Clare Torry’s Rare Live Performances of “Great Gig in the Sky” with Pink Floyd

Clare Torry’s Rare Live Performances of “Great Gig in the Sky” with Pink Floyd When Clare Torry went into the studio to record her now-legendary vocals for Pink Floyd’s “Great Gig in the Sky,” the centerpiece of 1973’s Dark Side of the Moon, neither the singer nor the band was particularly impressed with each other. David Gilmour remembered the moment in an interview on the album’s 30th anniversary: Clare Torry didn’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 a 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 wasn’t done in one single take. Asked the follow-up question “what did she look like?,” Gilmour replied, “like a nice English hous

Added 17 Jun 2026