Ray Lynch
Ray Lynch | |
|---|---|
Lynch in the 1980s | |
| Born | Raymond Augustus Lynch July 3, 1943 Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S. |
| Died | December 22, 2025 (aged 82) California, U.S. |
| Occupations | Musician, composer |
| Spouses |
Kathleen Bennett (m. 1976) |
| Children | 2 |
| Musical career | |
| Genres | New-age, instrumental, classical |
| Instruments | Guitar, lute, keyboards |
| Years active | 1967–1974; 1980–2000 |
| Labels | Ray Lynch Music West Windham Hill |
| Website | www |
Raymond Augustus Lynch (July 3, 1943 – December 22, 2025) was an American guitarist, lutenist, keyboardist, and composer known for his new-age releases in the 1980s.
In the late 1960s, Lynch performed on the lute in New York's Renaissance Quartette, but he withdrew to California and began incorporating electronic music elements, as heard in 1983's The Sky of Mind. He vaulted to fame in 1986 with the single "Celestial Soda Pop" and the 1984 album Deep Breakfast, becoming the first independent new-age artist certified Gold for sales of 500,000. His album No Blue Thing topped the Billboard New Age album chart in 1989. Lynch sued his label Music West and joined Windham Hill in 1992 before retiring in 2000.