Yes are an English progressive rock band formed in London in 1968. Comprising 20 full-time musicians over their career, their most notable members include lead singer Jon Anderson, bassist Chris Squire, guitarists Steve Howe and Trevor Rabin, drummers Bill Bruford and Alan White, and keyboardists Tony Kaye and Rick Wakeman. The band have explored several musical styles and are often regarded as progressive rock pioneers. Since February 2023, the band's line-up 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 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 in 1970 after the replacement of Banks with Howe led to a series of successful progressive rock albums, with four consecutive US platinum or multi-platinum sellers: The Yes Album (1971); Fragile (1971), which included the successful single "Roundabout"; 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 earned a reputation for their elaborate stage sets, light displays, and album covers designed by Roger Dean. During this time, Kaye and Bruford were replaced by Wakeman and White respectively, while keyboardist Patrick Moraz joined for Relayer and its subsequent tour. In 1980, growing musical differences led to Anderson and Wakeman's departures; Yes recruited Downes and singer Trevor Horn for the album Drama (1980) before 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, which resulted in their highest-selling album 90125 (1983) featuring the band's only US number-one single, "Owner of a Lonely Heart", and the successful follow-up album Big Generator (1987). In 1989, the offshoot group Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe formed and released a self-titled album. At the suggestion of the record company, the groups merged into a short-lived eight-piece line-up for Union (1991) and its tour. Yes regularly released studio albums from 1994 to 2001 with varying levels of success, beginning a second hiatus in 2004. After a 2008 world tour was cancelled, Yes enlisted Benoît David as the new lead singer, then Davison in 2012. Squire died in 2015, leaving the band with no original members. White, the longest-tenured member at that point, died in 2022. Former members Anderson, Rabin, and Wakeman toured from 2016 to 2018. 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. Their discography spans 23 studio albums, with 13.5 million Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)-certified albums sold in the US and more than 30 million worldwide. In 1985, they won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance with "Cinema". They were ranked No. 94 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock. In April 2017, Yes—represented by Anderson, Bruford, Kaye, Howe, Wakeman, White, and Rabin, with Squire honored posthumously—were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
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