<Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> <Ul> <Li> file </Li> <Li> help </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <Ul> <Li> file </Li> <Li> help </Li> </Ul> <P> "The Great Gig in the Sky" is the fifth track on The Dark Side of the Moon, the 1973 album by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd . The song features music by Richard Wright and non-lexical vocals by Clare Torry . </P> <P> The song began life as a Richard Wright chord progression, known variously as "The Mortality Sequence" or "The Religion Song". During 1972 it was performed live as a simple organ instrumental, accompanied by spoken - word samples from the Bible and snippets of speeches by Malcolm Muggeridge, a British writer known for his conservative religious views . When the band came to record Dark Side in 1973, the lead instrument had been switched to a piano . Various sound effects were tried over the track, including recordings of NASA astronauts communicating on space missions, but none were 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 . </P>

Who sang on pink floyd great gig in the sky