Tributes have been paid to former Pink Floyd star Rick Wright after his death from cancer.
The keyboard legend, who died on Monday at the age of 65, played on all but one of the band's 14 studio albums. Joining the band in 1965, although he had also been involved in earlier incarnations, Wright was instrumental to shaping Pink Floyd's sound as it evolved from its rather avant garde early days to the world-conquering Dark Side Of The Moon and beyond.
Self-taught Wright also wrote a number of tracks for the band including The Great Gig In The Sky and Us And Them.
Wright's spokesman said: "The family of Richard Wright, founder member of Pink Floyd, announce with great sadness that Richard died today after a short struggle with cancer. The family have asked that their privacy is respected at this difficult time."
Floyd's guitarist and frontman David Gilmour said: "No one can replace Richard Wright. He was my musical partner and my friend. In the welter of arguments about who or what was Pink Floyd, Rick's enormous input was frequently forgotten.
"He was gentle, unassuming and private but his soulful voice and playing were vital, magical components of our most recognised Pink Floyd sound. I have never played with anyone quite like him."
Wright had joined the band when it reformed for its one-off reunion at Live 8 in 2005, a who that many had thought impossible given the bitter schism between Gilmour and bass player Roger Waters. Wright's own problematic relationship with Waters put him in the bizarre position of - despite his key involvement with the group since its inception - having to resign from Pink Floyd or Waters had threatened to pull the plug on the sessions for The Wall. He remained in the band as a salaried musician.
Three-times married Wright went on to play on further post-Waters Floyd releases and played in Gilmour's backing band, as well as releasing a pair of solo albums. He was understood to have been working on further solo material at the time of his death.
(Pictures by Mick Hutson)
7:19 PM | 15/09/2008
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Another great one in the sky.
Posted by gary at 4:19 PM | 21/09/2008 | Report Abuse
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