Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready has praised David Gilmour of Pink Floyd as "the master" of guitar playing, highlighting his influence on the band's work. In a 2022 Guitar Player interview, McCready explained how Gilmour's style directly inspired Pearl Jam's track "Sirens" from their 2013 album Lightning Bolt, which deliberately channels the Pink Floyd sound through merging psychedelic rock and punk influences with their existing grunge-progressive rock foundation.

McCready expressed particular admiration for Gilmour's mastery of delay, subtlety and restraint, describing his solos as "songs within a song". He revealed that Pearl Jam's cover of Gilmour's "Comfortably Numb" from The Wall must be performed note-for-note without improvisation because any deviation compromises the song's integrity. McCready noted that Pink Floyd have long been a significant influence on his own playing style, and he views Gilmour's ability to transform simple ideas into something majestic as exemplary of the guitarist's considerable talent.