Current:Home > ContactGary Wright, 'Dream Weaver' and 'Love is Alive' singer, dies at 80 after health battle: Reports -PureWealth Academy
Gary Wright, 'Dream Weaver' and 'Love is Alive' singer, dies at 80 after health battle: Reports
View
Date:2025-04-16 06:15:28
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! (59)
Related
- Krispy Kreme offers a free dozen Grinch green doughnuts: When to get the deal
- Mark Zuckerberg, Linda Yaccarino among tech CEOs grilled for failing to protect kids
- Report: Baltimore Orioles set for $1.725 billion sale to David Rubenstein, Mike Arougheti
- Cher Denied Conservatorship of Son Elijah Blue Allman
- Which apps offer encrypted messaging? How to switch and what to know after feds’ warning
- Launching today: Reporter Kristen Dahlgren's Pink Eraser Project seeks to end breast cancer as we know it
- The Federal Reserve's first rate meeting is on Wednesday. Here's what economists say about rate cuts.
- 'Argylle' review: A great spy comedy premise is buried by secret-agent chaos
- Israel lets Palestinians go back to northern Gaza for first time in over a year as cease
- Military vet who killed Iraqi civilian in 2004 is ordered jailed on charges he used metal baton to assault officers during Capitol riot
Ranking
- Trump wants to turn the clock on daylight saving time
- Fani Willis will not have to testify Wednesday in special prosecutor's divorce case
- For Chicago's new migrants, informal support groups help ease the pain and trauma.
- Lisa Hochstein and Kiki Barth's Screaming Match Is the Most Bats--t Fight in RHOM History
- Residents worried after ceiling cracks appear following reroofing works at Jalan Tenaga HDB blocks
- 'Argylle' review: A great spy comedy premise is buried by secret-agent chaos
- Burned remnants of Jackie Robinson statue found after theft from public park in Kansas
- Minnesota man accused of assembling an arsenal to attack police is sentenced to nearly 7 years
Recommendation
Alex Murdaugh’s murder appeal cites biased clerk and prejudicial evidence
For Chicago's new migrants, informal support groups help ease the pain and trauma.
Clydesdale foal joins the fold ahead of iconic horses' Budweiser Super Bowl commercial return
Elmo wrote a simple tweet that revealed widespread existential dread. Now, the president has weighed in.
Dick Vitale announces he is cancer free: 'Santa Claus came early'
Accused killer of Run-DMC's Jam Master Jay can't have his lyrics used against him, judge rules
Hurry! This Best-Selling Air Purifier That's Been All Over TikTok Is On Now Sale
Family says Georgia soldier killed in Jordan drone attack was full of life