In the 1960s Torry began a career as a singer, mostly performing covers of popular songs, which included session work at
Abbey Road Studios. She later worked as a staff songwriter for
EMI.
"The Great Gig in the Sky" In January 1973,
Pink Floyd were finishing work on
The Dark Side of the Moon at Abbey Road, and a female singer was sought to add vocals to an instrumental composition by
Richard Wright to be called "
The Great Gig in the Sky". Engineer
Alan Parsons remembered having been impressed by Torry's voice, and she was booked for a session on 21 January. : Torry's performance on the track won great acclaim. Craig Jenkins at
Vulture wrote, "Torry’s performance manages to express the full range of human emotion without relying on words." He also believed that the song was "pea soup without her". Fraser Lewry of
Louder said her vocals "lifted the song to celestial heights" and quipped that her hiring was "the best £30 Pink Floyd ever spent". Readers of
Rolling Stone later placed it second on their list of the best vocal performances in rock history behind "
Bohemian Rhapsody". On 4 November 1973, Torry sang "The Great Gig in the Sky" at the
Rainbow Theatre in London. She sang it with
Roger Waters at some of his 1980s solo shows, and with Pink Floyd again at their 1990 concert at
Knebworth. In 2004, Torry 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. In 1973, as a session singer, she was paid only the standard flat fee of £30 for Sunday studio work (the equivalent of £ today). All releases after 2005 carry an additional credit for "Vocal composition by Clare Torry" in the "Great Gig in the Sky" segment of the booklet or liner notes.
Later work Torry contributed to Waters' 1986 soundtrack
When the Wind Blows and to his second solo studio album
Radio K.A.O.S.(1987). She also performed
Dolly Parton's "Love Is Like a Butterfly" as the
theme music to the
BBC Television sitcom
Butterflies, which was released as a single in 1981. In the 1970s, she appeared on the French disco composer
Cerrone's "Angelina", the Alan Parsons Project's "Don't Hold Back", and albums by
Olivia Newton-John and
Serge Gainsbourg. Her voice can 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 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. 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 a fashion similar to "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"). In February 2006, Torry released
Heaven in the Sky, a collection of her early pop recordings from the 1960s and 1970s. In 2011, she released a collaboration with musician and composer John Fyffe. == Accolades ==