Founding Member of Pink Floyd Dead at 65

Founding Pink Floyd member Richard Wright died today of cancer in London at age 65, the London Times reports. A keyboardist who gave the group its moody, dreamy sound, Wright co-authored many Floyd songs including ones on their masterpiece, Dark Side of the Moon. He left after The Wall in 1979, when band relations broke down and Roger Waters effectively fired him, the BBC reports.

Other members soon split with Waters, and Wright rejoined the splinter group for two more records and a highly profitable 100-show tour. But the group lost steam and Wright turned to his yacht in the Virgin Islands for "therapy... it releases all the pressures that one does get in this business." He released a solo record but stayed out of the limelight. “We never had a desire to be famous, to be rock 'n' roll stars,” Wright once said. (More Pink Floyd stories.)