Singer Jon Anderson, bassist Chris Squire, guitarist Peter Banks, keyboardist Tony Kaye and drummer Bill Bruford gathered together in London, 1968 and formed the Yes band.
Though 19 musicians have been full-time members since then, since June 2015 the band has consisted of guitarist Steve Howe, drummer Alan White, keyboardist Geoff Downes, singer Jon Davison, and bassist Billy Sherwood. Yes have explored several musical styles over the years, and are most notably regarded as progressive rock pioneers.
A change of direction in 1970 led to a series of successful progressive rock albums until their disbanding in 1981, their most successful being The Yes Album (1971), Fragile (1971) and Close to the Edge (1972).
In 1983, Yes reformed with a new line-up that included Trevor Rabin and a more commercial and pop-oriented musical direction. The result was 90125 (1983), their highest-selling album which contained the U.S. number-one single, “Owner of a Lonely Heart”. From 1990 to 1992, Yes were an eight-member formation after they merged with Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe for Union (1991) and its tour. Since 1994, Yes have released albums with varied levels of success and completed tours from 1994 to 2004.
One of the most successful, influential, and longest-lasting progressive rock bands, Yes has sold 13.5 million RIAA-certified albums in the US. 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.
A separate group composed of former Yes members began touring under the name Yes Featuring Jon Anderson, Trevor Rabin, Rick Wakeman, in 2017.
In April 2017, Yes were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which chose to specifically bestow the honor upon current and former members Anderson, Squire, Bruford, Kaye, Howe, Rick Wakeman, White, and Rabin.
Artist Website
Discography
Yes (1969)
Time and a Word (1970)
The Yes Album (1971)
Fragile (1971)
Close to the Edge (1972)
Tales from Topographic Oceans (1973)
Relayer (1974)
Going for the One (1977)
Tormato (1978)
Drama (1980)
90125 (1983)
Big Generator (1987)
Union (1991)
Talk (1994)
Keys to Ascension (1996)
Keys to Ascension 2 (1997)
Open Your Eyes (1997)
The Ladder (1999)
Magnification (2001)
Fly from Here (2011)
Heaven & Earth (2014)
plus
Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe (1989)
Videos