'Dream Weaver' Singer Gary Wright Dies at 80

Gary Wright, the singer-songwriter who went from a popular 1960s session player to a star in his own right with the 1970s hits "Dream Weaver" and "Love Is Alive," died Monday at age 80. Wright was a founding member of Spooky Tooth, a UK-based band that started in the '60s, and as a session player played on all of George Harrison's solo albums as well as recordings by Ringo Starr, Nilsson, BB King, and others, Variety reports. After his solo career died down in the 1980s, he turned to instrumental and soundtrack work, but he was known to the next generation thanks to the re-recorded version of "Dream Weaver" he sang in 1992's Wayne's World, in which the song famously featured.

Wright's son tells ABC 7 his father had suffered from Parkinson's disease and Lewy body dementia for six years and that he died surrounded by family at his California home. After his Wayne's World appearance, Wright, originally from New Jersey, went back to releasing rock albums, with his last one coming out in 2010. He also re-formed Spooky Tooth in 2004, and toured as both a solo artist and with Ringo Starr. His iconic hits have also been sampled and covered by artists including Jay-Z and Chaka Khan. (More obituary stories.)