Where are they now? - Rick Wakeman
This page last updated: 5 May 2025
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
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I thought, “It’s time to do a new album.” [...] normally I have a concept of things to go with how the music is [...]In an interview for Prog published Jan 2023 (issue #137), Wakeman said he has "still got loads of things to accomplish. There's a project that involves children of all ages, and I've got to organise and tidy up my sheet music. It would take me 30 years to do that".
But it was really weird, sitting at the piano, and writing and playing was quite different this time around. For some unknown reason, music was flowing, which was great. But [...] all of the pieces were incredibly different, unlike Red Planet, where they all sort of belonged to the same group of music and the same sounds.
[...] There were obviously songs that I could hear [...] I kept hearing [Sanderson's] voice for a song called “This Is Good for Them.” There were other pieces that were just piano-based. Then there were some that were very prog-rock-y. I thought, “[...] I’ve got an album coming together here of so many different kinds of music, so how do I hold them all together?” A good friend of mine, we were talking about going to an art gallery [...] I suddenly had this idea, if you go to an art gallery, the pieces aren’t all of the same. [...]
I started thinking about having an album based on [a] gallery, like a music gallery. So it’s called A Gallery of the Imagination. [...] what you hope people will do when they listen, is to paint their own pictures. Obviously, there will be titles to help, but they’ll paint their own pictures as to what they see. One of the things we want to do is we’re going to encourage people to perhaps produce a painting as they see it [...] Then at some juncture we want to hold an exhibition of everything.
On 1-3 Mar 2018, Wakeman played 3 concerts with orchestra and choir (Guy Protheroe conducting) in Buenos Aries, Argentina. The 2 Mar show was almost sold out, while the 3 Mar show was a free event. Wakeman announced his planned set (subject to change) as "Life on Mars" (solo piano), "Suite from Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table", "After the Ball", "Cathering of Aragon" (solo piano)/"Catherine Howard", "Gone But Not Forgotten", "And You and I/Wonderous Stories" (solo piano), "Help/Eleanor Rigby", "Dance of a Thousand Lights", "Sea Horses", "Suite from Journey to the Centre of the Earth", encore: "Merlin the Magician", "The Jig". The show in the Teatro Colón opera house was recorded. Wakeman said in his Apr 2018 GORR that "hopefully it should see the light of day in the not too distant future as part of a special limited edition collection." It was mixed in Jun 2018 and was announced as being due out around mid-2019.
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 were to be released on CD: this was expected late 2017, but then did not 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.
Christus
The New Gospels was a 1995 album by Rick Wakeman with the
late tenor Ramon Remedios, a setting of the Biblical Gospels to
music. The piece had begun as a live performance around 1992,
before being recorded. In his May 2023
GORR, Wakeman said he had had meetings in May 2023 about a
live performance of the piece, which "with a few small re-writes
and musical additions" will "re-appear under the new title of
Christus". (I am unclear if this is implying a new album release
as well.) Details are yet to be confirmed, but the plan was for a
1 Apr 2024 (Easter Sunday) show in Norfolk or Suffolk, England,
with R Wakeman, son Oliver
Wakeman (keys), a tenor, a narrator, a guitarist, a
percussionist, a choir and some orchestral musicians. This didn't
happen, however.
With the English Rock Ensemble
Wakeman and the English Rock Ensemble play 14 UK dates
in Oct 2025. The set will be: Act 1—[SPOILERS—highlight
to read] The Six Wives of Henry
VIII; Act 2—The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and
the Knights of the Round Table. The band consists
of Dave Colquhoun (worked with John Lodge,
DBA;
guitars, backing vocals), Adam Falkner (drums), Lee Pomeroy
(ELO, ex-Yes ft ARW; bass, backing vocals),
Mollie Marriott (daughter of Steve Marriott;
lead vocals), Adam Wakeman
(keys, guitar, backing vocals) and three additional backing
vocals.
Wakeman played 2 sold out dates Feb 2023 in London with different
sets. 22 Feb was The Six Wives of Henry VIII (played in
chronological order of the wives rather than the album order),
followed by The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the
Knights of the Round Table (with "Merlin the Magician" moved
to the end as an encore). 23 Feb had a first set called Classic
Yes and a second set for Journey to the Centre of the Earth.
Performing with Wakeman were the English Rock Ensemble, consisting
of Colquhoun, Falkner, Pomeroy,
Hayley Sanderson (worked with Trevor Horn; vocals),
A Wakeman,
plus Ed Scull (percussion), the English Chamber Choir and
pre-recorded narration by Peter Egan and Ian Lavender. These
shows were released as the 4CD Live at the London Palladium
2023 (Fragile Records, FRCD4BOX1940) on 16 Feb 2024.
