Dick Parry, Pink Floyd Saxophonist, Dead at 83

Saxophonist Dick Parry, whose playing became inseparable from the texture of Pink Floyd’s most widely loved work, died at 83. David Gilmour broke the news on Instagram, writing, “My dear friend Dick Parry died this morning. Since I was seventeen, I have played in bands with Dick on saxophone, including Pink Floyd.”

Gilmour went on to describe a sound that millions recognize instantly. “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.’” That tone—warm, unhurried, and never ornamental—anchored the quiet devastation of “Us and Them” as much as it cut through the swagger of “Money.” Parry also appeared on “Wearing the Inside Out” from 1994’s The Division Bell, on the 1995 live document Pulse, and with Gilmour’s touring band for the On an Island tour, which marked the last time he played alongside late Pink Floyd keyboardist Rick Wright. He was on stage for the group’s Live 8 reunion in 2005.

Outside the Floyd orbit, Parry’s credits were selective but telling. He joined The Who’s brass section for their 1979–1980 tour and, in 2009, crossed paths with the Violent Femmes for a run of shows in Europe and South Africa. He also contributed to the 1975 funk and R&B album Riddle of the Sphinx by Bloodstone. The common thread across those settings was a horn that didn’t just decorate songs—it pulled them open at key moments and changed their weight.

Parry’s sound arrived at a time when a saxophone solo in a rock band risked turning into a gimmick. He avoided that trap entirely, playing with a restraint that made his every entry feel like a deliberate compositional choice. What remains is a handful of solos that have become part of the public memory of a band whose interior world he helped shape from the inside out.