Yes
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. Most often regarded as progressive rock pioneers, the band have explored several musical styles and are one of the most successful, influential, and longest-lasting progressive rock bands. Their discography spans 24 studio albums, with 13.5 million Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)-certified albums sold in the US and more than 30 million worldwide.
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, musical differences led to Anderson and Wakeman's departures; Yes recruited keyboardist Geoff Downes and singer Trevor Horn of the Buggles for the album Drama (1980) before disbanding in 1981.
In 1983, Squire, White, Anderson, Kaye, and Rabin reformed Yes. Rabin's songwriting moved the band toward a more pop-oriented sound, which resulted in their highest-selling album 90125 (1983), which featured the band's only US number-one single, "Owner of a Lonely Heart" and won them a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance with "Cinema". The follow-up album Big Generator (1987) was also successful. 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.
Yes reformed in 2009; however, after a world tour was cancelled due to Anderon's health, Yes enlisted Benoît David as the new lead singer, then Jon Davison in 2012. Squire died in 2015, leaving the band with no original members. Former members Anderson, Rabin, and Wakeman toured separately from 2016 to 2018. 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. White, the longest-tenured remaining member, died in 2022. Since February 2023, the band's line-up consists of Howe, Downes, Davison, bassist Billy Sherwood, and drummer Jay Schellen. Their latest studio album, Aurora, was released in June 2026.
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