David Gilmour explains how the late Richard Wright ended up on his new album

Posted On September 3, 2024September 3, 2024

Luck and Strange, the latest album from David Gilmour, is shaping up to be one of the most exciting releases of this year. It is the first solo effort from the Pink Floyd leader in nine years, following 2015’s Rattle That Lock. Not only has it been a long time coming, but it also features the prog band’s late keyboardist, Richard Wright.

Wright was a founding member of Pink Floyd. After the departure of the original frontman Syd Barrett in 1968, he took on songwriting duties alongside the new member Gilmour and bassist Roger Waters. He would later evolve into the group’s arranger and help bring some of their best-loved tracks to life, such as the original ‘Us and Them’ from The Dark Side of the Moon. Famously, he also sang on ‘Time’.

Wright’s impact on the band’s creative direction lessened towards the end of the 1970s as Waters took a more dictatorial role, edging out the other members. The keyboardist, who had become increasingly removed from his bandmates during this era, was fired during the sessions for 1979’s The Wall but strangely stayed on as a live member until 1981, leaving after they’d toured the album. 

After Waters’ acrimonious departure in 1985 following his final album with the group, The Final Cut, Wright returned to help their new leader, Gilmour, as a session player for 1987’s A Momentary Lapse of Reason. He rejoined full-time for 1994’s The Division Bell.

Wright died from lung cancer aged 65 on September 15th, 2008, at his London home. Sessions featuring him from The Division Bell period were later released on Pink Floyd’s final record, 2014’s The Endless River.

Now, fans will have a chance to hear Wright again on Gilmour’s Luck and Strange, which arrives on September 6th. In a new interview, the Pink Floyd leader has explained how it happened.

“It’s a strange admission that I’m using pieces recorded over 20 years ago,” Gilmour revealed in a chat with The Sun. “At the end of the ‘On an Island’ tour in 2006, I thought we were playing so well together that I got the core band together in this barn — Rick [Wright], Guy [Pratt] and drummer Steve DiStanislao.”

Gilmour explained that the barn was “effing freezing”, but the group still managed to capture a song. “I had this little riff and we jammed for 15 minutes,” he continued. “That is the track which became ‘Luck and Strange.’ All the verses, the introduction, the ending are on that original take — no rehear­sal, no thought beforehand.”

Remembering his late friend, Gilmour described Wright as a “one-off” with a singular style. “Rick had heart and soul,” he concluded. “We didn’t always see eye to eye, but he was a valuable partner.”

Gilmour is not the only classic rock hero to recently use recordings of his late bandmate. When The Beatles released their final song, ‘Now and Then,’ in late 2023, it utilised old recordings from long-since-passed members John Lennon and George Harrison.

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