Gilmour's comments:
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.
David Gilmour
Monday 15th September 2008
