This page last updated: 21 Jul 2020
 

YES and projects with several Yesmen	Jon Anderson	Chris Squire	Steve Howe	Alan White
Geoff Downes	Trevor Horn	Tony Kaye	Peter Banks	Patrick Moraz
Bill Bruford	Rick Wakeman	Trevor Rabin	Billy Sherwood	Igor Khoroshev Oliver Wakeman
Benoît David	Asia	CIRCA:	Yes ft. Anderson Rabin Wakeman	Others associated with The band

On this page: Solo projects - Collaborations - Re-releases/archival releases - Media appearances, charity work etc.

On other pages: The Anderson Wakeman Project - Anderson Rabin Wakeman

Rick Wakeman's official site: Rick Wakeman's Communication Centre; Twitter; Facebook; Instagram; YouTube

he recording has finished......probably!

Erik [Jordan] is now heavily engrossed in the mixing and I will be going to his studio to listen as things progress and if there is something that I hear that needs replacing or something extra required, I will record it there..... but I think we are certainly 99% there.

There are already enquiries coming in as regards live performances of The Red Planet but a lot will depend on how well, (or not as the case may be), the album does and is received. Certainly it is something I would love to happen but would need serious additional players with me...2 more keyboard players for a start, (first choices would be Oliver and Adam) and additional percussion.

Wakeman appeared with his Green Dolphin Trio at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival on 29 Apr 2017, tickets selling out. Wakeman formed The Green Dolphin Trio in 1966 for club work; the band lasted about a year. He revived the name for this performance, a line-up with Dave Colquhoun and Matt Pegg. The set included "Merlin the Magician", "Eleanor Rigby", excerpts from The Six Wives of Henry VIII, "Georgia on My Mind", "Sweet Georgia Brown" and "Baby Face" (with a 50 strong audience choir). Edited highlights are to be released on CD: this was expected late 2017, but has yet to appear.

Previously, Wakeman has talked of working an instrumental prog album along similar lines to The Six Wives of Henry VIII. He has also talked of a new piano album with son Adam.

In his Apr 2011 GORR, Wakeman said:

I am finishing off writing the music for a double CD of piano which we will be recording at The Granary on my favourite piano. 70% of the music has been recorded so we’re on the last stages now. Hopefully this will see the light of day around summertime.

He continued in his May 2011 GORR: "Quite a bit of recording going on as well in May with Erik Jordan engineering for me as always, whilst we finish off two piano albums that we have been working on, (off and on), for nearly two years now. These will be recorded at The Granary on my all time favourite Steinway concert grand piano." In the Jun 2011 GORR, describing activity for that month: "Jordan and myself will be finishing off the piano recordings we have been doing at The Granary with my favourite piano." And in the Aug GORR, Wakeman described finishing recording on what is now three piano albums, saying, "It's possible they will be released in time for Xmas." It is unclear what has happened to these.

Another piano album of Yes music performed in a classical manner was also announced as forthcoming but has yet to appear.

Sound & Vision
Sound & Vision is the name of a live event at The Queen's House, Greenwich, London, UK that teams Wakeman with artist Maria Rud, in aid of Animal Asia and their work with the Asian black bear (or moon bear). Originally scheduled for 10 Dec 2017, this date has been cancelled and the  event is now planned for near Xmas 2018. Wakeman was due to be performing with son Adam, Ed Scull (Orion Symphony Orchestra) with a "mass of percussion", and a "very large" choir. Rudd will be painting live to the music, her work being projected on to the buildings. Wakeman will be playing new arrangements of existing material and some new material for the show. The event was planned not to be seated: the audience were to be able to move around to watch the performers and the art.

More with the English Rock Ensemble
In his Aug 2019 GORR, Wakeman writes of further English Rock Ensemble shows being planned. Wakeman and a full band (so presumably the ERE) were to be one of the headliners for HRH Prog 9 in Sheffield and London, Mar 2020, with a line-up of R Wakeman (keys), Adam Wakeman (keys, vocals), Tony Fernandez (drums, percussion), Lee Pomeroy (bass, vocals), Dave Colquhoun (guitars, vocals) and Ashley Holt (lead vocals, percussion). However, the event has been postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Instead, Wakeman is headling HRH Prog XI on 3-4 Apr 2021 in Leeds.

