Raymond Augustus Lynch As the second of four children, Lynch was raised in West Texas. Lynch's father was a lawyer; Lynch's mother was a noted watercolorist and an amateur pianist who influenced him to create music as a child. Other early influences included hymns and soundtracks. Lynch began studying the piano at the age of six. At age twelve, he was inspired by Andrés Segovia's classical recordings and decided to pursue a career in music. While Lynch went on to become a musician, his siblings ended up becoming lawyers. replacing Joseph Iadone. Lynch also performed with other groups, such as "Festival Winds", as well as collaborative and solo performances. By 1974, Lynch experienced a "spiritual crisis" that led to his decision to move from Maine to California and give up his musical career. Although he became a carpenter and a purchasing agent in California, Lynch also continued to practice his compositional skills. In an interview with The Arizona Republic, Lynch said that his return to music was prompted by a suggestion from his spiritual teacher, Adi Da, in California.
To prepare for his return to music, Lynch bought an ARP Odyssey with "borrowed money" in 1980; the synthesizer helped him create music in the developing electronic genre. Two years later, Lynch released his first album, Truth Is the Only Profound, which recites the teachings of Adi Da "set to the background of devotional music and songs". Lynch later followed up with an instrumental album, The Sky of Mind. Lynch was featured on Musical Starstreams in June 1985. Immediately after joining Music West in Winter 1985, he released Deep Breakfast to a wider audience. The track "Celestial Soda Pop" was used in 1986 as bumper music for the NPR program All Things Considered. In January 1989, the album hit number 2 on the Billboard New Age chart, then in April it was certified Gold by the RIAA. In August 1989, No Blue Thing was released, and it became Lynch's first album to hit number 1 on Billboard's "Top New Age Albums" chart, doing so in September. No Blue Thing was also his only album to appear on Billboard's "Top 200 Albums", peaking at number 197. It won Billboard's "Top New Age Album" in 1990, and 1990. After years of steady sales, Deep Breakfast was certified Platinum in May 1993.
During his time with Music West, Lynch was featured on Good Morning America as well as the Spanish La 1 program "Música N.A.". In 1991, Lynch sued Music West for allegedly not paying him for his work. He left Music West, taking the rights to his music with him, and signed up with Windham Hill Records. Under the new label, Lynch's albums The Sky of Mind and No Blue Thing (but not Deep Breakfast) were re-released in September 1992 with new album covers.
Under the new record company, Lynch followed up with his final album, the classical Nothing Above My Shoulders but the Evening, in 1993. The album featured members of the San Francisco Symphony. Like the preceding album, it hit number 1 on the "Top New Age Albums" chart. In 1998, Lynch released his first and only compilation album, Ray Lynch: Best Of, Volume One, which included two original tracks and a remix of "Celestial Soda Pop". Lynch left Windham Hill in 2000 and re-released his own catalog of music under his own record company.
In September 2015, Lynch's house was destroyed by the Valley Fire, along with his studio, awards, and the master tapes of his music. As a result, his friend Grant Valdes Huling set up a GoFundMe page, which ultimately raised over $20,000.
Lynch died at his home in California, on December 22, 2025, from complications from a fall, at the age of 82. His death was not publicly announced until February 2026.
Influences
Throughout his career, Lynch did not want his music to be classified as "New Age". In an interview with CD Review in August 1989, Lynch said he did not really mind being labeled as a "new age" artist, but said that he does not like "being grouped with music that I felt is, in general, pretty mediocre and boring". Lynch also said that "'classical' would be the best category for me."
Lynch had been both a student and follower of Adi Da since 1974. Lynch named several of his songs and albums after the themes found in Da's novel, The Mummery Book. After the death of Adi Da, Lynch performed various songs for Da's tribute album, "May You Ever Dwell In Our Heart", in 2009.
Personal life
Lynch's first wife was Ginny, whom he married and divorced before the 1970s.
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| No Blue Thing || 1989 || Music West<br/>Windham Hill Records || align="center" | 99 ||align="center" | 1 || align="center" | 2 ||align="center" | 197 ||align="center" |
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| Nothing Above My Shoulders but the Evening || 1993 || Windham Hill Records || align="center" | 41 ||align="center" | 1 || align="center" | – ||align="center" | – ||align="center" |
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See also
- List of ambient music artists