Current:Home > InvestGary Wright, 'Dream Weaver' and 'Love is Alive' singer, dies at 80 after health battle: Reports -Aspire Money Growth
Gary Wright, 'Dream Weaver' and 'Love is Alive' singer, dies at 80 after health battle: Reports
View
Date:2025-04-15 00:08:56
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! (2499)
Related
- Taylor Swift makes surprise visit to Kansas City children’s hospital
- Producer sues Fox News, alleging she's being set up for blame in $1.6 billion suit
- New York Community Bank agrees to buy a large portion of Signature Bank
- The U.S. Naval Academy Plans a Golf Course on a Nature Preserve. One Maryland Congressman Says Not So Fast
- Trump issues order to ban transgender troops from serving openly in the military
- New Report Expects Global Emissions of Carbon Dioxide to Rebound to Pre-Pandemic High This Year
- Americans snap up AC units, fans as summer temperatures soar higher than ever
- As Passover nears, New York's AG warns Jewish customers about car wash price gouging
- Travis Hunter, the 2
- Climate activists target nation's big banks, urging divestment from fossil fuels
Ranking
- The company planning a successor to Concorde makes its first supersonic test
- By 2050, 200 Million Climate Refugees May Have Fled Their Homes. But International Laws Offer Them Little Protection
- What banks do when no one's watching
- Why Taylor Lautner Doesn't Want a Twilight Reboot
- 'Vanderpump Rules' star DJ James Kennedy arrested on domestic violence charges
- Inside Clean Energy: What Happens When Solar Power Gets Much, Much Cheaper?
- Teetering banks put Biden between a bailout and a hard place ahead of the 2024 race
- The fight over the debt ceiling could sink the economy. This is how we got here
Recommendation
The Daily Money: Spending more on holiday travel?
First Republic becomes the latest bank to be rescued, this time by its rivals
Maine aims to restore 19th century tribal obligations to its constitution. Voters will make the call
Who are the Hunter Biden IRS whistleblowers? Joseph Ziegler, Gary Shapley testify at investigation hearings
Angelina Jolie nearly fainted making Maria Callas movie: 'My body wasn’t strong enough'
Permafrost expert and military pilot among 4 killed in a helicopter crash on Alaska’s North Slope
Abortion messaging roils debate over Ohio ballot initiative. Backers said it wasn’t about that
Producer sues Fox News, alleging she's being set up for blame in $1.6 billion suit