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Richard Wright, one of the founding members of rock supergroup Pink Floyd, has died at the age of 65. The rock group's spokesman, Doug Wright, who's unrelated, said Wright died after a battle with cancer at his home in Britain. He said the band member's family did not want to give more details about his death. Wright met Pink Floyd members Roger Waters and Nick Mason in college and joined their early band, Sigma 6. Along with the late Syd Barrett, the four formed Pink Floyd in 1965. In the early days of Pink Floyd, Wright, along with Barrett, was seen as the group's dominant musical force. The London-born musician and son of a biochemist wrote songs and played the keyboard. The band released a series of commercially and critically successful albums including 1973's "The Dark Side of the Moon," which has sold more than 40 million copies. Wright wrote "The Great Gig in the Sky" and "Us and Them" for that album, and worked on the group's epic compositions such as "Atom Heart Mother," "Echoes" and "Shine on You Crazy Diamond." But tensions grew among Waters, Wright and fellow band member David Gilmour. The tensions came to a head during the making of "The Wall" when Waters insisted Wright be fired. As a result, Wright was relegated to the status of session musician on the tour of "The Wall," and did not perform on Pink Floyd's 1983 album, "The Final Cut." Wright formed a new band Zee with Dave Harris from the band Fashion, and released one album, "Identity," with Atlantic Records. Roger Waters left Pink Floyd in 1985 and Wright began recording with Mason and Gilmour again, releasing the albums "The Division Bell" and "A Momentary Lapse of Reason" as Pink Floyd. Wright also released the solo albums "Wet Dream" (1978) and "Broken China" (1996). In July 2005, Wright, Waters, Mason and Gilmour reunited to perform at the "Live 8" charity concert in London, the first time in 25 years they had been onstage together. Wright also worked on Gilmour's solo projects, most recently playing on the 2006 album "On an Island" and playing on the accompanying world tour. Gilmour paid tribute to Wright on Monday, saying his input was often forgotten. "He was gentle, unassuming and private but his soulful voice and playing were vital, magical components of our most recognized Pink Floyd sound," he said. "I have never played with anyone quite like him."

Peter Gabriel has rejected the opportunity to reunite with Genesis. The band's former frontman is understood to have been approached to play with them again, as Phil Collins and company prepare to go back on the road. However, Gabriel, who has enjoyed a successful solo career since quitting in 1975, says he is not completely opposed to the idea. Explaining that he had projects of his own to consider, Gabriel said: "There were conversations and I decided not to be a part of it. I'm very happy for them. It's not that I've ruled it out, but I've got some new material that I'll be working on." A spokesperson for Genesis told the BBC that Collins, Mike Rutherford, and Tony Banks would clarify their plans in the coming weeks.

Syd Barrett, one of the original members of legendary rock group Pink Floyd, has died at the age of 60 from complications arising from diabetes. The guitarist was the band's first creative force and an influential songwriter, writing their early hits. He joined Pink Floyd in 1965 but left three years later after one album. He went on to live as a recluse, with his mental deterioration blamed on drugs. "He died very peacefully a couple of days ago," the band's spokeswoman said. "Syd was the guiding light of the early band lineup and leaves a legacy which continues to inspire," the surviving members of Pink Floyd, Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Nick Mason and Richard Wright, said in a statement. "The band are naturally very upset and sad to learn of Syd Barrett's death. "Syd was the guiding light of the early band line-up and leaves a legacy which continues to inspire." David Bowie described Barrett as a "major inspiration", saying: "I can't tell you how sad I feel. The few times I saw him perform in London at UFO and the Marquee clubs during the '60s will forever be etched in my mind." "He was so charismatic and such a startlingly original songwriter. Also, along with Anthony Newley, he was the first guy I'd heard to sing pop or rock with a British accent.
"His impact on my thinking was enormous. A major regret is that I never got to know him. A diamond indeed." Born Roger Keith Barrett on January 6, 1946 in Cambridge, he met future bandmates Roger Waters and David Gilmour at school. He originally busked folk songs around Europe with David Gilmour before enrolling at the Camberwell School of Art in London. Upon joining the Pink Floyd Sound, as they were originally known, he composed See Emily Play and Arnold Layne, both from 1967, as well as most of their album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. But his drug intake soon began to affect his role in the band. He would often be seen standing on stage with his guitar dangling from his neck, staring into the crowd. At one stage, he was unhappy about appearing on Top of the Pops and walked out of a session recording in July 1967 after "freaking out". "That really was the first sign of his complete mental breakdown," producer Richard Buskin wrote later. "He never did come back into the studio any more after that." With Barrett's behaviour becoming increasingly erratic, Dave Gilmour was brought in to the band in February 1968. Barrett's departure was announced that April and he soon started work on the first of his two solo albums. The band's biggest-selling releases, Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall, emerged in the post-Barrett era, with the band selling an estimated 200 million albums worldwide. Just as Pink Floyd were about to achieve worldwide success, Barrett retreated from public life to return to Cambridge. Little was known about his whereabouts for 20 years until it became known he was living with his mother. Band members said his breakdown may have happened even if he had not used drugs, but the pressure of fame along with the substances probably acted as a catalyst. The spokeswoman said a low-key, private funeral would be held.

