# Gary Wright ("Dream Weaver", "Love Is Alive") dies at 80 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 5, 2023, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gary-wright-dream-weaver-love-is-alive-dies-at-80/989635 "2023-09-05T02:26:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gary-wright-dream-weaver-love-is-alive-dies-at-80/989635/1 "2023-09-05T02:26:08Z")
They say things happen in threes. First Jimmy Buffett, then Steve Harwell, and now Gary Wright, who had two big hits in the mid 1970s but never had, or probably wanted, the same level of commercial success again. He appears, just based on his Wiki page, to have been quite a versatile musician, and a Renaissance man too, having attended a year of medical school before embarking on his musical career. Sadly, his death was from the same thing that ultimate killed Robin Williams, Lewy Body Dementia. p.s. He was American. I had always assumed he was British. > **[Gary Wright](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Wright)** > > Gary Malcolm Wright (April 26, 1943 – September 4, 2023) was an American musician and composer best known for his 1976 hit songs "Dream Weaver" and "Love Is Alive", Wright's breakthrough album, The Dream Weaver (1975), came after he had spent seven years in London as, alternately, a member of the British blues rock band Spooky Tooth and a solo artist on A&M Records. While in England, he played keyboards on former Beatle George Harrison's triple album All Things Must Pass (1970), so beginning a... ---
**Author:** ![Keith1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6de8d8/32.png) [@Keith1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keith1)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gary-wright-dream-weaver-love-is-alive-dies-at-80/989635/2 "2023-09-05T02:35:48Z")
Spooky Two by Spooky Tooth is an all time favourite. Also, The Last Puff but I don’t know if Wright played on that one. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gary-wright-dream-weaver-love-is-alive-dies-at-80/989635/3 "2023-09-05T03:05:13Z")
Dream Weaver was a huge hit during my high school years. Never knew much about the singer. I preferred Love is Alive because it rocked a little harder. But both hits are very good. . RIP Gary ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gary-wright-dream-weaver-love-is-alive-dies-at-80/989635/4 "2023-09-05T03:19:00Z")
RIP. I was a big fan back in the day. Saw him play at a Day On The Green with Frampton, Fleetwood Mac and Robin Trower. Is it bad form to say my favorite song of his is Spooky Tooth’s _“I’m Alive”_? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gary-wright-dream-weaver-love-is-alive-dies-at-80/989635/5 "2023-09-05T03:24:05Z")
Love is Alive charted #2 in 1976. Wiki says all the music was played on keyboards except drums. I never knew that. Synth can sound like traditional instruments. > **[Love Is Alive (Gary Wright song)](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_Is_Alive_(Gary_Wright_song))** > > "Love Is Alive" is a song by Gary Wright taken from the 1975 album The Dream Weaver. It features Wright on vocals and keyboards and Andy Newmark on drums, with all music except for the drums produced on the keyboards. The album's title cut and "Love Is Alive" both peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. "Love Is Alive" spent 27 weeks on the chart, seven weeks longer than "Dream Weaver". Billboard ranked "Love Is Alive" as the No. 9 song of 1976. > In the US, "Love Is Alive" peaked... ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gary-wright-dream-weaver-love-is-alive-dies-at-80/989635/6 "2023-09-05T03:40:35Z")
Dream Weaver was one of the first two 45s that I ever bought. RIP Gary. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gary-wright-dream-weaver-love-is-alive-dies-at-80/989635/7 "2023-09-05T04:22:13Z")
I learned a few years ago he was a long-time friend/collaborator of George Harrison.