Richard Wright, commonly called Rick Wright, was an English keyboardist, singer, and composer who helped establish Pink Floyd as one of its original members. In addition to his long association with the renowned progressive rock group, he issued two solo albums. Born on July 28, 1943, in Hatch End, Middlesex, England, he formed Pink Floyd in 1965 alongside Syd Barrett, Roger Waters, and Nick Mason. The group issued its debut full-length album, the psychedelic classic The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, in 1967. On that record Wright contributed organ, piano, and vocals, most prominently on “Astronomy Domine,” and received songwriting credit. Pink Floyd continued to produce numerous albums over the following years, among them the landmark Dark Side of the Moon in 1973, before the lineup fractured in the early 1980s. During the band’s formative period Wright played a central role, although his compositional influence gradually diminished once Waters took greater command of the group’s direction. Waters ultimately dismissed him from Pink Floyd while The Wall was being recorded in 1979; Wright still joined the subsequent tour yet took no part in the sessions for the final Waters-era release, The Final Cut, in 1983. Following Waters’s exit, Wright rejoined the remaining members for A Momentary Lapse of Reason in 1987 and The Division Bell in 1994, also appearing on the live albums The Delicate Sound of Thunder in 1988 and Pulse in 1995. Outside the group he issued Wet Dream in 1978 and Broken China in 1996, and briefly led the side project Zee, whose sole album, Identity, appeared in 1984. He passed away from cancer on September 15, 2008.
