Pratt was born on 3 January 1962, in a flat above a shop on the Cut, London. His father, Mike Pratt, was an actor, songwriter and screenwriter who died when Guy was 14. Pratt worked for a while as a graphic designer, but decided to concentrate on a music career.
Career
In 1981, aged 19, Pratt was asked to tour with the Australian band Icehouse. Icehouse supported David Bowie on his Serious Moonlight Tour, which was Bowie's longest, largest and most successful concert tour.[2]
In 1986, the Smiths bassist Andy Rourke was arrested on drug possession charges shortly before the Smiths were scheduled to leave for a North American tour in support of The Queen Is Dead. Expecting that Rourke would be denied work visas for the U.S. and Canada, the guitarist, Johnny Marr, asked Pratt to step in. Pratt spent nearly two weeks with the band, learning basslines and rehearsing. Shortly before the band was to leave Britain, Rourke received his visas and Pratt was not required.[3][4]
While Pratt was playing with Dream Academy in the 1980s, he met the Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour, who was producing them.[4] Gilmour invited him to play on Pink Floyd's Momentary Lapse of Reason Tour after the departure of the Pink Floyd bassist Roger Waters.[4] Pratt, a Pink Floyd fan, later said it was "the defining gig of my life".[4] He said he did not see himself as replacing Waters, who he viewed more as Pink Floyd's "grand conceptualist" than their bassist.[4] Pratt also played on Pink Floyd's 1994 Division Bell album and tour, and the 2014 album TheEndless River.[4] He also played on Gilmour's solo albums and is a member of Gilmour's touring band. Pratt's father in law was the Pink Floyd keyboardist, Richard Wright.[5]
Pratt in 2006
Producer and keyboardist Patrick Leonard approached Pratt in 1988 about forming a band, and helping him recruit members of what would become Toy Matinee. Pratt co-wrote many of the songs and played bass on all of the tracks on Toy Matinee's only studio album, released in 1990.[citation needed] Pratt played bass on Gary Moore's Dark Days in Paradise tour in 1997.[6] Pratt played on the 1989 Madonna single "Like a Prayer" and the 1995 Michael Jackson single "Earth Song".[7]
Pratt is a songwriter and composes music for TV and film. As a songwriter, Pratt co-wrote the UK number-one hit "Ain't No Doubt" by Jimmy Nail.[8] He produced, co-wrote and played bass, guitar and keyboards on the music for the 1998 Channel 4 drama series The Young Person's Guide to Becoming a Rock Star. With regular collaborator Dom Beken, he provided the theme music to Spaced, where he also appeared as the character Minty. Pratt also acted in Linda Green and appeared in an episode of the remake of Randall & Hopkirk, starring Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer. Pratt's father Mike had played the part of Jeff Randall in the original 1960s series. Pratt also played as a regular in the backing band for the BBC Radio 2 musical comedy show Jammin' with Rowland Rivron.[9]
Pratt's one-man music and comedy show, My Bass & Other Animals, debuted in August 2005 at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. In 2007, he published a memoir with the same name.[13][14][15] Pratt spent 2011 performing stand-up in Switzerland, Australia, and at the Edinburgh Fringe, as well as on a South American tour playing bass guitar for Dominic Miller.
Pratt in 2018
In April 2010, Pratt joined the Argentine cover band the End Pink Floyd, with Durga McBroom and Jon Carin, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He joined the Australian Pink Floyd Show on stage on 13 June 2011 for the Hampton Court Palace Festival for the song "Run Like Hell". He joined the UK Pink Floyd cover band Brit Floyd on stage on 9 November 2013 as a special guest during the Liverpool leg of their Pulse tour.[16]
In 2018, Pratt and others formed a new band, Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets, to perform Pink Floyd's early psychedelic material.[17] Along with Pratt, the band comprises Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason, former Blockheads guitarist Lee Harris, vocalist and guitarist Gary Kemp of Spandau Ballet, and Pratt's collaborator keyboardist Dom Beken.[18] The band toured Europe and North America in 2018 and 2019, with a third tour postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[19] In September 2020, they released a live album and film, Live at the Roundhouse.[20] During the COVID-19 pandemic, Pratt made a series of "Lockdown Licks" videos released on his YouTube channel, reminiscing about some of his best-known work.
↑ Pincombe, Sean (26 March 2020). "Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets 'Live at the Roundhouse' release delayed until September 2020". Retrieved 7 July 2020. Further to the postponement of their 2020 tour, Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets 'Live at the Roundhouse' concert video and audio releases have also been delayed. Owing to the worldwide Coronavirus pandemic, the release has been pushed from April, and will now hit store shelves on September 18th 2020.
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