The story of The Great Gig In The Sky and the best £30 Pink Floyd ever spent

A woman singing into a megaphone with the colours of the spectrum emerging from its horn

Pink Floyd first played The Great Gig in the Sky – then titled The Mortality Sequence – at the Brighton Dome in January 1972, more than a year before it was finally released on The Dark Side Of The Moon, and getting the song to the finish line was quite the journey. 

Built around a Richard  Wright piano solo, The Great Gig in the Sky was originally embellished by a reading of The Lord’s Prayer and a recording of author and satirist Malcolm Muggeridge pontificating. Work on the studio version began at Abbey Road as the middle of the year approached, but touring, holidays and other commitments kept the band distracted.