Gary Wright, keyboardist and early synthesizer pioneer who scored a hit with 1975 album The Dream Weaver and played with Spooky Tooth and George Harrison, has died after suffering from Parkinson’s and Lewy body dementia for some time. He was 80.
Born in 1943 in New Jersey, Wright played keyboards on record by B.B. King, Jerry Lee Lewis, Ringo Starr, Harry Nilsson and Ronnie Spector and in the late ’60s formed band the New York Times who soon changed their name to Spooky Tooth and ran from 1967 to 1974 and while co-leading that band also played on George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass. After Spooky Tooth, Wright struck solo paydirt with 1975’s The Dream Weaver, one of the first rock albums to be made almost entirely with synthesizers. The title track and “My Love is Alive” both reached #2 in the US.
Rest in peace, Gary.
