This page last updated: 13 Oct 2021
 

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.

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 was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Wakeman was to headline HRH Prog XI on 3-4 Apr 2021 in Leeds, but that also did not happen. 5 dates with the ERE are now planned for 2022.

Further live shows
The Grumpy Old Rock Star Tour covered 22 dates in US and Canada in Sep/Oct 2019. 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 announced the Even Grumpier Old Xmas Show with 17 UK dates in 2020, but these were disrupted by the pandemic. 16 dates have now been postponed to 28 Nov-21 Dec 2021, now under the title The Not Quite As Grumpy As Last Xmas Tour.

He is on a US tour with 24 dates in the same format, entitled The Even Grumpier Old Rock Star Tour. These were scheduled 14 Oct-19 Nov 2021, but some later dates on the tour have been re-scheduled to Feb/Mar 2022 so that the team can avoid flying during the pandemic. Details are expected soon. In an Oct 2021 interview, Wakeman said that, as well as stories, he'll be playing music from his solo career, Yes, work with Cat Stevens, and with David Bowie. He is playing on piano and keyboards.

Before then, he played 27-29 Jul 2021 at Ronnie Scott's in London. Billed as Strictly Wakeman with Wakeman, the line-up was Rick (piano, keys), Adam Wakeman (keys, guitar) and Hayley Sanderson (Strictly Come Dancing; vocals). The set included material from The Six Wives of Henry VIII, 1984 and songs by David Bowie and The Beatles.

Wakeman appeared by video at the 6^o Festival BB Seguros de Blues e Jazz playing a solo piano set, viewable here (go to about 5 hours in).

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 [2020] 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 [2021], but they will happen for sure."

Over the last few years, Wakeman has 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.

I’ve never done anything with it but i was thinking of adapting it and making it all of the animals that I am involved with [...] just talking to you I might just resurrect the “Cathedral Cats” thing and look at all the animals that I have been involved with over the years and then do pieces specifically for all of them

Further collaborations & guest appearances
Wakeman and Trevor Rabin have both mooted the possibility an album together at some point: see here for details.

Wakeman guests with a Moog solo on Justin Swadling's 2021 single "Into the Light" (33Jazz Records, 6:07), released 14 May 2021. Swadling (worked with Captain Sensible, Nik Kerhsaw, Bonnie Tyler, T'Pau, Tony Hadley) plays sax, while also appearing are Mike Outram (guitar), Mike Gorman (organ) and Liam Waugh (drums). Swadling wrote and produced the track.

In his Jun 2021 GORR, Wakeman described playing on a track entitled "Magic Fly" for a Cleopatra Records project.

My Labrador Eats Poo (HaGaTaS) was a 2017 book of poetry by Charles Garland (worked on Blue Peter, Terry and June, Hi-De-Hi!, 'Allo 'Allo). The accompany audio book, read by Garland, also includes musical inserts by Wakeman. Wakeman said it was due Aug that year, but it doesn't appear to be out yet. Garland was also touring England with an evening of humour, including readings from the book and Wakeman's recorded music. There were 14 dates in 2017. Wakeman also appears to be involved in the publishing company, HaGaTaS.

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.