Dick Parry, Saxophonist on Pink Floyd Classics, Dies at 83

Dick Parry, who played saxophone on some of Pink Floyd’s most iconic songs, has died. He was 83.

Parry’s death was announced by David Gilmour on Friday (May 22) in an emotional social media tribute to his longtime friend and collaborator.

“My dear friend Dick Parry died this morning,” Gilmour, 80, captioned a series of photos on Instagram. “Since I was seventeen, I have played in bands with Dick on saxophone, including Pink Floyd.”

A cause of death was not disclosed.

During a lengthy career spanning rock, blues and jazz, Parry was best known for his unforgettable saxophone solos on 1973’s The Dark Side of the Moon and 1975’s Wish You Were Here. His work can be heard on signature songs including “Money” and “Shine On You Crazy Diamond.”

“Money” reached No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1973, while The Dark Side of the Moon spent one week atop the Billboard 200 that same year. Wish You Were Here spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in 1975.

“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 in his tribute.

Born in Kentford, Suffolk, in 1942, Parry and Gilmour met as teenagers, and the two played in local groups together around Cambridge. Gilmour joined Pink Floyd in the late 1960s after Syd Barrett’s departure.

After Pink Floyd, Parry continued to appear on albums and tours undertaken by Gilmour as a solo artist and as the band’s frontman. Those projects included his performance on “Wearing the Inside Out” from Pink Floyd’s The Division Bell (1994), recorded after the split between Gilmour and Roger Waters. He also toured with the reconfigured group that year and had previously gone on the road with the act in the mid-1970s.

Outside of Pink Floyd, Parry collaborated with artists including Rory Gallagher, John Entwistle and Lightnin’ Slim.

See Gilmour’s full tribute to Parry on Instagram here.