Monday, September 15, 2008

The Great Gig in the Sky

Pink Floyd keyboardist Richard Wright is dead of cancer at the age of 65. Wright was one of the founding members of Floyd in 1965 along with Syd Barrett, who predeceased him. Wright wrote The Great Gig in the Sky and Us and Them on 1973's epic Dark Side of the Moon. He was relegated to being a session player for Floyd during The Wall tour due to band infighting, primarily with another founding member, Roger Waters, who wanted him fired. Waters left Floyd in 1985 and Wright returned to the band, reuniting with Nick Mason and David Gilmour. In 2005, Wright played on stage for the first time in 25 years with Waters, Mason and Gilmour at Live 8 in London. Pink Floyd is one of my all-time favorite bands and Wright will be missed.

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