On Saturday July 10 2006, Pink Floyd will release their much-anticipated DVD, Pulse, on EMI Records. This is a landmark release because it features the first ever audiovisual recording of Pink Floyd playing their seminal album, The Dark Side of the Moon, live in concert. The Pulse DVD captures the Division Bell tour of 1994 and was filmed at London's Earls Court during a record-breaking 14-night residency. The two-disc release contains the full concert performance with rare backstage footage and previously unseen extras. There are many elements that make this Pulse release a must-have, but top of the list is the live filmed performance of Pink Floyd's towering album, The Dark Side Of The Moon. The album in its glorious entirety is performed by David Gilmour, Nick Mason and Rick Wright during the second half of the concert and appears on disc 2. Shine on You Crazy Diamond, Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2), High Hopes and Learning to Fly are some of the classic tracks on disc 1 with never before seen rarities such as Bootlegging the Bootleggers and behind the scenes footage showing a snapshot of life on the road with one of the world's biggest rock bands.
The stunning Pulse DVD graphics are designed by longtime Pink Floyd collaborator, Storm Thorgerson who has made the DVD look as good as it sounds. It is mixed in mind expanding 5.1 surround sound and digitally remastered by James Guthrie. The DVD includes some of The Dark Side of the Moon original screen films used in the 1970's concerts which were never filmed, as well others remade for the 1994 tour. I have this on VHS and will be out over the weekend hunting hign and low for this DVD! This concert is amazing!

Roger talks about performing "Darkside of the Moon" live this coming July and other Floyd stuff.

http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/feature/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002463767

David performed a 6 song set on AOL Sessions to promote his new album and tour. The video and audio are excellent. There is also a video interview section. Any fan must check this out! The live version of "High Hopes" is just unreal. He ends it diffent then I've ever heard or seen. Check it out while it's still up!

http://music.aol.com/videos/sessions/sessions_flash.adp

Session is number 563

David Gilmour had a new CD out and it's a great surprise. This one slipped in under the radar for me. I didn't hear about it till 4 days before it's release. "On An Island" features the type of music that Pink Floyd and David Gilmour fans have come to expect from the man. There's lots of moody atmospheric playing. The album does indeed sound very Floyd-ish, which Gilmour himself admits. Gilmour's memorable raspy vocals, sounding as though he's barely aged a day in the past 20 years, and some of the best material he's written are really excellent. Collaborating with guitarist/songwriter Phil Manzanera and veteran producer Chris Thomas, Gilmour has crafted an atmospheric album full of hazy instrumentals and songs that may not rock out the way fans are used to but are still filled with passion and emotion. How does this compare to his other solo albums? Well each one represented a different decade in Gilmour's life so they are all quite different and difficult to compare, but the quality of the songwriting is top notch here as on those. This effort is a little more focused than his first ("David Gilmour") and a little less commercial than his second ("About Face"). Written solo and in collaboration with Polly Samson, (his wife, who wrote some of the lyrics for "The Division Bell" ) providing words on most of the tracks "On An Island" features a wide variety of memorable guest players. Floyd's Richard Wright, David Crosby & Graham Nash on backing vocals, Jools Holland formerly of Squeeze, Robert Wyatt and guitarist Phil Manzanera playing keyboards non the less. The production by Gilmour, Manzanera and Thomas is atmospheric providing the perfect sonic backdrop for Gilmour to do what he does best, play guitar and sing. "On An Island" does allows Gilmour to experiment a bit as well with the material but what's most interesting is how emotionally direct the songs are. Gilmour works well with his collaborators on this solo album. The album does have some slight flaws (for lack of a better term), for example the pacing is a bit slow at times for myself, and truly it would have helped to have had a solid hard rock number here to break through the haze on the album, you won't find any driving rock songs like "RUN LIKE HELL" on this album, but there are plenty of tasty guitar licks to satisfy any fan of Gilmour's work. Overall it's a terrific effort and a worthy follow up to his work leading Pink Floyd. I figure 4 and 1/2 stars - this is great if you like Pink Floyd.