[Infowarrior] - Pink Floyd’s Richard Wright Dies at 65

[Richard Forno]

September 15, 2008
Pink Floyd’s Richard Wright Dies at 65
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 6:11 p.m. ET

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/arts/AP-EU-Britain-Pink-Floyd.html

LONDON (AP) -- Richard Wright, a founding member of the rock group  
Pink Floyd, died Monday. He was 65.

Pink Floyd's spokesman, Doug Wright, who is not related to the artist,  
said Wright died after a battle with cancer at his home in Britain. He  
says the band member's family did not want to give more details about  
his death.

Wright met Pink Floyd members Roger Waters and Nick Mason in college  
and joined their early band, Sigma 6. Along with the late Syd Barrett,  
the four formed Pink Floyd in 1965.

The group's jazz-infused rock and drug-laced multimedia ''happenings''  
made them darlings of the London psychedelic scene, and their 1967  
album, ''The Piper at the Gates of Dawn,'' was a hit.

In the early days of Pink Floyd, Wright, along with Barrett, was seen  
as the group's dominant musical force. The London-born musician and  
son of a biochemist wrote songs and played the keyboard.

''Rick's keyboards were an integral park of the Pink Floyd sound,''  
said Joe Boyd, a prominent record producer who worked with Pink Floyd  
early in its career.

The band released a series of commercially and critically successful  
albums including 1973's ''Dark Side of the Moon,'' which has sold more  
than 40 million copies. Wright wrote ''The Great Gig in the Sky'' and  
''Us and Them'' for that album, and later worked on the group's epic  
compositions such as ''Atom Heart Mother,'' ''Echoes'' and ''Shine on  
You Crazy Diamond.''

But tensions grew among Waters, Wright and fellow band member David  
Gilmour. The tensions came to a head during the making of ''The Wall''  
when Waters insisted Wright be fired. As a result, Wright was  
relegated to the status of session musician on the tour of ''The  
Wall,'' and did not perform on Pink Floyd's 1983 album, ''The Final  
Cut.''

Wright formed a new band Zee with Dave Harris, from the band Fashion,  
and released one album, ''Identity,'' with Atlantic Records.

Waters left Pink Floyd in 1985 and Wright began recording with Mason  
and Gilmour again, releasing the albums ''The Division Bell'' and ''A  
Momentary Lapse of Reason'' as Pink Floyd. Wright also released the  
solo albums ''Wet Dream'' (1978) and ''Broken China'' (1996).

In July 2005, Wright, Waters, Mason and Gilmour reunited to perform at  
the ''Live 8'' charity concert in London -- the first time in 25 years  
they had been onstage together.

Wright also worked on Gilmour's solo projects, most recently playing  
on the 2006 album ''On an Island'' and the accompanying world tour.

Gilmour paid tribute to Wright on Monday, saying his input was often  
forgotten.

''He was gentle, unassuming and private but his soulful voice and  
playing were vital, magical components of our most recognized Pink  
Floyd sound,'' he said. ''I have never played with anyone quite like  
him.''