How Gilmour and Mason Rebuilt Pink Floyd for 'Momentary Lapse' Without Wright

After Rick Wright was fired during The Wall sessions in 1979, David Gilmour and Nick Mason were the only official members left for 1987’s A Momentary Lapse of Reason. But Gilmour didn’t want to do a solo album — he wanted to keep the Pink Floyd name alive, even if that meant effectively being a solo artist with Mason on drums and a stadium of session musicians.

The lineup was stacked: bassist Tony Levin (King Crimson, Peter Gabriel), guitarist Phil Manzanera (Roxy Music), keyboardist Jon Carin, and a small army of additional players. Wright himself was brought back as a hired hand — paid per session, not a band member — playing organ and backing vocals. The irony wasn’t lost on anyone. Gilmour later admitted the record was more of a “Gilmour solo album with Nick Mason” than a true Floyd effort, especially since Mason barely played drums on some tracks due to his limited schedule at the time.

The session approach was necessary because Gilmour and Mason were in legal limbo. Roger Waters had publicly declared the band dead and sued to prevent them from using the name. The album was recorded in various studios with multiple producers (Bob Ezrin co-produced) to get a radio-friendly sound after the experimental The Final Cut. It worked commercially — A Momentary Lapse sold millions — but the backing-musician approach meant the live show had to be a seven-piece band to replicate the album’s layered sound.