The Great Gig in the Sky: RIP Richard Wright

From David Gilmour's website:

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. The blend of his and my voices and our musical telepathy reached their first major flowering in 1971 on 'Echoes'. In my view all the greatest PF moments are the ones where he is in full flow. After all, without 'Us and Them' and 'The Great Gig In The Sky', both of which he wrote, what would 'The Dark Side Of The Moon' have been? Without his quiet touch the Album 'Wish You Were Here' would not quite have worked.

In our middle years, for many reasons he lost his way for a while, but in the early Nineties, with 'The Division Bell', his vitality, spark and humour returned to him and then the audience reaction to his appearances on my tour in 2006 was hugely uplifting and it's a mark of his modesty that those standing ovations came as a huge surprise to him, (though not to the rest of us).

Like Rick, I don't find it easy to express my feelings in words, but I loved him and will miss him enormously.

For those who don't know, Richard was the keyboardist and one of the founding members of Pink Floyd. Ironically, I recently posted Us and Them, which is a song whose beginnings were directly from Rick while the Floyd were working on the soundtrack to Zabriskie Point.

I have to say that this news is hitting me particularly hard. I've been a worshipper of Pink Floyd for quite some time. One of reasons I've always loved the band is specifically Rick's approach to ambiance and playing that contributed to a sound that no one else can come close to. His work on the Wish You Were Here album was particularly brilliant. Psychedelic, melodic and even haunting at times. I thank him for it all, every note and every chord.

I'm also grateful I was able to see him in his element during Gilmour's 2006 tour.

I know there's so much more I could write about him, but to be perfectly honest, the news has paralyzed me a bit.

Sad. All of us sad.