Inner-conflicts, musical differences, and intense ego battles, Pink Floyd was a rarely harmonious group. Fostering one of the most tumultuous histories in all of rock music, it is easy to see why discussion surrounding the band often focuses on the rivalries between band members and the ever-shifting power struggle at its core. Throughout all that malaise, though, Richard Wright was one of the very few constants in Pink Floyd’s tenure, something for which he is rarely afforded the credit he so richly deserves.
Wright was never at the helm of the iconic outfit, but that didn’t stop the keyboardist from having a profound effect on the musical output of Pink Floyd, right from their very early days. It was during his days studying architecture at Regent Street Polytechnic in London that Wright first crossed paths with his future bandmates Roger Waters and Nick Mason, but it was Wright who organised the very first recording sessions for the band back in the mid-1960s.
In fact, if you look at Floyd’s masterful debut album, The Piper At The Gates of Dawn, Wright’s influence is colossal; he even sings lead vocals alongside Syd Barrett on the opening track. After all, Wright had a particularly close relationship with Barrett, with the pair sharing a flat together in Richmond at one point. Reportedly, the keyboardist considered leaving Pink Floyd in 1968, when Barrett was cruelly pushed out of the band, resulting from his continued mental health struggles and drug-induced unpredictability.
With Roger Waters taking the reins of the band following Barrett’s departure, Wright’s songwriting and vocal contributions to the band became a little rarer. Although he had moments in the spotlight, with groundbreaking compositions like ‘Sysyphus’ or even ‘Summer ‘68’, he appeared to have more creative freedom within the band under Barrett’s tenure, reflected by the volume and quality of his writing contributions to the band during those early years.
Nevertheless, Wright’s post-Barrett contributions to the band still formed some ultimate highlights within their discography. For instance, ‘Time’ is among the defining moments of The Dark Side of the Moon, and Wright’s organ work and co-lead vocals form a core part of its appeal.
Wright’s most notable moment with Pink Floyd arguably came with ‘Echoes’. Featuring Wright on lead vocals, alongside David Gilmour, the song is one of Floyd’s most expansive, innovative, and utterly groundbreaking. Performances at Pompeii cemented the track as one of Floyd’s finest hours, but it was Wright who made the song so special. In fact, Wright was so essential to the track that Gilmour has outright refused to perform the song in more recent years, following the tragic passing of the keyboardist in 2008.
Despite writing, performing, and providing vocals to a multitude of Pink Floyd tracks over the years—from defining anthems to forgotten obscurities—Wright was asked to leave the band during the sessions for The Wall in 1979. Owing to his apparent lack of contributions to the album, the rest of the band, Roger Waters leading the charge, asked the founding member to leave, thus changing the dynamic of the band entirely.
Ultimately, this sacking didn’t last that long. Wright was reintroduced as a touring member of the band shortly after his departure, and he returned in full force around the time of A Momentary Lapse In Reason, the first Floyd album without Roger Waters. In the intervening years, Wright embarked upon an incredible yet depressingly short-lived solo career, which reaffirmed his quality and power as a songwriter and performer. It should go without saying, therefore, that those moments where he was placed in the spotlight of Pink Floyd form some of the band’s most exciting, innovative, and truly beautiful.
Pink Floyd tracks with Richard Wright on lead vocals:
- ‘Astronomy Domine’ (co-led with Syd Barrett)
- ‘Matilda Mother’ (co-led with Syd Barrett)
- ‘See-Saw’
- ‘Remember a Day’
- ‘It Would Be So Nice’
- ‘Sysyphus’
- ‘Summer ‘68’
- ‘Echoes’ (co-led with David Gilmour)
- ‘Paintbox’
- ‘Stay’
- ‘Burning Bridges’ (co-led with David Gilmour)
- ‘Time’ (co-led with David Gilmour)
- Wearing the Inside Out’