Tracks—CD1 (The Six Wives of Henry VIII):
CD2 (The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table):
CD3 (Classic Yes):
CD4 (Journey to the Centre of the Earth):
The album made #4 in the UK Progressive album chart for Mar 2024
and was at #30 in the Apr 2024 chart.
The band returned for a 9-date UK tour 15-28 Feb 2024. This was
with the 23 Feb 2023 set, "Classic Yes" followed by Journey;
encore: "Starship Trooper". The band is R Wakeman, A Wakeman,
Colquhoun, Falkner, Pomeroy and lead vocals/additional percussion
by Marriott. Sanderson was initially announced, but withdrew for
personal reasons and recommended Marriott. There were also three
backing vocalists. The band also headlined the first night of the
2024 Cropredy
Festival on 8 Aug 2024; they played Journey and then
"Starship Trooper". In two Mar
2023 interviews, Wakeman talked of bringing these shows to
the US in 2024. In his May 2024
Rick's Ramblings, he hoped to bring them to South America in
2025.
Rick Wakeman and the English Rock Ensemble played 5 UK dates in
2022: regular shows 30 Mar-3 Apr, plus headlining HRH Prog XII on
2 Apr in Sheffield. The band had various different support acts at
different dates, including Carl Palmer's ELP Legacy on 31 Mar. The
line-up was R Wakeman (keys), A Wakeman
(keys, guitars, backing vocals), Pomeroy (bass, backing vocals),
Colquhoun (guitars, backing vocals) and Sanderson (Strictly
Come Dancing; vocals, tambourine). Tony Fernandez
was initially announced on drums and percussion, but travel
restrictions (he lives in Portugal) meant he was unavailable; he
was replaced by Falkner (Headspace,
ex-The Strawbs, worked with Dido). (Wakeman and the
English Rock Ensemble were to be one of the headliners for HRH Prog 9 in Sheffield and
London, Mar 2020, with a line-up of R Wakeman, A Wakeman,
Fernandez, Pomeroy, Colquhoun and Ashley Holt (lead vocals,
percussion). However, the event was postponed due to COVID-19.
Likewise, Wakeman was to headline HRH Prog XI on 3-4 Apr 2021 in
Leeds, but that also did not happen.) Programming for the tour was
by Erik Jordan. Rehearsals began in Mar. Rick has said he would
like them to play more dates in the UK and beyond, if there is
promoter interest.
Wakeman had said the set would include material from The Six
Wives of Henry VIII, Journey... and Return to
the Centre of the
Earth, The Time Machine, The Myths and Legends
of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, Softsword
and The Red Planet, plus at least one Yes song. The band
played a 95 minute set of: Journey to the Centre of the Earth
(abridged, ~35 minutes), 1984 Medley
("Hymn"/"Julia"/"Robot Man"/"Hymn (reprise)"), "Catherine Parr",
"Merlin the Magician", "The Rest of Arthur" medley
("Arthur"/"Guinevere"/"Sir Lancelot and the Black Knight"/"The
Last Battle"); encore: "Starship Trooper".
In a Q&A session on the 2025 Cruise to
the Edge, Wakeman said he is hoping to stage King
Arthur on ice in the US and he is working with a promoter
to make this happen.
Further live shows
Wakeman toured the
Americas Mar/Apr 2024, with what he billed as his "Final
solo tour: an evening of Yes music and other favorites" (see more below on his plans to changes in
touring). This was an an all-new solo show on piano and keys,
including a 30-minute medley of Yes themes called "Yessonata".
There were 9 US dates 19-29 Mar 2024. The 23 Mar Collingswood, NJ
show had support from Annie Haslam (Renaissance,
worked with Steve Howe). Wakeman played a set of around
90 minutes. The opening night set was: [SPOILERS—highlight to
read] material
from The 6 Wives of Henry VIII ("Jane Seymour/Catherine Howard", also including
excerpts of "Catherine Parr" and "Catherine of Aragon"), "Space
Oddity/Life on Mars?", a 20 minute suite from The Myths and
Legends of King Arthur... ("King Arthur/Guinevere/Merlin
the Magician/The Last Battle"), "A Glimpse of Heaven/Morning has
Broken", "Yessonata" (including excerpts from "Awaken", "Close
to the Edge", "Siberian Khatru", "South Side of the Sky" and
"Heart of the Sunrise", "The Meeting"; the piece could vary from
night to night), "Help!/Eleanor Rigby". "A
Glimpse of Heaven/Morning has Broken"
was dropped subsequently, while an encore of "The
Dance of a Thousand Lights" was added
on the next two shows. However, "The Dance of a Thousand
Lights" was then dropped from later
shows.
