Waters while studying architecture at the London Polytechnic; : Waters meeting Mason while studying architecture at the London Polytechnic. In September 1963, Waters and 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. Mason moved out after the 1964 academic year.
The only occasions on which Mason's voice has been included on Pink Floyd's albums are "Corporal Clegg"; the single spoken line in "One of These Days"; and spoken parts of "Signs of Life" and "Learning to Fly" (the latter taken from an actual recording of Mason's first solo flight) from A Momentary Lapse of Reason. He sang lead vocals on two unreleased but heavily bootlegged tracks, "Scream Thy Last Scream" (1967), penned by original group leader Syd Barrett, and "The Merry Xmas Song" (1975–76). In live performances of the song "Sheep", Mason delivered the spoken section.
Despite legal conflicts over ownership of the name "Pink Floyd", which began when Waters left the group in 1985 and lasted roughly seven years, Waters and Mason are reportedly on good terms. 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 also 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.
In July 2005, Mason, Gilmour, Wright, and Waters played together on stage for the first time in 24 years at the Live 8 concert in London. Mason joined Gilmour and Wright again for the encore during Gilmour's show at the Royal Albert Hall, London, on 31 May 2006. He also 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. While Gilmour and Waters continued to quarrel, Mason remained close to both.
On 12 May 2007, Mason joined Waters on stage at Earls Court to play The Dark Side of the Moon. On 12 May 2011, Mason was featured (along with Gilmour) on the encore "Outside the Wall" at a concert by Waters, who was performing The Wall in its entirety (Gilmour also performed on "Comfortably Numb" that night). Mason worked with musicians including Steve Hillage (as drummer and producer), Robert Wyatt (with whom he appeared on Top of the Pops), the Damned and Gong. He also drummed for Michael Mantler.
Mason's memoir, , was published in the UK in October 2004. It is also available, abridged, as a 3-CD audio book, read by Mason. An updated edition was published in paperback in 2011.
Mason performed in the closing ceremony of the 2012 Olympic Games on 12 August 2012. He produced and played on the charity single "Save the Children (Look Into Your Heart)", which also 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, Mason was presented with a BASCA Gold Badge Award in recognition of his contributions to music. Mason said in 2018 that, while he remained close to Gilmour and Waters, the two remained "at loggerheads".
Mason's style was gentler and more laid back than that of other progressive rock drummers of the time. He soloed on a few Pink Floyd compositions including "Nick's Boogie", "A Saucerful of Secrets", "The Grand Vizier's Garden Party", "Up The Khyber", "Skins", and "Time". Due to the dynamic live performances of Pink Floyd, Mason's style was more energetic and complex live, and can be heard on such albums as Ummagumma and .
Mason began using Premier drums but changed to Ludwig-Musser drums after seeing Ginger Baker use them. He also briefly used Fibes Drums. He currently uses Drum Workshop (DW) drums, pedals and hardware. His kit is a DW double bass kit with the Dark Side of the Moon logo on the drums. He has also used Paiste cymbals during his entire career with Pink Floyd and currently uses a mixture of Paiste Traditional, Signature and 2002 cymbals. He also endorses Remo drumheads, Latin Percussion and Pro-Mark sticks.
In 1998, Mason published a book, Into the Red, in which he documents his experience with his cars, along with some histories. It was followed in 2010 by a second book, Passion for Speed: Twenty-four Classic Cars that Shaped a Century of Motor Sport. (2025). 9781847326393, Publisher: Carlton Books Ltd; Revised & enlarged edition (10 Sept. 2010). ISBN 9781847326393
Mason is associated with the Italian manufacturer Ferrari, and estimates he has owned 40 Ferrari cars. His first purchase in the early 1970s was a Ferrari 275 GTB/4, which he comments would regularly wet-plug (when spark plugs are coated with unburned fuel). His most notable purchase was in 1977 from his proceeds from the sale of the Pink Floyd album Dark Side Of The Moon, when he paid £37,000 () for one of only 39 Ferrari 250 GTOs. He still owns the car, valued now in excess of £30 million. Mason and Gilmour drove the first two Ferrari F40s back to the UK from Maranello.
Mason was invited by Ferrari to purchase one of the 399 original Enzo cars. He appeared in an episode of the BBC motoring programme Top Gear in which he allowed Jeremy Clarkson to borrow it for a review, on the condition Clarkson promote the release of the book . Skirting BBC advertising rules prohibiting product endorsements, Clarkson referenced Pink Floyd songs and album titles in the review of the Enzo and the Stig drove around the Top Gear test track with "Another Brick in the Wall" playing, despite the fact that the Enzo does not come equipped with a stereo. Mason later sold the Enzo, and replaced it with a Blu Scozia-coloured LaFerrari.
Mason appeared on Season 2, Episode 8 of The Grand Tour. He won against the Police drummer Stewart Copeland for the title of "fastest rock drummer from a band that begins with a P" (driving not drumming) in the Celebrity Face Off segment.
Mason is an Atheism. His wealth amounted to £75 million, according to the Sunday Times Rich List 2015–2016.Sunday Times Rich List 2006–2007, A & C Black () In addition to vintage car collecting, Mason is a qualified helicopter pilot, and flies an Aerospatiale AS 350 Squirrel helicopter in specially painted colours.
Mason is part of Football Ventures, a consortium that bought Bolton Wanderers Football Club out of administration in August 2019. He is a supporter of Arsenal F.C.
In December 2021, Mason's portrait was painted by semi-finalists on an episode of Portrait Artist of the Year.
Mason is a board member and co-chairman of the Featured Artists' Coalition. As a spokesman for the organisation, he has voiced his support for musicians' rights and offered advice to younger artists in a rapidly changing music industry. In 2014, Mason joined Waters in expressing support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign against Israel over the Israeli–Palestinian conflict and urged the Rolling Stones not to play in Israel.
In November of that year, Mason designed a "Wish You Were Here"-themed Paddington Bear statue, exhibited outside the O2 Arena in London (one of 50 placed around the city). The statues were auctioned to raise funds for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC).
Mason and his wife have been supporters of Wiltshire and Bath Air Ambulance Charity for many years, including opening the gardens of their home, Middlewick House, to raise money for the charity.
Mason was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) 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.
On 24 July 2023, ahead of his Pompeii concert with his band Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets, Mason was awarded with the honorary citizenship of the Italian city of Pompeii.
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