(CelebrityAccess) — Tom Wright, a photographer who captured images of some of the biggest names in music, such as the Rolling Stones, the Who, and The Eagles, died in July. He was 78.
His death was reported by his publicist, Brett Holmes, but a cause of death was no provided.
“Kerouac wrote in On the Road, ‘The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, desirous of everything at the same time,’” said Patrick Markey, who served as executive producer of the Emmy Award-winning series Ozark, and is working on a documentary and television series about Wright. “That was Tom Wright. He lived deliberately and sometimes shaved recklessly close, but in the end, he had zero regrets—he lived life on his terms and would have had it no other way.”
Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Wright’s family relocated to England while he was still a teen. Wright went on to study photography in London at Ealing College of Art in the early 1960s and while there, he met a young Pete Townshend, helping to introduce him to American blues.
After an arrest for drug possession and facing potential deportation from the U.K., Wright embarked on a tour of Europe before returning to the U.S., but not before gifting his collection of more than 350 blues, jazz, and R&B records to Townshend.
In 1967, while on tour in North America, The Who invited Wright to join the tour band as their road manager and tour photographer. He remained in that role for two further tours in the U.S. before accepting a role as manager of the Grande Ballroom in Detroit.
According to a provided obituary, Wright’s relationship with Townshend and The Who prompted the band to launch the U.S. leg of their “Tommy” tour at the Grande, helping to cement the theater’s reputation as a key touring stop in the market for bands such as Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Eric Clapton and Cream.
Wright went on to tour with numerous other acts, including with Rod Stewart and The Faces, the Rolling Stones, The Eagles, The James Gang, Joe Walsh, Elvis Costello, capturing moment on stage and behind the scenes on film.
In 1993, Wright named the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas at Austin the repository for his archive of more than 125,000 photographic images and thousands of tapes of conversations and live recordings.
“My friend Tom Wright was a remarkable photographer. He skillfully used his camera to document the lives and work of some of the most influential rock bands, including the Rolling Stones; Rod Stewart and Faces; Joe Walsh’s first band, The James Gang; the Eagles, and most especially, Pete Townshend and The Who,” said Don Carleton, executive director of the Briscoe Center in a press statement announcing his passing. “His work was greatly enhanced by his close friendships with members of the bands with which he traveled and covered. Those relationships gave Tom an intimate, off-stage access that allowed him to photograph those artists as they prepared for their concerts and as they traveled on tour. I’m deeply saddened by his passing.”
Wright is survived by three sisters and one grandchild.
