Mason & Waters Pay Rick Tribute
24th September 2008
Nick Mason and Roger Waters have paid tribute to their late bandmate Rick Wright.
Nick Mason gave his tribute in the Times newspaper. He said:
"Losing Rick is like losing a family member – in a fairly dysfunctional family. He's been in my life for 45 years, longer than my children and longer than my wife. It brings one's own mortality closer. I'll remember Rick with great affection. He was absolutely the non-contentious member of the band and probably suffered for it. I wouldn't say he was easy-going, but he certainly never pushed to any aggravation. It made life a lot easier.
"If there's something that feels like a legacy, it's Live 8 [July 2005, Hyde Park] and the fact that we did surmount any disagreements and managed to play together. It was the greatest occasion."
Meanwhile, Roger Waters, who had a more fractious relationship with the keyboardist than his other bandmates, also paid tribute to Rick, saying:
"I was very sad to hear of Rick's premature death, I knew he had been ill, but the end came suddenly and shockingly.
"My thoughts are with his family, particularly [his children] Jamie and Gala and their mum Juliet, who I knew very well in the old days, and always liked very much and greatly admired.
"As for the man and his work, it is hard to overstate the importance of his musical voice in the Pink Floyd of the '60s and '70s. The intriguing, jazz influenced, modulations and voicings so familiar in 'Us and Them' and 'Great Gig in the Sky,' which lent those compositions both their extraordinary humanity and their majesty, are omnipresent in all the collaborative work the four of us did in those times. Rick's ear for harmonic progression was our bedrock.
"I am very grateful for the opportunity that Live 8 afforded me to engage with him and David and Nick that one last time. I wish there had been more."
In addition Waters’ official website simply features a sea of candles in tribute to his former bandmate.
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(08/10/2008 18:19:43) You three remaining guy's should get back together in his memory, I for one would attend the concert, come on guy's do it for Rick and all your fan's. |
| - Jimmy |
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(08/10/2008 13:04:25) Rick was one of the two unsung heroes of Pink Floyd along with Nick Mason. His haunting intro to "The Great Gig In The Sky" from Darkside Of The Moon still moves me. Now he is there in R&R Heaven playing it once again. Long may your memory live on! |
| - Michael J Schumann |
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(07/10/2008 15:05:01) There should be a tribute to him in Ireland also.Our stadium in Galway graced Bob Dylan,so it would be great to have the remaining members of Floyd in concert there. P.s.Thank you again for your beautiful music R.I.P.Rick. |
| - Caroline Locke |
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(28/09/2008 13:20:12) It would be great if they did a tribute to Rick Wright. I think Rog and Nick would do it but it all depends on Dave. Maybe when Dave has finished plugging his new Live cd. Come on guys tear down your walls and play live once more. |
| - snakefinger |
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(27/09/2008 19:04:08) I remember seeing Pink Floyd many years ago and still think it was the best concert I ever attended. Rick will be sadly missed. |
| - Paul Clark |
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