How Richard Wright Was Slowly Erased From Pink Floyd — Then Fired Mid-'Wall'

Richard Wright wasn’t just the keyboardist — he was the guy who gave Pink Floyd their floating, ethereal soul on records like Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here. But by Animals (1977), Roger Waters was pulling the band into a colder, more narrative-driven direction, and Wright’s contributions started getting squeezed. Wright co-wrote only one track on Animals (“Dogs,” which he helped write but wasn’t credited for) and his keyboard parts were often buried or simplified. He later said the sessions felt like he was just a session player on his own band’s album.

The Wall was the breaking point. Waters basically wrote the entire album himself, and Wright was barely involved in the studio. He contributed some piano parts — most famously the haunting “Comfortably Numb” outro — but was often told to just play what was on the tape or wait around while Waters dominated. The tension boiled over during rehearsals; Waters reportedly told Wright that his playing wasn’t needed and that he could just sit out. Then, in the middle of recording, Waters and Gilmour decided Wright wasn’t pulling his weight and informed him he was out of the band.

Wright was officially fired in 1979, but with a twist: he was hired back as a paid session musician for the Wall tour just to avoid a lawsuit over his contract. He played the entire stadium tour as an employee, not a band member. It wasn’t until The Division Bell years later that Wright rejoined as a full creative partner — but the damage from the late ‘70s had permanently shifted the band’s chemistry.