Gary Wright Net Worth

What Was Gary Wright's Net Worth?

Gary Wright was an American singer, songwriter, and musician who had a net worth of $10 million at the time of his death in 2023. Gary Wright was instrumental in establishing the synthesizer into rock and pop music. Wright released his debut studio album, "Extraction," in 1970, followed by 1973's "Footprint." His 1975 album "The Dream Weaver" reached #7 in the U.S. His next four albums, "The Light of Smiles" (1977), "Touch and Gone" (1977), "Headin' Home" (1979), and "The Right Place" (1981), all charted in the U.S. Gary later released the albums "Who I Am" (1988), "First Signs of Life" (1995), "Human Love (1999), "Waiting to Catch the Light" (2008), and "Connected" (2010). His singles "Dream Weaver" and "Love Is Alive" both reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. In 2014, he released his memoir, "Dream Weaver: Music, Meditation, and My Friendship with George Harrison." Wright died on  September 4, 2023, at the age of 80, a few years after being diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and Lewy body dementia.

Early Life

Gary Wright was born Gary Malcolm Wright on April 26, 1943, in Cresskill, New Jersey. He was a child actor, and he first appeared on television at the age of seven on "Captain Video and His Video Rangers." After starring in several TV and radio ads, Wright was cast as Cesario in a 1954 Broadway production of "Fanny." He learned how to play the piano and organ, and he fronted various rock bands during his time at Tenafly High School. Gary performed on his first commercial recording in 1959 with Billy Markle. The song was titled "Working After School," and it was released in 1970 under the name Gary & Billy. Wright felt that music was "too unstable" a career, so he enrolled at Virginia's College of William & Mary to study to become a doctor. He later transferred to New York University, then he spent a year at Downstate Medical College. Gary specialized in psychology, and in 1966, he moved to West Germany to attend the Free University of Berlin. Within a year, he abandoned his studies and started touring with his band, the New York Times.

Career

Wright's early musical influences included Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Elvis Presley, James Brown, and the Beatles. While touring with the New York Times, he met Chris Blackwell, the founder of Island Records, in Oslo. Blackwell invited him to London, and Gary joined Mike Harrison and Mike Kellie in their band, Art, which was later renamed Spooky Tooth. Spooky Tooth released the albums "It's All About" (1968), "Spooky Two" (1969), and" "Ceremony" (1969) before Gary left the band in early 1970 to pursue a career as a solo artist. "Spooky Two" reached #44 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, and "Ceremony" peaked at #92 on that chart. After Wright signed with A&M Records, he released his debut solo album, "Extraction," in 1970. Around this time, he was asked to play piano on George Harrison's 1970 album "All Things Must Pass," and he and Harrison ended up forming a long-lasting friendship. Gary performed on all of George's subsequent solo albums in the '70s and on other projects that Harrison produced for Apple Records, including the Ringo Starr hits "Back Off Boogaloo" and "It Don't Come Easy" and the Ronnie Spector single "Try Some, Buy Some." Harrison performed on Wright's second solo album, 1971's "Footprint," and joined Gary for a performance of the song "Two Faced Man" on "The Dick Cavett Show."

Wright reformed Spooky Tooth in 1972, and the group released the albums "You Broke My Heart So I Busted Your Jaw" (1973), "Witness" (1973), and "The Mirror" (1974). All three albums made it onto the Billboard 200 chart. Spooky Tooth disbanded in the fall of 1974, then Gary released his most successful solo album, 1975's "The Dream Weaver," which reached #7 on the Billboard 200 and was certified 2× Platinum. The title track went Gold and reached #1 on the Canadian RPM Top Singles chart, Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary chart, and US Cash Box Top 100 chart and #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Another single, "Love Is Alive," was a top 10 hit in the U.S. and Canada. Next, Wright released 1977's "The Light of Smiles," which peaked at #23 on the Billboard 200 chart. Later that year, he released the album "Touch and Gone," and it reached #117 on the Billboard 200 chart. Gary's next two albums, 1979's "Headin' Home" and 1981's "The Right Place," reached #147 and #79, respectively, on the Billboard 200 chart, and "Really Wanna Know You" from "The Right Place" reached the top 20 on the charts in the U.S. and Canada. Wright went on to release five more solo albums: "Who I Am" (1988), "First Signs of Life" (1995), "Human Love" (1999), "Waiting to Catch the Light" (2008), and "Connected" (2010). Spooky Tooth reunited in 2004 and 2008 and released the 2007 CD/DVD "Nomad Poets – Live in Germany."

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Personal Life

Wright was married three times. His first wife was Dori Accordino. Gary welcomed two sons, Dorian and Justin, with his second wife, Christina Uppstrom. Under the name Tina Wright, Christina received co-writing credits on three of Gary's songs: "I'm Alive," "Feel for Me," and "I'm the One Who'll Be by Your Side." After Gary and Christina divorced, he married Rose Anthony in 1985. Wright and Anthony lived in Palos Verdes Estates, California, and they remained together until Gary's death in 2023.

Wright supported Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign, and "Dream Weaver" was played at the Democratic National Convention that year. After finding out that the song was used at the DNC, Rose googled the song title with Obama's name and found a YouTube clip that she and Gary found "very, very inspiring." In a 2008 interview with the Huffington Post, Wright stated, "With 'Wayne's World' and all that, the perception of the song's meaning got a little bit changed for a lot of people. It's a very spiritual song. 'Dream Weaver' is really a song whose lyrical content is about the consciousness of the Universe: God moving us through the night– delusion and suffering– into the Higher Realms. And when I saw that YouTube I thought, 'this captures what the song is really about. I wrote it about Hope, moving through the Darkness into the Light of Hope."

Death

On September 4, 2023, Wright passed away at his Palos Verdes home at the age of 80. He had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and Lewy body dementia a few years before his death.

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