| Pink Floyd Keyboardist Richard Wright Dead At 65
Founding member and songwriter had a 'short struggle with cancer,' spokesperson says.
Founding Pink Floyd keyboardist Richard Wright died in England on Monday (September 15) at the age of 65 after a battle with cancer. No further information about the cause of Wright's death was available at press time, according to The Associated Press.
"The family of Richard Wright, founder member of Pink Floyd, announce with great sadness, that Richard died ... after a short struggle with cancer," read a statement from a spokesperson. "The family have asked that their privacy is respected at this difficult time."
The self-taught keyboardist met bassist Roger Waters and drummer Nick Mason in architecture school and in 1964 joined their group Sigma 6, which eventually evolved into the Pink Floyd Sound. With the addition of late singer/guitarist Syd Barrett — who left the band in 1968 and died in 2006 of cancer — the group, now called Pink Floyd, began its rise as one of the most creative and powerful psychedelic bands on the British scene.
In that early period, along with Barrett, Wright was a major musical engine driving the band's pioneering experimental sound, penning the songs "The Great Gig in the Sky" and "Us and Them" on Floyd's legendary 1973 black-light rock opus, Dark Side of the Moon. He also added key vocals to the 1971 20-plus minute epic, "Echoes." He made significant contributions to the songs "Atom Heart Mother" and the Barrett tribute "Shine on You Crazy Diamond." However, along with Gilmour and Mason, Wright found his contributions diminishing as Waters increasingly dominated the band's songwriting and direction.
In a group whose history is rife with decades-long grudges, Wright was not immune to the inter-band drama, splitting with Floyd in 1979 during sessions for The Wall, due to his strained relationship with Waters. He returned to the group as a paid session musician for shows in 1980 and 1981, but he was not included on 1983's The Final Cut, the only Floyd album on which he didn't appear. Following Waters' departure, Wright rejoined the band in 1988. He played keyboards and sang on A Momentary Lapse of Reason and co-wrote five songs on 1994's The Division Bell.
Wright, who performed on every Floyd tour, was also onstage in 2005, when the surviving members of the band played a rapturously received reunion gig at the Live 8 concert. Wright released a handful of solo albums and appeared on records by Barrett, and he had been performing regularly with Floyd singer/guitarist David Gilmour.+++++
Into the distance, a ribbon of black
Stretched to the point of no turning back
A flight of fancy on a windswept field
Standing alone my senses reeled
Fatal attraction is holding me fast,
How can I escape this irresistible grasp?
Can't keep my eyes from the circling skies
Tongue-tied and twisted Just an earth-bound misfit, I
Ice is forming on the tips of my wings
Unheeded warnings, I thought I thought of everything
No navigator to find my way home
Unladened, empty and turned to stone
The soul intention is learning to fly
Condition grounded but determined to try
God keep my eyes from the circling skies
Tongue-tied and twisted just an earth-bound misfit, I
Friction lock - set.Mixture - richPropellers - fully forwardFlaps - set - 10 degreesEngine gauges and suction - check
Mixture set to maximum percent - recheck
Flight instruments...
Altimeters - check both
(garbled word) - on
Navigation lights - on
Strobes - on
(to tower): Confirm 3-8-Echo ready for departure
(tower): Hello again, this is now 129.4
(to tower): 129.4. It's to go.
(tower): You may commence your takeoff, winds over 10 knots.
(to tower): 3-8-Echo
Easy on the brakes. Take it easy. Its gonna roll this time.
Just hand the power gradually, and it...
Above the planet on a wing and a prayer,
My grubby halo, a vapour trail in the empty air,
Above the clouds I see my shadow fly
Out of the corner of my watering eye
To dream unthreatened by the morning light
Could blow this soul right through the roof of the night
There's no sensation to compare with this
Suspended animation, A state of bliss
Can't keep my mind from the circling skies
Tongue-tied and twisted just an earth-bound misfit, I |