Clare Torry - wikipedia Clare Torry Clare Torry Clare Torry in 2003 ( 1947 - 11 - 29 ) 29 November 1947 ( age 70 ) Marylebone, London, United Kingdom Nationality British Occupation Singer Known for `` The Great Gig in the Sky '' ( titled `` The Mortality Sequence '' in 1972 ) Clare H. Torry ( born 29 November 1947 ) is a British singer best known for performing the wordless vocals on the song `` The Great Gig in the Sky '' by the group Pink Floyd on their 1973 album The Dark Side of the Moon. She also covered the Dolly Parton single `` Love Is Like a Butterfly '' for the opening titles of the BBC TV series Butterflies, which ran for 4 series between 1978 and 1983. Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 3 Lawsuit 4 Recent work 5 References Early Life Torry was born in November 1947 Marylebone to Geoffrey Napier Torry ( 1916 - 1979 ), who combined careers as Lieutenant - Commander in the Fleet Air Arm and as a RAF Flight Lieutenant, and his wife Dorothy W. Singer ( 1916 - 2017 ). Dorothy was the secretary to 6 BBC Directors - General. Career By the end of the 1960s, Clare Torry managed to start a career as a performer, mainly based on covers of popular songs. Alan Parsons asked her to take part in Pink Floyd 's recording of the album The Dark Side of the Moon, on the instrumental song penned by Richard Wright going under the name of `` The Great Gig in the Sky ''. On 4 November 1973, Clare also sang `` The Great Gig in the Sky '' at the Rainbow Theatre in London. Since then, Torry has also performed as a session singer ( singing on a number of 1970s UK TV adverts ) and as a live backing vocalist with Kevin Ayers, Olivia Newton - John, Shriekback, The Alan Parsons Project ( for which she also sang lead vocal on one track on their 1979 Eve album ), Procol Harum mainman Gary Brooker, Matthew Fisher, Cerrone, Meat Loaf ( a duet on the song `` Nowhere Fast '', and the hit single `` Modern Girl '' ) and Johnny Mercer. She reprised her Pink Floyd appearance during a few 1980s concerts with Roger Waters ' band, and also contributed to Waters ' 1986 soundtrack When the Wind Blows and to his 1987 album Radio K.A.O.S.. She sang with the David Gilmour - led Pink Floyd at a 1990 concert at Knebworth. Torry also sang the Dolly Parton song `` Love Is Like a Butterfly '' as the theme music to the 1970s Wendy Craig / Geoffrey Palmer sitcom Butterflies. The song was released as a single in 1981. Torry also released the song `` Love for Living '' in 1969, which was produced by Ronnie Scott and Robin Gibb. Torry sang backing vocals on the track `` The War Song '' from Culture Club 's Waking Up with the House on Fire album in 1984, as well as on the track `` Yellowstone Park '' on the Tangerine Dream album Le Parc the following year. Her voice can also be heard singing `` Love to Love You Baby '' ( originally by Donna Summer ) during the opening scene of the cult BBC Play for Today production of Abigail 's Party in 1977. Torry is also credited on the 1987 album En Dejlig Torsdag ( A Lovely Thursday ) by the Danish pop rock band TV - 2, where she sings in fashion similar to that of `` The Great Gig in the Sky '' at the end of the tracks `` Stjernen I Mit Liv '' ( `` The Star in my Life '' ) and `` I Baronessens Seng '' ( `` In the Bed of the Baroness '' ). Lawsuit In 2004, she sued Pink Floyd and EMI for songwriting royalties on the basis that her contribution to `` The Great Gig in the Sky '' constituted co-authorship with keyboardist Richard Wright. Originally, she was paid the standard flat fee of £ 30 for Sunday studio work. In 2005, an out - of - court settlement was reached in Torry 's favour, although the terms of the settlement were not disclosed. All releases after 2005 carry an additional credit `` Vocal composition by Clare Torry '' for the `` Great Gig in the Sky '' segment. Recent work In February 2006, Clare Torry released a CD Heaven in the Sky, a collection of her early pop tunes from the 1960s and 1970s. References Jump up ^ GRO Register of Births : JUN 1949 5d 499 MARYLEBONE. Clare H. Torry, mmn = Singer ^ Jump up to : `` ' Dark Side ' at 30 : Alan Parsons ''. Rolling Stone. 