Current:Home > MyGary Wright, 'Dream Weaver' and 'Love is Alive' singer, dies at 80 after health battle: Reports -Momentum Wealth Path
Gary Wright, 'Dream Weaver' and 'Love is Alive' singer, dies at 80 after health battle: Reports
View
Date:2025-04-16 05:32:01
Singer-songwriter Gary Wright, best known for his groundbreaking album "The Dream Weaver," has died. He was 80.
Wright died Monday at his home in Palos Verdes Estates, his sons Justin and Dorian confirmed to ABC News and Variety, respectively.
Wright’s son Justin told ABC News that his father had been battling Parkinson's disease and Lewy body dementia for the past six years.
USA TODAY has reached out to Wright's representative for comment.
Born in April 1943 in New Jersey, Wright found some success as the keyboardist for the British hard rock band Spooky Tooth. Following the group's disbandment, Wright devoted his efforts to his solo music career, releasing the albums "Extraction" and "Footprint" in 1970 and 1971, respectively.
Wright’s 1975 album "The Dream Weaver" became his breakthrough hit, boasting a pair of No. 2 singles in 1976: "Dream Weaver" and "Love is Alive." The soft rock album was also recognized as one of the first rock albums to feature only synthesizers.
"It was a big deal creatively because I had been working with basically a guitar-oriented band, which was Spooky Tooth," Wright told The Daytona Beach News-Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network, in 2011. "I had never consciously sat down and said, 'I'm going to do an all-keyboard album.' It just fell into place as I was writing the songs for the album."
The album went on to sell 2 million copies, and its title track "Dream Weaver" has been featured in films such as as "Wayne's World, "The People vs. Larry Flynt" and "Toy Story 3."
Wright also lent his musical talents to his peers. The singer played keyboards on Beatles guitarist George Harrison's 1970 album "All Things Must Pass."
Steve Harwell:Former Smash Mouth singer dies at 56: 'A 100% full-throttle life'
'He lived his life like a song':Jimmy Buffett, 'Margaritaville' singer and mogul, dies
Contributing: Rick De Yampert, The Daytona Beach News-Journal
veryGood! (98396)
Related
- Why we love Bear Pond Books, a ski town bookstore with a French bulldog 'Staff Pup'
- A step-by-step guide to finding a therapist
- Georgia police department apologizes for using photo of Black man for target practice
- Without paid family leave, teachers stockpile sick days and aim for summer babies
- NHL in ASL returns, delivering American Sign Language analysis for Deaf community at Winter Classic
- OceanGate co-founder voiced confidence in sub before learning of implosion: I'd be in that sub if given a chance
- U.S. pedestrian deaths reach a 40-year high
- Half the World’s Sandy Beaches May Disappear by Century’s End, Climate Study Says
- How to watch new prequel series 'Dexter: Original Sin': Premiere date, cast, streaming
- Roll Call: Here's What Bama Rush's Sorority Pledges Are Up to Now
Ranking
- FACT FOCUS: Inspector general’s Jan. 6 report misrepresented as proof of FBI setup
- Overdose deaths involving street xylazine surged years earlier than reported
- Kate Spade 24-Hour Flash Deal: Get This $300 Crossbody Bag for Just $69
- In Latest Blow to Solar Users, Nevada Sticks With Rate Hikes
- Average rate on 30
- A federal judge has blocked much of Indiana's ban on gender-affirming care for minors
- Canada’s Struggling to Build Oil Pipelines, and That’s Starting to Hurt the Industry
- Amazon Reviewers Swear By These 15 Affordable Renter-Friendly Products
Recommendation
Average rate on 30
These kids revamped their schoolyard. It could be a model to make cities healthier
Growing without groaning: A brief guide to gardening when you have chronic pain
Senate 2020: In Kansas, a Democratic Climate Hawk Closes in on a Republican Climate Skeptic
Former longtime South Carolina congressman John Spratt dies at 82
Gun deaths hit their highest level ever in 2021, with 1 person dead every 11 minutes
Get 2 Peter Thomas Roth Anti-Aging Cleansing Gels for Less Than the Price of 1
Paul-Henri Nargeolet's stepson shares memories of French explorer lost in OceanGate sub tragedy