The tour continued to Mexico on 3 Apr, Chile on 6 Apr, Argentina
on 9 Apr and then 4 Brazilian dates 11-15 Apr. He explained on Twitter
(23 Jan 2024): "The main bulk of shows will be in October
& November [2024] & if demand is there, may carry on into
2025." A second US leg followed with 19 shows 3 Oct-3 Nov 2024. Al
Stewart was in support on 3 Nov. 4 Oct set:
material from The 6 Wives of Henry
VIII, "Space Oddity/Life on Mars?", suite from The
Myths and Legends of King Arthur..., "Yessonata", "Help!
(in the style of Saint-Saëns)/Eleanor Rigby (in the style of
Prokofiev)", excerpts from Journey...
(~10 minutes). A third leg saw 11 shows in the eastern US 27
Mar-17 Apr, plus appearing on the 2025 Cruise to
the Edge, 4-9 Apr 2025. The tour
finishes with 4 Dutch dates 13-17 May 2025, followed by 4 Scandinavian dates 3-6 Jun 2025.
Wakeman has said this is his final solo
tour: "I can't do any more piano tours. This is the last one,"
he said in episode 6 of his podcast in Apr 2025. He said on his
website on 29 Jan 2024, "The one-man shows will also
continue as final tours in other countries through until 2027" and
clarified he "will also continue to appear in America at one-off
events whenever invited [...] I will still continue to perform
shows with the English Rock Ensemble whenever possible, and also
any one-off ventures that might come along, including another rock
cruise and joint projects with other artists."
Wakeman returns to the US for 9
dates 18-31 Jul 2025 with a duo show with Wakeman on piano
and Hayley Sanderson singing. He described it as, "just be[ing]
with a grand piano and her singing [...] This show will not have
the pressure on the hands that the one man show has as I will
not be playing "flat out" all the time… and it will be
interesting for me to see the difference it makes as regarding
the pain level. It's also an opportunity to perform songs and
other music that rarely gets heard. A very short tour, but very
different." He also pointed to the set list, saying, "It opens
up opportunities for new arrangements of pieces from rare
albums, like Make Me A Woman from The
Time Machine album, and Julia and The Hymn from 1984."
He played 3 piano and keyboard solo shows at Trading Boundaries,
East Sussex on 6-8 Feb 2025.
He appeared at the Starmus festival in Slovakia in May 2024,
including performing a new musical
piece with orchestra to honour Jane Goodall.
Later in the month, he performed at a piano festival in Milan,
Italy. He had 3 Italian shows later in 2024 as well, with 5 more
due Feb-Mar 2025.
Wakeman performed UK piano
and keyboard shows on 7 Dec 2023 (in Hunstanton), 8-9
Feb 2024 in East Sussex, and on 1 Mar 2024 (with Oliver
Wakeman in the audience). The 1 Mar show was described as his
final ever UK one-man show.
He has announced The Rick Wakeman Yuletide Christmas Show 2024, a 19-date English tour 23 Nov-20 Dec. This will be a trio with Adam Wakeman (keys) and Mollie Marriott (vocals), both of whom were on the 2024 English Rock Ensemble tour.
Wakeman was due to appear at the Mach 24 festival in Wales on 24
May as a trio with Dave Colquhoun (English Rock
Ensemble, worked with Downes Braide Association) and
Hayley Sanderson. The show was expected to be about 90 minutes of
music. Wakeman played a 2-hour show on
21 Jul 2023 as part of the Marylebone Music Festival, with Adam Wakeman
and Sanderson.
Wakeman had a US east coast solo tour, An Evening With Rick
Wakeman: His Music and Stories, with 17 dates 15 Mar-15 Apr 2023.
He performed on grand piano and keys (or keys alone at some venues
when the piano provided was poor). Set: "Just a Memory" (from A Gallery of
the Imagination), "Morning has Broken", "Jane
Seymour", "And You and I/Wonderous Stories" (on piano), "Merlin
the Magician", "The Dance of a Thousand Lights", "Catherine
Howard", "Sea Horses", "Space Oddity/Life on Mars"; encore:
"Help!/Eleanor Rigby". The tour was booked around Wakeman's
appearance on the '70s
Rock & Romance Cruise, sailing Mar 2023 from Miami, FL.
