The Great Gig in the Sky

The Great Gig in the Sky" is the fifth track on The Dark Side of the Moon, a 1973 album by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd. The song features music by keyboard player Richard Wright and wordless vocals by session singer Clare Torry. It is one of only three Pink Floyd songs to feature vocals from an outside artist. The Great Gig in the Sky was released as a digital single in February 2023 to promote The Dark Side of the Moon 50th Anniversary box set. The song began as a Richard Wright chord progression which was known as "The Mortality Sequence" or "The Religion Song". During the first half of 1972 it was performed live as a simple organ instrumental, accompanied by spoken-word extracts from the Bible and snippets of speeches by Malcolm Muggeridge, a British writer known for his conservative religious views. By September 1972, the lead instrument had been switched to a piano, with an arrangement very similar to the final form but without vocals, and with a slightly different chord sequence in the middle. Various sound effects were tried over the track, including recordings of NASA astronauts communicating on space missions, but none was satisfactory. Finally, a couple of weeks before the album was due to be finished, the band thought of having a female singer "wail" over the music.