12 March 2003. Archived from the original on 14 June 2009. Retrieved 18 February 2009. She had done a covers album ; I can remember that she did a version of `` Light My Fire ''. I just thought she had a great voice. When the situation came up, they started head - scratching, saying, `` Who are we going to get to sing on this ? '' I said, `` I 've got an idea -- I know this girl. '' She came, and in a couple of hours it was all done. She had to be told not to sing any words : when she first started, she was doing `` Oh yeah baby '' and all that kind of stuff, so she had to be restrained on that. But there was no real direction -- she just had to feel it. Jump up ^ `` ' Dark Side ' at 30 : Roger Waters ''. Rolling Stone. 12 March 2003. Archived from the original on 14 October 2009. Retrieved 18 February 2009. It was something that Rick had already written. It 's a great chord sequence. `` The Great Gig in the Sky '' and the piano part on `` Us and Them, '' in my view, are the best things that Rick did -- they 're both really beautiful. And Alan ( Parsons ) suggested Clare Torry. I 've no idea whose idea it was to have someone wailing on it. Clare came into the studio one day, and we said, `` There 's no lyrics. It 's about dying -- have a bit of a sing on that, girl. '' I think she only did one take. And we all said, `` Wow, that 's that done. Here 's your sixty quid. '' Jump up ^ Harris, John ( 2005 ). `` Interviewed by author John Harris for his book `` Dark Side of the Moon '' ``. Brain Damage. Retrieved 18 February 2009. I went in, put the headphones on, and started going ' Ooh - aah, baby, baby -- yeah, yeah, yeah. ' They said, ' No, no -- we do n't want that. If we wanted that we 'd have got Doris Troy. ' They said, ' Try some longer notes ', so I started doing that a bit. And all this time, I was getting more familiar with the backing track... `` That was when I thought, ' Maybe I should just pretend I 'm an instrument. ' So I said, ' Start the track again. ' One of my most enduring memories is that there was a lovely can ( i.e. headphone ) balance. Alan Parsons got a lovely sound on my voice : echoey, but not too echoey. When I closed my eyes -- which I always did -- it was just all - enveloping ; a lovely vocal sound, which for a singer, is always inspirational. '' Jump up ^ `` ' Dark Side ' at 30 : David Gilmour ''. Rolling Stone. 12 March 2003. Archived from the original on 14 October 2009. Retrieved 18 February 2009. Clare Torry ( session singer ) did n't really look the part. She was Alan Parsons ' idea. We wanted to put a girl on there, screaming orgasmically. Alan had worked with her previously, so we gave her try. And she was fantastic. We had to encourage her a little bit. We gave her some dynamic hints : `` Maybe you 'd like to do this piece quietly, and this piece louder. '' She did maybe half a dozen takes, and then afterwards we compiled the final performance out of all the bits. It was n't done in one single take. Jump up ^ `` Album : En Dejlig Torsdag ''. tv-2.dk. Retrieved 2 January 2018. Jump up ^ `` Seventies Singer ''. 2005. Retrieved 23 January 2009. A female vocalist may have become the first British artist to win an out - of - court settlement for a piece of music recorded over 30 years ago. Clare Torry was paid £ 30 to perform on Pink Floyd 's 1973 album ' Dark Side of the Moon ' and was given a written credit at the time. Yet the session singer, who contributed to the track The Great Gig in the Sky, took her claim to the High Court where she has won a half - share on copyright ownership on the song performed. Although most details of the case are secret, the Daily Telegraph has reported the singer secured a cash payment with Pink Floyd and their label, EMI. Jump up ^ Dark Side Of The Moon Experience Edition booklet Pink Floyd Nick Mason Roger Waters Richard Wright Syd Barrett David Gilmour Studio albums The Piper at the Gates of Dawn A Saucerful of Secrets More Ummagumma Atom Heart Mother Meddle Obscured by Clouds The Dark Side of the Moon Wish You Were Here Animals The Wall The Final Cut A Momentary Lapse of Reason The Division Bell The Endless