(Jon Davison
was also on the cruise.) Wakeman tweeted
on 13 Apr 2023 that there would be a "2nd leg of this tour in
October & November which will signal the end of the one man
shows in America". The leg was to be called The Final Grump Tour.
However, in his Jul 2023
GORR, he announced that this leg was now off, to be replaced
by the longer, one man tour above.
Rick Wakeman, Oliver Wakeman, Gordon Giltrap (worked with Rick Wakeman, Oliver Wakeman) and Carrie Martin (worked with Oliver Wakeman) played a charity concert on 6 May 2023 in Tewkesbury, UK, entitled The 'Other' Coronation Concert. Oliver's son, Arthur, also joined Oliver for one song. The event raised money for Milestone and Cleeve Schools and nearly sold out. It may become an annual event. Rick also had his annual charity concert in Apr 2023 for Animals Asia, with Peter Egan, at the Mill in Sonning.
Wakeman performed "Life on Mars" at the Aug 2023 memorial concert for John Wetton: see main page for details.
There was a 17-date UK Grumpy Christmas Stocking Tour 24 Nov-21
Dec 2022, mixing music and anecdote. On 7 Dec, Wakeman's keyboards
and other equipment were stolen during the tour, so the 8 Dec
Birmingham show was just done on piano. Numerous musicians offered
help, with Wakeman
tweeting a thanks, including to Geoff Downes and Yes's
management. Downes drove from Wales with some specialist
replacement kit. Wakeman wrote more in his Jan 2023
GORR:
I had so many calls from musicians and other people offering to loan me anything I needed if they had it, which was really unbelievably kind, and there was one piece of equipment, a Sycologic, which is virtually impossible to replace, but I really have to thank Geoff Downes for coming to the rescue as he had one that he has kindly loaned us and I am so grateful to him as I am not sure how the Palladium could have gone ahead without this piece of equipment
The 30 Nov 2022 set list was "In the Bleak Midwinter", "Amazing
Grace/A Carol/Morning has Broken", "Just a Memory", "Jane
Seymour/Catherine Parr", "Deck the Halls/Ding Dong Merrily on
High/And You and I/Wonderous Stories", "Merlin the
Magician/Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", interval, "The Dance of
a Thousand Lights", "Away in a Manger", "Gone but Not Forgotten",
"Sea Horses", "The Creek", "Space Oddity/Life on Mars"",
"Help!/Eleanor Rigby", encore: "Silent Night", "Clair de Lune".
"Just a Memory" and "The Creek" are from A
Gallery of the Imagination.
Wakeman was a guest at Tim Rice's Carols
of Light event at Durham Cathedral on 15 Dec 2022, which is
raising money for Foundation
of Light, Sunderland football
club's charity. Other guests include TV presenter Alexander
Armstrong, Alan Price (ex-The Animals), Kathryn Tickell,
Marty & Roxanne Wilde, Kiki Dee
(worked with Patrick Moraz, Elton John) & Carmelo,
George Clarke, Olympian
Steve Cram, the Right Reverend Paul Butler, the Bishop of Durham,
the Salvation Army Band, Durham Cathedral Adult Choir and St
Mary's Primary School Choir.
There was a charity event on 30 Oct 2022 in London, UK, raising money for Saving Suffering Strays. This Evening with Rick Wakeman & Friends entails a performance by Wakeman and an auction. The event will be hosted by actor Peter Egan.
He played 2 shows in Norfolk, UK on 11-12 Oct 2022 with himself
(piano), son Adam
Wakeman (Challen piano) and Hayley Sanderson (vocals). On 12
Oct, they played: first set: "The Hymn", "Make Me a Woman",
"Catherine Howard", "Mr Slow", "Space Oddity" (instrumental)/"Life
on Mars"; second set: "And You And I" (dedicated to Alan White;
instrumental), "Julia", "After Prayers", "The Winter Palace" (Adam
Wakeman solo), "Morning has Broken" (instrumental)/"Amazing
Grace", "Help"/"Eleanor Rigby"; encore: "Merlin the Magician".