Wakeman played 2 final UK performances of Journey to the Centre of the Earth, 13-4 Jul 2019 at London's Royal Festival Hall, with the Orion Orchestra, English Chamber Choir and the English Rock Ensemble, plus Alfie Boe (vocals on "Never is a Long, Long Time" and "Still Waters Run Deep") and Robert Powell (narration). Guy Protheroe conducted. The rest of the band were Adam Wakeman (keys), Tony Fernandez (drums), Matt Pegg (bass), Dave Colquhoun (guitars), Ashley Holt (vocals) and Hayley Sanderson (vocals). The set was to integrate two songs from Return to the Centre of the Earth into the running order of the original album. The shows won 5th place in the Event category of Prog magazine's 2019 Readers' Poll. Wakeman also came 5th in the Keyboardist category and 8th in the Person of the Year category.

Wakeman re-recorded The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, with the English Rock Ensemble (the same line-up as on The Journey to the Centre of the Earth re-recording, except Lee Pomeroy was replaced by Matt Pegg on bass), the Orion Orchestra and the English Chamber Choir, with Guy Protheroe conducting (orchestral scores by Protheroe and Ann Manly; choral arrangements by Wakeman). Vocalists are Hayley Sanderson and Ashley Holt. Jun 2016 saw a live performance of the album: Wakeman headlined the second day of The Stone Free Festival, London, 19 Jun 2016, playing a 90 min. set including all of The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. The band included son Oliver Wakeman. He was planning a performance of the album in Tintagel, UK. This was to be in Sep 2018, again involving Oliver, and (according to an interview conducted Mar 2017) a large orchestra and choir. Plans then shifted to Sep 2019, but the logistics proved not workable and this is not going ahead.

Further live shows
The Grumpy Old Rock Star Tour covered 22 dates in US and Canada in Sep/Oct 2019. Rabin attended one of the shows. The format was a solo grand piano show by Wakeman with music (including solo, by Yes, early Bowie and The Beatles) and chat. He then played 11 English dates in Dec 2019 with a Xmas show. Following pandemic disruption, Wakeman has announced the Even Grumpier Old Xmas Show with 17 UK dates 27 Nov-21 Dec, with possibly a US solo piano tour before that.

In terms of further post-pandemic touring, in his Jul 2020 GORR, Wakeman said: "Lots of dates being provisionally booked for prog concerts in the UK and hopefully around Europe plus a US piano tour and some South American keyboard shows, plus orchestral shows in Europe [...] I also have some plans for some special charity concerts that I was hoping to do this year but which the pandemic called a halt to. We can't fix dates yet until we know the status of theatres and venues for next year, but they will happen for sure.".

On 31 Jan 2020, Wakeman was set to be at an unveiling of a plaque at the Stowe School, Buckinghamshire, followed by a concert of Beatles music performed by Rick (piano), son Adam, granddaughter Skyla, and Bernie Marsden (ex-Whitesnake).

On 3 Mar 2020, Wakeman was one of the guests at Music for the Marsden, raising money for the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity. The house band will be Paul 'Wix' Wickens (works with Paul McCartney, worked with Paul Carrack; keys), Andy Fairweather Low (worked with Eric Clapton, Roger Waters, Kate Bush; guitars), Robbie McIntosh (ex-The Pretenders, worked with Paul McCartney; guitars), Dave Bronze (ex-Procol Harum, worked with Eric Clapton, Tom Jones; bass), Graham Broad (ex-Procol Harum, worked with Roger Waters, Bucks Fizz; drums, percussion) and Ian Paice (Deep Purple; drums, percussion). Other guests are Eric Clapton, Tom Jones, Bonnie Tyler, Mick Hucknall (Simply Red), Mike Rutherford (ex-Genesis, Mike & the Mechanics), Paul Young (ex-Mike & the Mechanics), Zucchero, Paul Carrack (ex-Mike & the Mechanics), Paul Jones (ex-Manfred Mann), John Illsley (ex-Dire Straits), Gary Brooker (Procol Harum) and Yusuf (Cat Stevens). Wakeman played his version of "Eleanor Rigby" in the style of Prokofiev, and then "Morning has Broken" with Yusuf.

