A tribute to Richard Wright

Richard Wright, keyboard-player and backing vocalist for legendary rock band Pink Floyd, died on the 15th of September following a bout with cancer.

Pink Floyd came about in 1965, and Wright was there right from the beginning. He co-founded the band with Roger Waters, Nick Mason and short-time guitarplayer Rado Klose, after a brief period in pre-Floyd bands like 'The T-Set' and 'The Abdabs'. Wright would remain in the band right up until the last album and tour, and participated in the 2005 Live8 reunion concert. That would turn out to be the last Pink Floyd concert ever, if one is to believe statements from guitarist David Gilmour and Waters.

During the Pink Floyd glory years, Wright's keyboard and piano underlined the elaborate progressive rock of all their albums, and between Floyd activities he also found time for a solo career. His first solo album 'Wet dream' was released in 1976, and he handled the vocals and the writing of lyrics himself. A rock album in the vein of success-era Floyd, the album sadly went largely unnoticed and even today it is rarely seen or heard of. As good as it was, Wright would better it 18 years later with his second solo album 'Broken China'. The album's lyrics dealt with his wife's battles with depression and suicidal thoughts, and again the lyrics and vocals were handled by Wright himself, with two exceptions. On two of the records emotional tracks, Wright got Sinead O'Connor to contribute vocals. The best of these, and the best track on a good and underrated record, is the song 'Reaching for the rail'. This album, like his previous solo one, sounds rather like mid-tempo Pink Floyd with Wright singing. In latter years Wright toured with David Gilmour, and as a special surprise, they performed the song 'Breakthrough' live at the concerts, which can be seen (and heard) on the DVD 'David Gilmour live'.
At the time of his death, Wright was working on a third, instrumental, album.

In addition, he formed a band called Zee with Dave Harris of the band Fashion.
They only released on album (Identity in 1983), which failed to register much notice, just like the rest of his non-Floyd material. The album is one for completists, as it has very little to do with Pink Floyd and rock music in general, as it has more of an electronic music feel.

An underrated musician and writer, Wright's work is there for all to appreciate on such Pink Floyd classics as 'Shine on you crazy diamond', 'Run like Hell' and on former Floyd vocalist Syd Barrett's first two albums. To someone like me, who is a big fan of 70's rock music, Wright is another in a long line of musicians that worked hard for their bands success and will be missed. He was 65 at the time of his death, and leaves behind a wife and three children.
In one of life's small twists, his daughter Gala is married to musician Guy Pratt who played bass in Pink Floyd after Waters' exit.