Dick Parry, Saxophonist Behind Pink Floyd’s ‘Money’ and ‘Shine On,’ Dead at 83

David Gilmour announced the death of his longtime collaborator and friend, who played on some of the most iconic recordings in rock history.

Dick Parry, the saxophonist whose playing became inseparable from Pink Floyd's most celebrated recordings, died Friday morning at the age of 83. Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour announced the news on social media, describing Parry as a dear friend and a musical partner stretching back to when Gilmour was seventeen years old. No cause of death was provided.

A Voice Gilmour Called ‘Unmistakable'

Gilmour's tribute left little doubt about the depth of the relationship. ‘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 wrote. ‘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.”‘

Those four songs alone represent some of the most emotionally loaded moments in the classic rock canon. The baritone-tinged sax break on ‘Money' from 1973's The Dark Side of the Moon is one of the most recognizable instrumental passages in rock; the long, mournful lines threading through ‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond' on 1975's Wish You Were Here carry a grief that words alone couldn't have managed. Parry was the instrument for both.

Decades of Collaboration With Pink Floyd

Parry was a fixture at Pink Floyd concerts through the mid-Seventies, touring with the band between 1973 and 1977. His association with the group then went quiet for nearly two decades before a chance reconnection brought him back for 1994's The Division Bell, on which he performed on ‘Wearing the Inside Out.' He also joined the Division Bell tour, documented on the live album Pulse.

Gilmour recalled in a 1994 interview how that reunion came about almost by accident. ‘Funnily enough, at Christmas I got a Christmas card from Dick [Parry] who I hadn't seen for years, and who'd given up the saxophone entirely and I think was unemployed, living in a village near Cambridge, doing nothing,' Gilmour said. ‘I asked him if he felt like auditioning for coming on the tour, to see if he still had his chops together, and he told me that he thought he was playing better than he'd ever played. And I got him down to the boat to have a little audition. And he played about three phrases and myself and Bob [Ezrin] said, “Fine, he's still got it. Screw this auditioning business.” …Boom, he's got that tone. It's fantastic. You can recognize it straight away.'

Parry's connection to Gilmour extended beyond Pink Floyd. He played in the last band Gilmour assembled that included keyboardist Rick Wright, for the On an Island Tour, and he appeared alongside Pink Floyd at the Live 8 charity concert in 2005.

A Session Career That Reached Well Beyond Pink Floyd

While Pink Floyd defined Parry's public profile, his studio and touring work ranged considerably wider. He recorded with the Who's John Entwistle, Irish blues-rock guitarist Rory Gallagher, Bloodstone, J.J. Jackson, and the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, among others. He also toured with the Who and with Gilmour's early 2000s solo bands, accumulating a session resume that placed him among the more versatile British reed players of his generation.

Lightnin' Slim is also cited among the artists Parry recorded with during his career.

What we know

• Dick Parry died Friday morning at the age of 83; no cause of death was provided.
• David Gilmour announced Parry's death on social media, describing him as a dear friend he had played with since the age of seventeen.
• Parry played saxophone on Pink Floyd recordings including ‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond,' ‘Wish You Were Here,' ‘Us and Them,' and ‘Money.'
• Parry toured with Pink Floyd between 1973 and 1977, returned for the 1994 Division Bell tour, and appeared with the band at Live 8 in 2005.
• Parry performed on ‘Wearing the Inside Out' from Pink Floyd's 1994 album The Division Bell; his Division Bell-era touring work is documented on the live album Pulse.
• Parry also recorded with Rory Gallagher, John Entwistle, Bloodstone, J.J. Jackson, the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, and Lightnin' Slim, and toured with the Who.
• Gilmour stated in a 1994 interview that Parry had given up the saxophone entirely and was living in a village near Cambridge before being invited to audition for the Division Bell tour.

The take

Dick Parry occupies a specific and underappreciated category in rock history: the session and touring musician whose contributions are so deeply embedded in canonical recordings that listeners absorb them without ever registering the name. The sax on ‘Money' is not a cameo; it is structural. The song's odd 7/4 time signature already sets it apart, and Parry's solo is the emotional release valve the track is built around. Similarly, the long saxophone passages on ‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond' function almost as a second lead voice alongside Gilmour's guitar, carrying the elegy for Syd Barrett with a weight that few instruments could have managed.

What makes Parry's story particularly resonant is the arc of the Division Bell reunion. The image of a musician who had walked away from the instrument entirely, living quietly near Cambridge, then returning to play three phrases and immediately reclaiming his place in one of rock's most demanding sonic environments, says something real about the kind of instinctive musicianship that cannot be rehearsed back into existence. Gilmour recognized it instantly.

Parry's career also reflects a broader truth about the British session world of the Seventies: a tight network of players who moved fluidly between blues, rock, and pop, accumulating credits across genres without ever seeking a spotlight of their own. That world produced some of the most enduring sounds in the catalog, and Parry's saxophone tone is among its most distinctive signatures.

Why it matters

For Pink Floyd listeners, Parry's playing is not background texture; it is foreground emotion on some of the band's most beloved recordings. His death closes a direct human link to the recording sessions that produced The Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here, two albums that have never left the cultural conversation since their release. It also serves as a reminder of how many musicians outside the credited band members shaped the sound that millions consider definitive Pink Floyd.

What's next

No funeral arrangements or memorial events have been announced publicly. Gilmour's social media post stands as the primary public statement on Parry's passing. Fans wishing to revisit Parry's work can hear him on The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, The Division Bell, and the live album Pulse, as well as in footage from the 2005 Live 8 concert.

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