Shows: 2592
Earliest: Aug 3, 1968
Latest: Sep 25, 2024
[
WikiPedia] Yes are an English progressive rock band formed in London in 1968. They have undergone numerous line-up changes throughout their history; their most notable line-ups include lead singer Jon Anderson, bassist Chris Squire, guitarists Steve Howe and Trevor Rabin, drummers Bill Bruford and Alan White, and keyboardists Tony Kaye, Rick Wakeman, and Patrick Moraz. Yes have explored several musical styles over the years and are most notably regarded as progressive rock pioneers. Since February 2023, the band consists of Howe, keyboardist Geoff Downes, bassist Billy Sherwood, singer Jon Davison, and drummer Jay Schellen.
Founded by Anderson, Squire, Bruford, Kaye, and guitarist Peter Banks, Yes began performing a mix of original songs and rearranged covers of rock, pop, blues and jazz songs, as showcased on their first two albums Yes (1969) and Time and a Word (1970). A change of direction later in 1970 led to a series of successful progressive rock albums, with four consecutive U.S. platinum or multi-platinum sellers in The Yes Album (1971), Fragile (1971), Close to the Edge (1972) and the live album Yessongs (1973). Further albums, Tales from Topographic Oceans (1973), Relayer (1974), Going for the One (1977) and Tormato (1978), were also commercially successful. Yes toured as a major rock act that earned the band a reputation for their elaborate stage sets, light displays, and album covers designed by Roger Dean. The success of "Roundabout", the single from Fragile, cemented their popularity across the decade and beyond. The early 1970s saw line-up changes, with Banks, Kaye, and Bruford giving way to Howe, Wakeman, and White respectively, while Moraz was with the band for Relayer and its subsequent tour. In 1980, growing musical differences led to Anderson and Wakeman's simultaneous departure, after which Yes merged with new wave duo the Buggles (singer Trevor Horn and keyboardist Geoff Downes) for the album Drama (1980), before officially disbanding in 1981.
In 1983, Squire, White, Anderson, and Kaye reformed Yes with Rabin joining. Rabin's songwriting moved the band toward a more pop-oriented sound, the result of which was 90125 (1983), their highest-selling album, which featured the band's only U.S. number-one single, "Owner of a Lonely Heart". Its follow-up, Big Generator (1987), was also successful. In 1989, Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman, and Howe formed a separate group and released a self-titled album. At the suggestion of the record company, both groups merged into an eight-piece line-up for Union (1991) and its tour. The combined group was short-lived, and from 1994 to 2001, Yes regularly released studio albums with some line-up changes and varying levels of success.
After a second hiatus, Yes once again reformed in 2009, with Benoît David as the new lead singer. David was replaced by Davidson in 2012. Squire died in 2015, leaving the band with no original members, while White's death in 2022 left Howe as the only remaining member from the 1970s era. Former members Anderson, Rabin, and Wakeman collaborated from 2016 to 2018, but did not release a studio album. Yes's latest album, Mirror to the Sky, was released in 2023.
Yes are one of the most successful, influential, and longest-lasting progressive rock bands. With a discography spanning 23 studio albums, they have sold 13.5 million Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)-certified albums in the U.S., as well as more than 30 million albums worldwide. In 1985, they won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance with "Cinema", and received five Grammy nominations between 1985 and 1992. They were ranked No. 94 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock. In April 2017, Yes—specifically Anderson, Squire, Bruford, Kaye, Howe, Wakeman, White, and Rabin—were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
