William Scott Bruford (born 17 May 1949) is an English drummer and percussionist. He is known for his work from the late-1960s to the 1990s, primarily as both as a founding member of Yes and as a member of three forms of King Crimson.
Having been a part of the founding of Yes in 1968, he recorded five albums with as a founding member, including The Yes Album (1971), Fragile (1971), and Close To The Edge (1972). Leaving Yes in 1972, Bruford spent the rest of the 1970s recording and touring with numerous groups. Most prominently, he performed and worked with King Crimson mainly along-side founder Robert Fripp and John Wetton. After King Crimson's initial run in 1974 had ended as a result of the disbandment of the group, he worked with both Roy Harper and U.K., as well as toured with Genesis in 1976 as a part of their A Trick of the Tail (1976) promotional tour. In 1978, he formed his own group, Bruford, which was active until 1980.
During the 1980s, Bruford returned to King Crimson for three years in their Discipline line-up consisting of him and Fripp, as well as Americans Tony Levin and Adrian Belew. He performed for their next three albums, Discipline (1981), Beat (1982), and Three of a Perfect Pair (1984), until the band disbanded again in 1984. After the second dissolution of King Crimson, he collaborated with several artists (including Patrick Moraz and David Torn) and formed his own electric jazz band Earthworks in 1986. He then played with his former Yes bandmates in the supergroup Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe, which eventually led to a very brief second stint in Yes. Bruford played in King Crimson for his third and final tenure from 1994 to 1997 as part of the Double Trio, then continued with a new acoustic configuration of Earthworks.
In 2009, Bruford announced his retirement from professional drumming. He pursued other projects, including the operation of his two record labels, Summerfold and Winterfold, releasing an autobiography, and speaking and writing about music. In 2016, Bruford received a doctorate in music from the University of Surrey. That year, Bruford ranked No. 16 on Rolling Stone's list of the "100 Greatest Drummers of All Time". In 2017, Bruford was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Yes. In 2022, after a 13-year hiatus, he returned to live performance as a member of the Pete Roth Trio.
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