Pink Floyd fans stunned by Wish You Were Here album cover as they ‘thought it was a painting’

Pink Floyd fans have discussed the making of the Wish You Were Here album cover, as some believed it was a painting.

The post to the r/PinkFloyd subreddit showed two stuntmen, Ronnie Rondell and Danny Rogers, appropriating the “getting burned” music industry phrase. The phrase, which means to be denied royalty payments, was adapted for the front cover of the band’s 1975 masterpiece. But some believed it was a painting and not two stuntmen who acted out the scene. A post to the Reddit page showed a behind-the-scenes shot of one of the stuntmen being extinguished, prompting some to share they are still amazed photographer Aubrey Powell managed to get the shot.

One user wrote: “Amazing they got such a good shot considering the guy was literally on fire.” While the stuntman did have a flame retardant suit on, the flames did affect him slightly. One wrote: “He had a flame-retardant suit on, including a hood with a wig over it. The only damage was to his moustache.” Another added: “I figured he had the flame retardant suit, still only gives you a small window to get the shot. Funny he lost his moustache though.”

But another was stunned to realise the picture was, indeed, a photograph, and not a painting. They wrote: “Wait that was a picture. I thought it was a painting.” Another added: “Its the guy on fire on the album cover of Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here.” But the original poster replied: “Yeah I have it on my wall. Never realised they lit a guy on fire and snapped a photo.”

A third user added: “Back then they used stuntman. Now everything is fake. Nice to see you have great taste in music. The Pink Floyd is one of a kind. Perfect.” Others were appreciative of the stuntman’s efforts and said it was refreshing to see hard work put into the album photo. One wrote: “Oh, the pre-CGI days…”

Behind the scenes shot of WYWH cover. Circa 1975
byu/willmanzo inpinkfloyd

Another wrote: “Reading the comments has been so educational. Can see the young ones and the old ones who are Floyd fans. Being old like me you just always knew it was a stuntman really on fire. Was never a second thought. All the kids here are mind-blown. Man, I love life and Pink Floyd.”

A third wrote: “If you liked the album art, Hipgnosis was the company that did their album art and many others.” Another replied: “There’s a really cool book called Taken by Storm that has a lot of great album artwork by Storm Thorgerson, who did most of the Pink Floyd album covers. Looks like it’s really expensive used now though, maybe it’s out of print.”

A third user suggested a separate book, adding: “There’s also Mind Over Matter by Storm Thorgerson, which has been revised several times so it should be easier to find used, in hardback or paperback. It only covers the Pink Floyd-related work of Storm and Hipgnosis.”