Rick Wright

I just found out that Rick Wright from Pink Floyd died on Sept 15. How did it take me so long to hear this?

This is a sad loss indeed. Wright was with Floyd from the beginning, and although he didn't receive nearly as much attention as guys like David Gilmour, Roger Waters or Syd Barrett, he was a key part of the Pink Floyd sound. He also wrote some of Pink Floyd's most memorable pieces: 'Us and Them' and 'The Great Gig in the Sky'.

This is particularly sad for me. I've been really in to Pink Floyd over the last few years. What particularly attracted me to their music was the spacey, atmospheric synth elements - most of which was Rick Wright's contribution to the sound. If he wasn't part of the band, I probably wouldn't have paid much attention to them. Wright's Minimoog solos in songs like "Shine on You Crazy Diamond" and "Any Colour You Like" are some of my favourite moments in any piece of music ever. They're also a lot of fun to play along with on my own Minimoog, which is almost always dialed in to a classic Floyd patch.

Here's a clip from a few years ago, when the 4 surviving original members of Pink Floyd joined each other for a brief set at the Live 8 concert. It's touching to see Gilmour, Wright and Mason playing together with Roger Waters (on bass) for the first time in over 24 years. As it turns out, it was the last time they would play together. I chose this clip because even though Wright is barely acknowledged by the camera crew, that actually sums up his role in the band: 'that other guy on the stage'. This is one of my favourite Pink Floyd songs.