Pink Floyd’s founding member Richard Wright stood out with his songwriting partnership with Roger Waters after Syd Barrett departed from the band. While his keyboard playing remained essential to the band’s live performances, he also contributed significantly to the creative process. However, his writing contributions gradually declined as the band’s musical journey progressed.
The band’s tenth studio album, ‘Animals,’ released in 1977, became the first album where Richard Wright was not credited for songwriting. The keyboardist’s decreasing contributions to the band’s works started bothering Roger Waters. In the making process of the follow-up album, ‘The Wall,’ things got even worse, causing Wright to leave Pink Floyd.
Richard Wright Departed From Pink Floyd During The Production Of ‘The Wall’
During the recording sessions of ‘The Wall,’ Roger Waters began openly expressing how frustrated he was since Richard Wright was not contributing. The bassist didn’t want Wright to get an equal share of Pink Floyd’s production royalties. At the time, the keyboardist was also dealing with personal issues related to his family, preventing him from catching up with the band’s then-activities.
Although Waters initially considered bringing a lawsuit against Wright, he later decided that his departure from the band would be better. Richard Wright stopped being an official Pink Floyd member after being fired following the end of the making of ‘The Wall.’
However, he still agreed to remain a salaried musician for Pink Floyd’s 1980 and 1981 tours to promote the album. The band’s subsequent work, ‘The Final Cut,’ would be the first album without Wright. Let’s see what the late keyboardist thought about the record and Roger Waters’ attitude during its production.
Richard Wright Said Roger Waters Was Delusional About Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd’s 1983 album, ‘The Final Cut,’ became the band’s only album not featuring the late keyboardist Richard Wright. However, his departure from the band had not been made public until later. ‘The Final Cut’ was also the last Pink Floyd record to feature Roger Waters. The bassist parted ways with the band after the tumultuous making process of the album.
During an interview with Mark Blake in 1996, Richard Wright was asked about his opinions on ‘The Final Cut,’ being the first album without him. The keyboardist said he never liked the album, although he admitted he could be biased against it due to his absence and ongoing issues with the band. However, he assumed neither David Gilmour nor Nick Mason liked the album.
Then, Richard Wright referred to the band’s turbulent situation at the time, leading to serious fights among Gilmour, Mason, and Waters. The keyboardist highlighted that Roger Waters had this delusional belief that he was the sole decision maker of the band. He wanted everything to be his way. Waters thought Pink Floyd couldn’t exist without him, which turned out to be a wrong guess. Wright noted that this was why Waters was so frustrated when Gilmour decided to keep on without him.
Here is what Richard Wright said about ‘The Final Cut’ and Roger Waters:
“I didn’t like it, but I knew that I could be quite prejudiced about it, considering my situation. But I think that if you ask Dave or Nick about it, they don’t think it’s a very good album either. The thing is, during ‘The Final Cut,’ the three of them had huge fights, which culminated in Roger leaving the band. He had the misguided belief that he was the band, which is why his ego was shattered when Dave eventually decided to carry on without him.”
Following Roger Waters’ eventual departure from Pink Floyd in 1985, Richard Wright started contributing to the band’s creative process with the album ‘A Momentary Lapse of Reason.’ However, he remained a salaried musician until becoming an official member again in 1994.
