Gilmour released his first solo album David Gilmour in the spring of 1978. One of the tunes he wrote at the time, but did not use, was developed to become the Pink Floyd classic "Comfortably Numb". Gilmour released his second solo album, About Face, in 1984.

In the 80's he purchased the houseboat the Astoria, and transformed it into a recording studio. The majority of the two most recent Pink Floyd albums were recorded on the boat. It's currently moored on the Thames River.

In 1985, Waters declared that Pink Floyd was defunct. However, Gilmour assumed full control and created A Momentary Lapse of Reason. Gilmour explained:

"I had a number of problems with the direction of the band in our recent past, before Roger left. I thought the songs were very wordy and that, because the specific meanings of those words were so important, the music became a mere vehicle for lyrics, and not a very inspiring one... Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here were so successful not just because of Roger's contributions, but also because there was a better balance between the music and the lyrics than there has been in more recent albums. That's what I'm trying to do with A Momentary Lapse of Reason more focus on the music, restore the balance."

During Pink Floyd's quiet spells, he has amused himself as a session musician, producer and even concert sound engineer, for a wide variety of acts including some pseudonymous novelty releases, Roy Harper, Kate Bush (whose career Gilmour was instrumental in launching), The Dream Academy (another artist whose early history Gilmour was pivotal in), Grace Jones, Tom Jones, Elton John, Arcadia, Bryan Ferry, Berlin, Robert Wyatt, Hawkwind, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Sam Brown, Jools Holland, Propaganda, Pete Townshend, The Who, Supertramp, Warren Zevon, Alan Parsons, various charity "supergroups" and many more.

Gilmour is especially renowned for a very precise, "bendy" kind of soloing, as well as various "violin-type" sounds. His solos are noted for being well-composed and constructed, with very little waste of notes. In interviews, Gilmour has explained that what he sees as his lack of technique led him to concentrate on melody over virtuosity, and the enduring appeal of his solos is that that they are usually expressive tunes rather than technical exercises. To this end, he has also been an innovator in the use of guitar sound effects.

Although mainly known for his guitar work, Gilmour can also play bass guitar (which he did on numerous Floyd tracks, including "One of These Days", "Sheep" and "Hey You"), drums, keyboards, and lately, the saxophone. In fact, on the compilation album A Collection of Great Dance Songs, Gilmour had to re-record the song "Money" due to licensing problems, and played all instruments himself (except for saxophone).

In 1996 Gilmour was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Pink Floyd.

In 2002, he held a small number of acoustic solo concerts in London and Paris, along with a small band and choir, which has been documented on the In Concert release.

In May 2003, Gilmour sold one of his London houses and contributed the $5.9 million he made to a housing project for the homeless.

In November 2003, he was made a CBE, for philanthropy and for services to music.

On July 2, 2005, Gilmour played with Pink Floyd - including Roger Waters - at Live 8. The performance caused a temporary 1,343 percent sales increase of Pink Floyd's album Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd. As a result, Gilmour vowed to donate all his resulting profits to charities that reflect the goals of Live 8 saying:

"Though the main objective has been to raise consciousness and put pressure on the G8 leaders, I will not profit from the concert. This is money that should be used to save lives."

Shortly after, he also called upon all artists experiencing a surge in sales from Live 8 performances to donate the extra revenue to Live 8 fundraising.

On February 6, 2006, he announced in an interview with the magazine La República that Pink Floyd would most likely never tour or write material together again. He said:

"I think enough is enough. I am 60 years old. I don't have the will to work as much anymore. Pink Floyd was an important part in my life, I have had a wonderful time, but it's over. For me it's much less complicated to work alone."

He said that by agreeing to Live 8, he had ensured the story of Floyd would not end on a sour note.

"There was more than one reason, firstly to support the cause. The second one is the energy consuming an uncomfortable relationship between Roger and me that I was carrying along in my heart. That is why we wanted to perform and to leave the trash behind. Thirdly I might have regretted it if I declined".

On February 20, 2006, Gilmour changed his stance on Pink Floyd's future when interviewed by Billboard.com stating ""Who knows? I have no plans at all to do that. My plans are to do my concerts and put my record out". The tone of that statement seems to imply that either he has not ruled out any more one-off gigs or a farewell concert.

Gilmour is also an experienced pilot. Under the guise of his company, Intrepid Aviation, he had amassed an impressive collection of historical aircraft. He decided to sell Intrepid, for the following reason (taken from a BBC radio interview in 2002):

"Intrepid Aviation was a way for me to make my hobby pay for itself a little bit, but gradually over a few years Intrepid Aviation became a business because you have to be businesslike about it. Suddenly I found instead of it being a hobby and me enjoying myself, it was a business and so I sold it. I don't have Intrepid Aviation any more. I just have a nice old biplane that I pop up, wander around the skies in sometimes..."

Gilmour has four children from his first marriage, to Ginger: Alice, Claire, Sarah and Matthew. They originally attended a Waldorf School, but Gilmour called their education there "horrific". He has four children from his second marriage and has adopted the first-born, Charlie, of his second wife, the writer Polly Samson. The other three are named Joe, Gabriel and Romany.

He recorded a contribution to an "all-star" version of the Buzzcocks' Ever Fallen in Love with Someone You Shouldn't Have?, in memory of John Peel, released in November 2005. Also in November 2005, he spoke at the inauguration of Pink Floyd into the UK Music Hall of Fame.

His third solo album, On An Island, was released on March 6, 2006. Produced by Gilmour with Phil Manzanera and Chris Thomas, the album features orchestrations by renowned Polish composer Zbigniew Preisner. The album features David Crosby and Graham Nash on harmonies, Robert Wyatt on cornet and percussion and Richard Wright on Hammond organ and vocals. Other contributors include Jools Holland, Phil Manzanera, Georgie Fame, Robert Wyatt, Andy Newmark, B. J. Cole, Chris Stainton, Willie Wilson, Rado ‘Bob' Klose on guitar and Leszek Możdżer on piano. The album also features Gilmour's debut on saxophone.

Of the album's 10 tracks, all music is written by Gilmour, with lyrics by wife Polly Samson (they collaborated on lyrics on two songs), while three tracks are purely instrumental.

David Gilmour has been touring Europe, the U.S. and Canada from March 10 to May 31 to promote On An Island. There will be 10 shows total in the U.S. and Canada leg of the tour. Pink Floyd alumnus Richard Wright, Dick Parry, Guy Pratt and Jon Carin have accompanied him on the tour.

On An Island has confirmed Gilmour's lasting popularity by entering the UK charts at #1. It has also provided Gilmour with his first U.S. Top 10 album, reaching #6. The album was also certified platinum in Canada on April 10, 2006, with sales of over 100,000 copies.