Wakeman, with Guy Protheroe, played a private show with the Russian Philharmonic Orchestra and a choir in Moscow, Russia in early Jul 2019. Brian Lane also accompanied them. Later that month, he again plaed the Starmus festival, also with Steve Vai, Brian May, Hans Zimmer and a symphony orchestra and choir. Wakeman probably has another piano and orchestra show on 15 Aug 2020.

Wakeman will be part of a concert at the British Embassy in Rome in aid of Animals Asia on 11 Sep 2020. Before then, there's a UK evening with Rick Wakeman for Animals Asia on 1 Mar 2020.

Wakeman was due to be at Noisy Notes in London on 24 Feb 2019, an interactive concert for children with the Orion Orchestra (with whom Wakeman have worked before). The event was led by presenter and guest conductor Sue Perkins (worked with Dylan Howe). Wakeman and Perkins returned on 22 Jun 2019 for a London show exploring his career with the Marylebone Music Festival Choir.

5 Nov 2018 saw An Evening with Rick Wakeman in Reading, compered by Peter Egan and also with actress Lesley Nicol, in aid of Animals Asia. In Jan 2019, Wakeman did an interview with some piano pieces at a 27 Jan 2019 church event in north London, organised by Simon Mayo.

29-30 Jul 2018, Wakeman played at Ronnie Scott's in London with his Trio, which he's now calling KGB, with Colquhoun (guitars) and Pegg (bass). Both shows sold out. They next played Devizes on 19 Jan 2019.

Wakeman played two belated Xmas shows at the Granary in Suffolk on 24-5 Jan 2019.

Wakeman toured South America in Jul 2018, playing grand piano, with an orchestra and choir conducted by Protheroe. He played three more dates in this configuration 1-5 Dec 2018, 2 in the Czech Rep. (both sold out) and 1 in Ukraine. The South American dates went as follows:

• 6 Jul, Santiago, Chile: concert with symphony orchestra and choir, Protheroe conducting; set:  "Arthur/Guinevere/Sir Lancelot and the Black Knight", "After the Ball", "Catherine Howard", "And You and I", "Help/Eleanor Rigby", "Life on Mars", "The Dance of a Thousand Lights", "Jane Seymour", "Sea Horses", Journey to the Centre of the Earth", "Roundabout", "Merlin the Magician", "The Jig", "Gone But Not Forgotten"
  
• 7 Jul, Buenos Aires, Argentina: solo piano show
• 8 Jul, Mendoza, Argentina: with symphony orchestra etc.
  
• 9 Jul, Buenos Aires, Argentina: solo piano show
  

He played two piano shows in Italy: 3 Aug 2018 in Treviso, and 4 Aug in Trieste. He may possibly also have a piano show 5 Aug in Faro, Portugal.

Wakeman played at the 2018 Marylebone Music Festival on 23 Jun 2018, in aid of a homelessness charity. The evening saw Rick interviewed by son Adam, with Wakeman performing a few solo pieces on piano and possibly a duet with Adam, while a string quartet will also play, as Rick puts it, "a couple of arrangements of music from my childhood that I loved and indeed, still love."

On 21 Apr 2018, Wakeman and Peter Egan did a private show to raise money for Animal Asia.

Wakeman had piano shows on 26-7 Apr 2018 at Tadcaster Methodist Church.

On 16 Mar 2018, Wakeman (piano) did a show in Elche, Spain with Valentina Blanca (vocals).

Over the last few years, Wakeman has previously talked about reducing his workload and a changed emphasis in what he does as a consequence of his age. He has stopped doing more substantial solo tours and is focusing more on TV and radio work (see below), shorter tours and one-off performances, although Anderson, Rabin & Wakeman saw a more significant commitment to touring. The latest comments came in an Oct 2019 interview where he was asked why ARW's next tour (in 2020) would be a farewell tour. Wakeman replied:

a mixture of honesty and then you can read into it what you will. None of us are getting any younger health-wise [...] It’s not the playing, though that does get a bit difficult at times. There’s the traveling and everything that goes with it. [...]

I have been diagnosed with arthritis in both my hands. It’s controllable at the moment. I don’t take anything for it, pills or drugs, but I do exercises. I have creams and special gloves and things that keep me going. I know I have to practice really hard to keep my fingers supple. I always said that I never want to walk onstage and not play to the standard I want to. [...] there comes a time to stop.