They previously 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
(Jazz Sabbath, Tony Hadley, Headspace; keys,
guitar) and Hayley Sanderson (Strictly Come
Dancing; vocals). That set included material from
The Six Wives of Henry VIII, 1984 and songs by
David Bowie and The Beatles.
the second leg of the piano and keyboard one man show in America later in the year [which has since evovled to a separate tour leg in early 2024] [...] is likely to be the last one man show there [...] The reason is that the arthritic hands can't take the battering that the one-man show requires anymore. I can still get through okay but back in the dressing room at the end, the hands are plunged into an ice bucket of ice and ice-cold water in order to get some relief and so in future I am looking at touring with other musicians in order to share the load… this will mainly be with the English Rock Ensemble or members of the band.
I will still continue to do the odd one man show, but these will be one offs and mainly for the charities I support. I have a beautiful music room at the new house and so I will be spending a lot of time putting together various projects that I have been planning for the last few years.
There is really so much musically still to do that I want to make sure happens and so life will be just as busy, but just in a different way.
In an Oct
2019 interview, 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.
The Six Wives of Henry VIII: original album; alternative versions; The Three Wives – Radio Session 27th Feb 1973; DVD: Live in Melbourne 4th Feb 1975The box also contains replica press packs for albums in the period covered, tour programmes, posters, and a 60-page hardback book with memorabilia (unboxing video). There is also a 10LP set (180g), with a limited edition of 100 units in coloured vinyl and then another 150 units in black vinyl. I've seen some alternate track listings, so this may be another release where the contents evolved after the initial advertising.
Journey to the Centre of the Earth: original album; The Other Half; The Three Wives – Radio Session 27th Feb 1973; Live in Melbourne 4th Feb 1975 part 1; Live in Melbourne 4th Feb 1975 part 1
The Myths and Legends of King Arthur...: original album; King Arthur on Ice - Live at Wembley 1975 + Koseinenkin Hall, Osaka, Japan January 21st 1975 part 1; Koseinenkin Hall, Osaka, Japan January 21st 1975 part 2; DVD: King Arthur on Ice - Live at Wembley 1975
White Rock: original album; original music and FX soundtrack; The 1974 Canadian Broadcast; DVD: "White Rock" film
Lisztomania: original album; The Real Lisztomania; Live from the Winterland Ballroom 11th Feb 1975; DVD: "Lisztomania" film
No Earthly Connection: original album; Live at the Maltings 1976; The Apollo Theatre, Glasgow, Scotland May 7, 1976; DVD: Live at the Maltings 1976
The 1976 Concert: Live at Hammersmith 1976; Christmas in Rio Live December 21st 1975; Missing Pieces and Interviews; DVD: Live at Hammersmith 1976 (quad mix) + Success Story, The Story of Journey and other TV extras
And the Rest...: Live in Anaheim 11th November 1975 live part 1, Live in Anaheim 11th November 1975 live part 2, Reflections of Winter (White Rock Sessions) part 1, Reflections of Winter (White Rock Sessions) part 2
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 themIn an Apr 2021 update, Wakeman implied there would be some more archival releases coming.
|
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. Collaboration
with Tim Rice and Alfie Boe |
Further
collaborations & guest appearances
Both Wakeman and Trevor Rabin
are expected to guest on Jon Anderson's 1000 Hands: Chapter
Two, expected in 2023: see under
Anderson. Wakeman and Trevor Rabin
had both, in 2025, mooted the
possibility an album together at some point: see here for
details.
Wakeman guested with his son Adam's band, Jazz Sabbath, at their
26 Nov 2022 show, from which a live album is due. The line-up also
included Dylan
Howe (drums) and Justin Swadling (trombone). See details
under Adam.
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, 2017, 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.
From 21 Sep 2015 onwards, Wakeman (with Erik Jordan engineering) was recording piano and organ on tracks for Armando Peralta (Twitter).| Media
work Wakeman launched a podcast, "The Myths & Legends of Rick Wakeman", on 31 Jan 2025. Early May 2023, Rick and son Oliver were both interviewed for a forthcoming documentary film about The Strawbs. |
Other news
Wakeman had a speaking appearance on 10 Dec 2023 in
Sheffield, UK. He played "Gone But Not Forgotten" at Dave
Myers' memorial on 22 Apr 2024. He did a Q&A and
performance at a school in Billericay on 22 May 2024.
Wakeman wrote the foreword for Carl Palmer's "Fanfare for the
Common Man: An Autobiography".
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.
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 been managed since approx. 2013 by Brian Lane
(previously managed Yes, Yes ft ARW, ABWH). Larry Magid (worked with Yes) is his agent in the US, with
Kilimanjaro having that role in the UK.
Any news, additions or corrections, please e-mail Henry Potts.
Thanks.