Rick Wright

In Memoriam: Pink Floyd keyboardist Wright dies

By: JOHN BARRETT

Posted: 9/17/08

Richard William "Rick" Wright, keyboardist and founding member of the influential progressive rock band Pink Floyd, died Monday, Sept. 15, at 65 after a brief struggle with cancer.

Although he kept the lowest profile of any member of the band, Wright performed on every Pink Floyd album except for 1983's "The Final Cut," and his textural, jazz-influenced keyboard arrangements were integral of the band's sound from the get-go.

Wright joined Pink Floyd in 1965, when the band was performing under the moniker "The Pink Floyd Sound."

He also performed on their 1967 debut "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn," Pink Floyd's only album under the leadership of original singer and guitarist Syd Barrett.

After Barrett overindulged in LSD and proved unable to function, Wright soldiered on along with bassist Roger Waters, guitarist David Gilmour and drummer Nick Mason. These four individuals went on to form the "classic" Pink Floyd lineup, which remained intact through the 1970s.

This incarnation of the band achieved worldwide success with blockbuster albums "The Dark Side of the Moon" (1973), "Wish You Were Here" (1975), "Animals" (1977), and "The Wall" (1979).

Wright helped to write a large portion of original material in Pink Floyd's earlier years, including "Shine On You Crazy Diamond," "Us and Them," and "The Great Gig in the Sky."

As the years wore on, Roger Waters gradually took total artistic and creative control of the band, and Wright's personal output vanished. This culminated in Waters' decision to fire Wright during the sessions for "The Wall," largely due to Wright's cocaine addiction.

Wright toured in support of "The Wall" as a paid musician rather than a member, and was ironically the only member of Pink Floyd to profit from the disastrously expensive tour.

After Waters left Pink Floyd in 1985, Gilmour and Mason opted to continue the band without him. They quickly invited Wright back aboard as a permanent member to record 1987's "A Momentary Lapse of Reason."

Wright stayed with Pink Floyd from then on and participated in a one-off reunion concert at Live 8 in 2005 - the group's first performance with Waters in over two decades.

Aside from his tenure with Pink Floyd, Wright recorded two solo albums: "Wet Dream" in 1978 and "Broken China" in 1996.

The legions of Pink Floyd fans across the world will be undoubtedly crushed by the news: Wright's death effectively destroys any chance of another reunion for the group's classic lineup.

According to various news reports, the loss of Wright has been hard on his former bandmates, particularly Gilmour, who had enlisted Wright's musical talents for his own solo work.