River Live albums Ummagumma Delicate Sound of Thunder Pulse Is There Anybody Out There ? The Wall Live 1980 -- 81 Singles `` Arnold Layne '' / `` Candy and a Currant Bun '' `` See Emily Play '' / `` The Scarecrow '' `` Flaming '' / `` The Gnome '' ( US ) `` Apples and Oranges '' / `` Paint Box '' ( UK ) `` It Would Be So Nice '' / `` Julia Dream '' `` Let There Be More Light '' / `` Remember a Day '' ( US ) `` Point Me at the Sky '' / `` Careful with That Axe, Eugene '' ( UK ) `` One of These Days '' / `` Fearless '' ( US ) `` Free Four '' `` Money '' / `` Any Colour You Like '' ( US ) `` Time '' / `` Us and Them '' ( US ) `` Have a Cigar '' / `` Welcome to the Machine '' ( US ) or `` Shine On You Crazy Diamond Part I '' ( Europe ) `` Another Brick in the Wall ( Part II ) '' / `` One of My Turns '' `` Run Like Hell '' / `` Do n't Leave Me Now '' ( Europe / some US ) or `` Comfortably Numb '' ( later US ) `` Comfortably Numb '' / `` Hey You '' ( US ) `` Pink Floyd The Wall - Music From The Film '' ( `` When the Tigers Broke Free '' / `` Bring the Boys Back Home '' ) `` Not Now John '' / `` The Hero 's Return ( Parts 1 and 2 ) '' `` Learning to Fly '' / `` Terminal Frost '' and / or `` One Slip '' `` On the Turning Away '' / `` Run Like Hell ( live ) '' ( UK ) `` One Slip '' / `` Terminal Frost '' / `` The Dogs of War '' ( UK ) `` Take It Back '' / `` Astronomy Domine ( live ) '' ( US ) `` High Hopes '' / `` Keep Talking '' / `` Marooned '' `` Wish You Were Here ( Live ) '' / `` Coming Back to Life ( live ) / `` Keep Talking ( live ) '' ( UK ) `` Louder than Words '' Compilations The Best of the Pink Floyd / Masters of Rock Relics A Nice Pair A Collection of Great Dance Songs Works 1967 : The First Three Singles Echoes : The Best of Pink Floyd The Best of Pink Floyd : A Foot in the Door 1965 : Their First Recordings Box sets Shine On Oh, by the Way Discovery The Early Years 1965 -- 1972 Films Concerts London ' 66 -- ' 67 Live at Pompeii Delicate Sound of Thunder Pulse Narratives The Wall The Final Cut Documentaries The Pink Floyd and Syd Barrett Story London ' 66 -- ' 67 The Story of Wish You Were Here Soundtracks San Francisco The Committee Tonite Lets All Make Love in London More Zabriskie Point Obscured by Clouds Pink Floyd -- The Wall La Carrera Panamericana Tours World Tour 1968 The Man and The Journey Tour Atom Heart Mother World Tour Meddle Tour Dark Side of the Moon Tour Wish You Were Here Tour In the Flesh The Wall Tour A Momentary Lapse of Reason Tour The Division Bell Tour Related media and tributes 19367 Pink Floyd The Amazing Pudding The Australian Pink Floyd Show Barn Jams Brit Floyd The Dark Side of the Moo `` Embryo '' Inside Out : A Personal History of Pink Floyd The Man and The Journey Music from The Body Pinkfloydia `` Proper Education '' Synalpheus pinkfloydi Umma gumma Their Mortal Remains Other topics Discography Videography Song list Unreleased material Members Bootleg recordings Pink Floyd live performances The 14 Hour Technicolor Dream Azimuth Co-ordinator Blackhill Enterprises Britannia Row Studios Dark Side of the Rainbow EMS Synthi A Games for May Midsummer High Weekend Pink Floyd pigs Publius Enigma Why Pink Floyd... ? Book Portal VIAF : 14552992 GND : 134541251 MusicBrainz : 2392d194 - 9ebb - 46dc - b67a - a01b41c58af5 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Clare_Torry&oldid=832981660 '' Categories : 1947 births Living people People from Battle, East Sussex English female singers People educated at Battle Abbey School British session musicians Hidden categories : EngvarB from January 2014 Use dmy dates from January 2014 Articles with hCards All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from September 2013 Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with MusicBrainz identifiers Talk More Contents About Wikipedia Català Čeština Dansk Deutsch Español فارسی Français Italiano ქართული Norsk nynorsk Polski Português Svenska 5 more Edit links This page was last edited on 29 March 2018, at 01 : 02. 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Question: pink floyd great gig in the sky female vocalist
Answer: Clare H. Torry