The writer of the emotional Pink Floyd track The Great Gig in the Sky is now probably sitting at a keyboard at the great gig in the sky.

According to an official statement, Pink Floyd keyboardist Rick Wright passed away yesterday at his home in Britain following "a short struggle with cancer." He was 65.

Wright, one of the original members of the iconic British rock band alongside the late Syd Barrett, bassist Roger Waters and drummer Nick Mason, was instrumental (no pun intended) in ensuring Pink Floyd initially became known in and around London's vibrant art scene.

"In the beginning we used to do jam sessions," Wright said in a 1996 interview. "We would start playing long tracks that we never knew how and when they'll be over. This period of the '60s in London was very special."

From there and all the way through the 1970s, Pink Floyd was at the forefront of 'art' rock.

Wright's work in the band's psychedelic-oriented infancy is often overlooked. From the band's debut LP The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, Wright's vocals were heard on tracks Matilda Mother and Astronomy Domine. Yet it was his keyboard work that complemented the fuzzed-out guitar experiments on songs such as Interstellar Overdrive and One of These Days.

None of that work, though, compared to Wright's contribution to Floyd's 1973 masterpiece LP Dark Side of the Moon. Although known for his harmonies alongside Waters and guitarist David Gilmour (who joined the band in 1968 following Barrett's mental decline), Wright's lead vocals are easily recognizable on Breathe, as are his compositions The Great Gig in the Sky and Us and Them.

The band's followup LP, 1975's Wish You Were Here, also features Wright's work on the epic Shine on You Crazy Diamond (parts I-V and VI-IX). The album, Wright's personal favourite, would have his last writing credit with Pink Floyd until 1994's The Division Bell album, their first without Waters.

Releasing a solo effort Wet Dream in 1978, Wright endured the next few years of Waters' increasingly control-freak attitude. Wright actually left the band after Waters threatened to pull the plug on The Wall if Wright remained. There was one silver lining in the departure: Wright was the lone member to get paid as a hired musician and profit when Pink Floyd launched their massively expensive tour of The Wall in 1980 and 1981, leaving Waters, Mason and Gilmour to foot the bill.

After the one-off 1984 album entitled Identity in the side project Zee, Wright returned to the post-Waters, Gilmour-led Pink Floyd fold for 1987's A Momentary Lapse of Reason.

Officially (and contractually) welcomed back into the band during the tour, Wright would again sing lead vocals on The Division Bell track Wearing the Inside Out and co-wrote five songs on the record.

Another solo album Broken China, featuring Sinead O'Connor, emerged in 1996 but Wright, one of the lesser-known members of a group known for detesting the spotlight, kept a low profile for the next several years.

All four Pink Floyd members -- Waters included -- reunited in summer 2005 for a performance at London's Hyde Park portion of the Live 8 worldwide charity concerts. Nothing ever became of the reunion, with Gilmour as recently as last week saying he wasn't prepared to work again with Waters.

Wright did join Gilmour for the guitarist's On an Island solo album 2006 world tour. The tour, which hit Toronto's Massey Hall for two nights that April, featured the epic Echoes LP in its entirety alongside Wish You Were Here and Comfortably Numb. There was a very touching moment when Gilmour was introducing his backing band at the first show, and when he got to Wright the place went nuts. Wright seemed genuinely taken aback by the response, and he and Gilmour shot each other a quick but heartfelt glance of mutual appreciation.

Earlier this year Wright declined a chance to join Waters and Mason on Waters' Dark Side Of The Moon Live tour to reportedly concentrate his energy on a solo album. The status of that album is unknown.

Waters, Gilmour and Mason made no official comment on Wright's passing, although a photo of Wright appeared on the band's and Gilmour's website yesterday.

Meanwhile, Gilmour will release a double-album entitled Live in Gdansk next Tuesday taken from a 2006 concert in the Polish city.

Original Pink Floyd frontman Barrett died in 2006 of diabetes complications.

-- With files from Bill Harris