Richard wright biography pink floyd

Richard William Wright (b.July 28, 1943 – d. September 15, 2008) was an English pianist, keyboardist and songwriter, best known for his career with Pink Floyd. Wright’s richly textured keyboard layers were a vital ingredient and a distinctive characteristic of Pink Floyd’s sound. Wright frequently sang background and occasionally lead vocals on stage and in the studio with Pink Floyd (most notably on the songs “Time”, “Echoes”, “Wearing the Inside Out”, “Astronomy Domine” and “Matilda Mother”).

Though not as prolific a songwriter as his bandmates Roger Waters and David Gilmour, he wrote significant parts of the music for classic albums such as Meddle, The Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here, as well as for Pink Floyd’s final studio album The Division Bell.

Wright is ranked #5 on Digital Dreamdoor’s list of “100 Greatest Rock Keyboardists of All Time” and #8 on MusicRadar’s top 27.

Early Life and Career

Wright, whose father was head biochemist at Unigate Dairies, grew up in Hatch End, North London and was educated at the Haberdashers’ Aske’s School.

Wright taught himself to play guitar at age 12, as well as play trumpet and piano, and took private lessons in musical theory and composition at the Eric Gilder School of Music. Uncertain about his future, he enrolled at Regent Street Polytechnic in 1962. There he met fellow band members Roger Waters and Nick Mason, was a founding member of The Pink Floyd Sound (as they were then called) in 1965, and also participated in its previous incarnations, Sigma 6 and The (Screaming) Abdabs. Although Mason and Waters were competent students, Wright found architecture of little interest and after only a year of study moved to the London College of Music.

In the early days of Pink Floyd, Wright was a prominent musical force in the group (although not as much as Syd Barrett, the band’s chief so

The Richard Wright Archives

Welcome to The Richard Wright Archives, we had been around as the only Richard Wright website from 2001 – 2008, when Rick passed away our site took a beating and I had to shut it down for awhile. Well I am bringing it back today 7/28/12 for what would have been Richard Wright’s 69th Birthday. Happy Birthday Rick, all your fans miss you.

And welcome to the new version of The Richard Wright Archives. I will be slowly building the site back up, so please be patient as I get things done. Thanks!

If you click the menu link Discussion, it will take you directly to the Facebook group page for this site, consider it our forums.

And if you like our site here, why don’t you stop by our original site, The Syd Barrett Archives, serving up Syd Barrett goodness since 1997!

Richard Wright was an English pianist, keyboardist and songwriter, best known for his career with Pink Floyd. Wright’s richly textured keyboard layers were a vital ingredient and a distinctive characteristic of Pink Floyd’s sound. Wright frequently sang background and occasionally lead vocals on stage and in the studio with Pink Floyd (most notably on the songs “Time”, “Echoes”, “Wearing the Inside Out”, “Astronomy Domine” and “Matilda Mother”).

Though not as prolific a songwriter as his bandmates Roger Waters and David Gilmour, he wrote significant parts of the music for classic albums such as Meddle, The Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here, as well as for Pink Floyd’s final studio album The Division Bell.

English keyboardist, co-founder of Pink Floyd (1943–2008)

Musical artist

Richard William Wright (28 July 1943 – 15 September 2008) was an English keyboardist and songwriter who co-founded the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. He appeared on almost every Pink Floyd album and performed on all of their tours. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 as a member of Pink Floyd.

Wright grew up in Hatch End, Middlesex, and met his future Pink Floyd bandmates Roger Waters and Nick Mason while studying architecture at the Regent Street Polytechnic, London. After being joined by frontman and songwriter Syd Barrett, Pink Floyd achieved commercial success in 1967. Barrett was replaced by David Gilmour in 1968, who, along with Waters and Wright, took over songwriting. Wright initially contributed significantly to the band as a singer-songwriter, writing and providing lead vocals on songs including "Remember a Day" and the single "It Would Be So Nice" (both 1968). Later, Wright acted mainly as an arranger on compositions by Waters and Gilmour. He began to contribute less towards the end of the 1970s and left the band after touring The Wall in 1981. He rejoined as a session player in 1987 for A Momentary Lapse of Reason, becoming a full-time member again for The Division Bell in 1994. Sessions with Wright during this period were later released on the 2014 album The Endless River. Wright's jazz influences and distinctive keyboard playing were an important part of the Pink Floyd sound. As well as playing Farfisa and Hammond organs and Kurzweil synthesisers, he sang regularly in the band and took lead vocals on songs such as "Time" (1973) and "Wearing the Inside Out" (1994).

Wright recorded two solo albums and was briefly active in the pop duo Zee with Dave Harris of Fashion. Following Pink Floyd's Live 8 appearance in 2005, he became part of Gilmour's touring band. Wright died from lung cancer in Lo

With Pink Floyd’s first studio album in 20 years set to drop in November, it’s good to look back at the band’s importance in rock and roll history. Richard Wright was a key player in creating most of the band’s releases, even writing and singing lead vocals for some of the tracks. His death in 2008 led everyone to believe that Pink Floyd’s 1994 album, The Division Bell, would be their last, but The Endless River will feature some of Wright’s recordings from as far back as 1969.

The Inception

Always a huge musical talent, Rick Wright taught himself how to play trumpet, piano and guitar at age 12; however, unsure of his future, he studied architecture when he went off to university. It was there, though, where he met Roger Waters and Nick Mason, and Pink Floyd was born.

Throughout the band’s early days, Wright was a powerful force, and even though Syd Barrett was the frontman, Wright contributed to the band by writing and singing some tracks. As time went on, Wright became less interested in songwriting and instead focused on Pink Floyd’s longer, instrumental pieces. He was the man who solidified Pink Floyd’s ambient, atmospheric sound and he made the band what it was.

Difficulties

His first solo project, Wet Dreams, was a huge flop, and his relationship with Roger Waters wasn’t exactly flourishing either. In fact, in 1980, Waters forced him to resign from the band, but he was still kept as a salaried musician for their live concerts. Their 1983 album, The Final Cut, is the only one that Wright does not appear on.

In 1984, Wright released another album, as a part of a musical duo, but Identity was a flop, just like Wet Dreams. He was also still just a salaried musician for Pink Floyd, but by 1994, he had been reinstated into the group and even wrote a few of the songs on The Division Bell. Pink Floyd flourished again.

Finality

In 1996, Wright released his second solo album, as