Rick Wright

Rick Wright (28 July 1943 – 15 September 2008) was an English musician, composer, singer and songwriter. He was a founding member, keyboardist and vocalist of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd, performing on all of the group's albums, except for The Final Cut, including The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here and The Division Bell, and playing on all of their tours.

Overshadowed by band mates Barrett, Waters and Gilmour and being the quietest and most reserved member of Pink Floyd, Wright's contributions have been overlooked, but his death brought a reappraisal and recognition of his talents. His jazz and improvisation influences and keyboard performances were an important part of the Pink Floyd sound; being a prominent player of the Farfisa and Hammond organs and the Kurzweil synthesizer. Wright sang regularly in the band, and occasionally took the lead vocal on Pink Floyd songs such as "Time", "Remember a Day" and "Wearing the Inside Out"

Wright's main influence was jazz, particularly Miles Davis and John Coltrane. He never considered himself a typical songwriter, preferring to create whole albums of music with a theme, later saying "if the words came out like the music, and we didn't have anything else to do, then quite a few would be written". A number of compositions credited to Wright came out of improvisation and randomly trying ideas, some of which were picked up enthusiastically by his band mates. Wright later said "I just play and don't really think about what I'm doing, I just let it happen". Of all the Pink Floyd members, Wright was the most reserved, sitting down behind the keyboards and concentrating on the music. Wright died at home of lung cancer on 15 September 2008, aged 65

www.richardwright.net