[...] I might be wrong. I might have a few more days than I think. I do have some days where they seize up quite a lot, but at the moment I can still play. The dexterity is still there. When I do the right exercises I am fine.

I reckon I have until probably the beginning to the end of 2022 and then I think I won’t be able to do it anymore. I’ll still be able to play, but not [up to] the standard live that I do now. I’ll still be able to record and do music and the odd concert, but they will be different concerts. That’s my reason why I voted along with everyone, actually, that we’ll do a farewell/thank-you tour to the fans when you can still do the best you do

In the RWCC Winter Newsletter 2007, Wakeman explained:

After 40 years of concert tours [...] he has called it quits.

Don't panic! Wakeman simply means no more touring, no more traipsing from gig to gig, giving the same concert night after night, sometimes as many as 140 in a year. He is not retiring.

"I wanted to do a lot more (musically). I want to be more (diverse) in the concerts I do," he told Reuters [...]

What that means is cutting back to maybe 40 appearances a year.

His Sep 2011 GORR had this: "Although I have set a date of May 2014 to cut right back and not work 18 hours a day minimum 7 days a week anymore, (It'll be 4/5 days a week instead), the next two years are going to be more manic than ever, especially if most of what's in the pipeline comes to fruition." And the Oct GORR began:

I’m about to head into one of the busiest travelling periods I’ve had for years and it is highly unlikely ever to happen again either! Much as I love performing on stage, my love of hotel rooms and airplanes dissipated about five years ago, but sometimes things happen that means that personal rules have to be broken and the next couple of months are such a period.

In an Aug 2007 interview, he said, "I'm currently involved in a stage musical, two other films and a stage juggling show!" In a May 2005 report, Wakeman says that after ending live work in 2006, he "will concentrate on recording and writing for films wherever and whenever possible." In recent years, Wakeman has been doing some soundtrack work. He has been director of the music division at Write Good Films. IMDB.com report that Wakeman is doing the music for a UK film currently in production called "Out of Reach". In an Apr 2004 interview, he says, "I've got this soundtrack thing coming up", but no details were given. In his Christmas 2004 Newsletter, he says he hopes to do more film and TV work. In Apr 2005, Wakeman said he was doing music for an animated children's feature about Noah. He had previously said that he would finish recording of his "Noah" project (performed live with the English Chamber Choir in 1997), but I am unclear whether this is connected or not. In the Nov interview, he said he would like "to do more work with orchestras and choirs and also some more film scoring which I really enjoy."

Wakeman had been working on a follow-up to Hopesongs with music for weddings and funerals, presumably again with Howard Prior.

Wakeman has previously written "Grumpy Old Rockstar" and "Further Adventures of a Grumpy Old Rock Star". Some years back, he talked of working on a third volume. In his Jul 2011 GORR, he said he was close to finalising a deal for this third volume; and in the Oct 2011 GORR, this: "Whilst away on all overseas trips I like to keep myself occupied as I loathe hotel rooms and so the plan is to finish the third book in the Grumpy series which has a working title of "Rick Wakeman's Grumpy Old RockStar Rants". I've been working on it for most of this year [2011], (and some of last year [2010] too), and, like the first two, contains ludicrous stories but with added rants along the way!" In Nov 2012, he tweeted about the need to finish writing the book. However, no further news followed until a 7 Sep 2017 tweet in which he said, "Decided it's time for the 3rd Grumpy Old Rockstar book & have already started on it."

In the Jul 2005 interview, he said that he is going to write a book about Yes ("Grumpy Old Rockstar" only has a small amount of Yes content)—see details here.

Wakeman is a columnist for Prog. In the RWCC Winter Newsletter 2007, Wakeman said, "I'm very much looking forward to producing various music books with duets for piano as well as music for other instruments accompanied by piano. This is very much a long-term project and hopefully by Easter , the first books will be available."

Wakeman has two record companies, Ambient Records and Hope Records. Fintage Music have announced a publishing and neighbouring rights administration deal with Wakeman covering the administration of his rights outside of North America, among other services.

Wakeman has been managed since approx. 2013 by Brian Lane (previously managed Yes, ABWH). Roger DeCourcey is Wakeman's agent for TV, radio and corporate work (but not music).

Any news, additions or corrections, please e-mail Henry Potts. Thanks.