Syd Barrett, the troubled genius who co-founded Pink Floyd but spent his last years in reclusive anonymity, has died at the age of 60, a spokeswoman for the band confirmed Tuesday.

The spokeswoman, who declined to give her name until the band made an official announcement, told reporters that Barrett died several days ago.

She did not disclose the cause of death, but the Guardian reported that Barrett died from cancer last Friday.

The guitarist was born Roger Keith Barrett in Cambridge, England, in 1946 and acquired the nickname 'Syd' when he was 15.

He met future bandmates Roger Waters and David Gilmour while they were students there and co-founded Pink Floyd with Waters in 1965, before writing many of the band's early songs.

The group's jazz-infused rock made them darlings of the London psychedelic scene, and the 1967 album 'The Piper at the Gates of Dawn,' largely written by Barrett, was a huge success.

Their music, which combined symphonic orchestral elements with electronic and real-life sounds such as clocks and planes, as well as sharp lyrics, was considered ground-breaking at the time.

However, Barrett's behaviour grew increasingly erratic and he suffered a psychedelic-drug induced breakdown while at the peak of his career.

He left the group in 1968 after just one album and spent much of the rest of his life living as a recluse in the basement of his mother Winfred's home in Cambridge.

"He died very peacefully a couple of days ago," Barrett's brother Alan told reporters. "There will be a private family funeral."

Barrett had been suffering from diabetes and had not recorded music for several years.

Live 8 reunion

Pink Floyd delighted millions of fans across the globe when they reunited for last year's Live 8 concert in London's Hyde Park.

After an absence of more than 20 years, bass player and main lyricist Waters rejoined Gilmour on guitar, Rick Wright on keyboards and Nick Mason on drums for the electrifying performance on July 1, 2005.

Following an acrimonious break-up and legal wrangling, the four had not played in public together since the days of the 1979 album 'The Wall.'

Many die-hard fans believe the short-lived Barrett period to be the band's best.

Others prefer the experimental period of the early 1970s which produced brilliant works such as 'Ummagumma,' 'Atom Heart Mother' and 'Meddle.'

The band's big global success came in 1973 with one of the decade's defining works, 'The Dark Side of the Moon,' in which they combined the experimentalism of their early days with hi-tech electronic music and more melodic tunes.

The hit 'Shine on You Crazy Diamond', from the 1975 album 'Wish You Were Here', was said by many to be written about Barrett, whose use of LSD was well-documented.

Gilmour said earlier this year he thought Barrett's breakdown would have happened anyway, even without the drugs.

"It was a deep-rooted thing. But I'll say the psychedelic experience might well have acted as a catalyst," Gilmour told reporters.

"Still, I just don't think he could deal with the vision of success and all the things that went with it."