Rick Wright, RIP.

It was announced this morning that Rick Wright has died of cancer at age 65. Wright was a founding member of Pink Floyd, meeting group co-founders Roger Waters and Nick Mason while they were architecture students. Besides being the group's keyboardist he wrote a number of songs for Pink Floyd, including "Us and Them" from Dark Side of the Moon, and sang either lead or harmony vocals on many Floyd cuts. Wright would be forced from the band in 1979 by Roger Waters due to personal frictions between them, and ironically would actually make money from the tours for The Wall as a hired gun, unlike his fellow Floyd members who lost money. Wright rejoined the Floyd for 1987's Momentary Lapse of Reason album and remained a member until the group's unofficial demise in the early 2000s. Wright also released several solo albums during his career as well as appearing on David Gilmour's most recent solo album On an Island.

Syd Barrett, RIP

One of the sadder chapters of rock history has come to an end. Syd Barrett, founding member of Pink Floyd, has died at 60, possibly from diabetes related complications. Barrett helped found the group in 1965, and played on its debut album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. But his time with the group was short lived, as he became increasingly unstable due to heavy use of LSD. He was eventually kicked out while his friend David Gilmour, who had been brought in to fill in for him, became the group's new guitarist. After a brief solo career he faded from the limelight, with persistent questions about how much in touch with reality he might be.