Pink Floyd saxophonist Dick Parry, who died aged 83 in May this year, left an estate worth just £50,000 – a fraction of the fortune of the more famous members of the legendary band.
Parry played saxophone on many of Pink Floyd’s greatest hits including tracks from the albums Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here.
While he was never formally a member of the rock band, he played regularly with them and was considered much more than simply a session musician.
Probate records released today reveal that Parry of Kentford, Suffolk, died intestate without leaving a will, meaning his estate gets split between relatives.
His grant of probate discloses that he left £53,341 in the UK, reduced to a net estate of £50,741, after deduction of liabilities.
Parry who was reportedly married and divorced three times, had two children with his first wife Gwen and another with his third, Millie.
Pink Floyd saxophonist Dick Parry who died aged 83 in May this year left an estate worth just £50,000 – a fraction of the fortune of the more famous members of the legendary band
Parry played saxophone on many of Pink Floyd’s greatest hits including tracks from the albums Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here; pictured L-R Pink Floyd members David Gilmour, Roger Waters, Nick Mason and Rick Wright
The musician, who died of undisclosed causes, had a lifelong friendship and collaboration with Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour.
The Sunday Times Rich List ranked Gilmour’s fortune as being £115million in 2018 – more than 2,000 times the amount left by Parry.
Roger Waters, who left Pink Floyd in 1985, is said to be worth £160million in the current Sunday Times Rich List.
Parry was born in 1942 in Kentford and spent his youth in Cambridge where he was saxophonist in the mid-1960s for a band called Soul Committee.
He became friends with Gilmour when the guitarist was playing for a Cambridge band called Jokers before joining Pink Floyd in 1968.
Gilmour recruited Parry when Pink Floyd needed a soaring saxophone for the band’s iconic Dark Side Of The Moon album in 1973 which went on to sell more than 50 million units.
He ended up playing on two other studio albums – Wish You Were Here, and The Division Bell – and was in the Pink Floyd touring band in 1973, 1977 and 1994.
Parry became a familiar sight on stage, equipped with two saxophones hung round his neck to enable him to switch between baritone and tenor
His sax solos provided unforgettable moments in the 1970s progressive rock era, particularly on the Dark Side of the Moon track Money.
He also famously played on Shine On You Crazy Diamond, the band’s bittersweet tribute to ailing former member Syd Barrett on the 1975 album Wish You Were Here.
Parry also toured briefly with the Who, but he wanted a simpler life and stepped away from the music industry when Pink Floyd were at their peak and about to record The Wall.
He retreated to a village in Cambridgeshire and became a farrier, making and fitting horseshoes.
While he was never formally a member of the rock band, he played regularly with them and was considered much more than simply a session musician
Parry re-joined Pink Floyd, playing on The Division Bell in 1994, and later touring with Gilmour in the early 2000s and with the Violent Femmes. When Pink Floyd reunited at Live 8 in 2005, he appeared with the band once again.
Gilmour announced Parry’s death in a social media post which included a photo of them playing together at a Saturday morning children’s film show in a Cambridge cinema in 1963.
Paying tribute to him, 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, Us and Them and Money.’
Parry also collaborated with other major musical acts, including Rory Gallagher, John Entwistle, Procol Harum’s Mick Grabham and Banco de Gaia.
