Pink Floyd Saxophonist Dick Parry Passes Away at 83

Photo Credit: Dick Parry (second from right) playing with Pink Floyd in 1973 by Tim Duncan / CC by 3.0

Saxophonist Dick Parry, who played on some of Pink Floyd’s biggest songs and tours, passed away on Friday at the age of 83.

Dick Parry, the saxophonist who played on some of Pink Floyd’s biggest songs and tours, passed away on Friday of unspecified causes. He was 83.

“My dear friend Dick Parry died this morning,” shared Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour in a social media post. “Since I was seventeen, I have played in bands with Dick on saxophone, including Pink Floyd.”

“His feel and tone make his saxophone playing unmistakable, a signature of enormous beauty that is known to millions and is such a big part of songs such as ‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond,’ ‘Wish You Were Here,’ ‘Us and Them,’ and ‘Money,’” Gilmour continued.

Indeed, Parry played on some of the iconic songs from Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon (1973) and Wish You Were Here (1975), as well as The Division Bell (1994). He also played in live performances with the band from 1973 to 1977, in 1994, and in 2005 at the Live 8 charity show.

Besides Pink Floyd, Parry also toured with The Who, as well as Gilmour’s early 2000s solo bands. He also has an admirable list of studio session credits, including work with Rory Gallagher, Bloodstone, John Entwistle, J. J. Jackson, and the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band.

Gilmour shared the story during an interview in 1994 about how he reconnected with Parry after years of inactivity, ultimately leading to his appearance on Pink Floyd’s The Division Bell.

“I got a Christmas card from Dick, who I hadn’t seen for years, and who’d given up the saxophone entirely, and I think was unemployed, living in a village near Cambridge, doing nothing,” said Gilmour.

“I asked him if he felt like auditioning for coming on the tour, to see if he still had his chops together, and he told me that he thought he was playing better than he’d ever played. And I got him down to the boat to have a little audition, and he played about three phrases and myself and Bob [Ezrin] said, ‘Fine, he’s still got it. Screw this auditioning business.’”

“Boom, he’s got that tone,” he added fondly. “It’s fantastic. You can recognize it straight away.”