Gary Wright, the artist behind ’70s hits “Dream Weaver” and “Love Is Alive,” has died. His son Justin confirmed to NBC News that Wright suffered from Parkinson’s illness and Lewy physique dementia. He was 80 years previous.
Born in New Jersey, Wright moved to Europe within the ’60s and have become a founding member of the U.Okay. group Spooky Tooth. He finally launched into a solo profession in addition to serving as a studio musician for a lot of artists, together with Harry Nilsson, Tim Rose, B.B. King, and notably George Harrison and Ringo Starr. Wright performed on quite a lot of Harrison tasks, together with his first post-Beatles solo album All Things Must Pass; he additionally finally toured with Ringo Starr & His All-Star Band.
Wright’s passing was met with quite a lot of tributes, together with from Ambrosia’s David Pack. “I used to be a fan of his earliest UK supergroup, Spooky Tooth, then watched him evolve into a world legend with breakthrough hits corresponding to ‘Dream Weaver’ and ‘My Love is Alive.’ Gary’s lengthy friendship with George Harrison resulted in George asking him to play keyboards on each solo album and taking journeys to India and world wide collectively,” Pack wrote partially on Facebook. “A 12 months in the past, David Foster, Jim Keltner, and I organized a visit to Gary’s home on Labor Day 2022 and spent the day cheering him on, showering him with love + hugs, tales, and songs. He couldn’t communicate, however he smiled loads; you possibly can inform he beloved us honoring him—as hundreds of thousands worldwide did. I really feel Gary has ascended to heaven, having left his associates, household, and the world actually enriched by his spirit and songs.”
Similarly, singer-songwriter Stephen Bishop wrote on X/Twitter, “It is with nice disappointment that I acquired the information of my expensive pal Gary Wright’s passing. The connected pictures maintain treasured recollections from the very first and final time we shared the stage collectively, alongside our mutual musical pal John Ford Coley.”
He continued, “Gary’s vibrant character and distinctive expertise made each second collectively actually pleasurable. His legacy will dwell on for a few years to come back. I’ll at all times cherish the heat and kindness proven to me by Gary and his spouse Rose, and I’ll eternally maintain expensive the tales he shared with me about days passed by. My heartfelt condolences exit to his household, associates, and followers throughout this tough time.”
