Pink Floyd’s ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’ turns 50

Sony Music

March 1 marks the 50th anniversary of Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon, which was their eighth studio release and to this day is one of their most commercially successful releases ever.

The album, which features such songs as “Money” and “Brain Damage,” spent only one week at number one. But it went on to spend 741 weeks on the Billboard Album chart between 1973 and 1988, and has since gone on to spend a total of 972 weeks on the chart. As of 1998, the album had been certified 15-times Platinum by the RIAA.

“Dark Side of the Moon is not only one of the great Pink Floyd albums, but I think it’s one of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll albums of all time,” Jason Hanley, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s VP of education and visitor engagement, tells ABC Audio. “It really is a record that is so revolutionary at the time when it comes out in 1973, it’s revolutionary even for the band.”

He adds, “The songs are fantastic, the album was on the charts almost longer than I think any other album in history, sold so many copies, and still continues to be part of pop culture today.”

To celebrate the 50th anniversary, Pink Floyd has a lot of goodies in store for fans.

They are releasing a newly remastered version of the album on March 24, along with a Blu-ray and DVD audio with the original mix and remastered stereo versions. There will also be a new Blu-ray disc and CD of the classic concert The Dark Side of the Moon — Live at Wembley Empire Pool, London, 1974 and a new book, Pink Floyd: The Dark Side of the Moon: 50th Anniversary.