Richard Christopher Wakeman is an English keyboardist, songwriter, producer, television and radio presenter, actor and author. He is best known for being in the progressive rock band Yes across five tenures between 1971 and 2004. His most successful albums are his first three: The Six Wives of Henry VIII, Journey to the Centre of the Earth, and The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. In 2017, Wakeman was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Yes.
About Rick Wakeman in brief
Richard Christopher Wakeman is an English keyboardist, songwriter, producer, television and radio presenter, actor and author. He is best known for being in the progressive rock band Yes across five tenures between 1971 and 2004 and for his solo albums released in the 1970s. His most successful albums are his first three: The Six Wives of Henry VIII, Journey to the Centre of the Earth, and The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. He has written three books; an autobiography and two memoirs. In 2017, Wakeman was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Yes. He continues to record albums and perform concerts worldwide in various capacities; his most recent album is The Red Planet. Wakeman’s discography includes over 90 solo albums that range from several musical styles. In recent years he became known for his contributions to the BBC comedy series Grumpy Old Men, Watchdog and his radio show on Planet Rock that aired from 2005 to 2010. He was born on 18 May 1949 in the west London suburb of Perivale. His father paid for weekly piano lessons with Dorothy Symes which lasted for eleven years. He went on to win many awards, certificates, and cups in contests held around London. In 1966 he joined the Concordes, known as the Concorde Quartet, playing pop songs at local events with his cousin Alan Wakeman on saxophone and clarinet.
In 1963 he joined a local blues group that secured a residency at a health rehabilitation club in Neasden, London. Two years later he passed his O Levels in English, art, maths and music, and went to study music, art and British constitution at A-level. In 1960, he played in his first trad jazz outfit, the Wakeman and the Clergymen, with his first year at Drayton Manor Grammar School. In 1961, he joined his first band, the Brother Clergyman, with a uniform put on the wrong way round. He played in a jazz outfit called The Brother Clerks in 1963, and later joined the Atlantic Blues Quartet. In 1965 he joined The Concordes and played in their blues group, The Concorded Quartet and later the Concorded Trio. He also played in The English Rock Ensemble, with which he continues to perform, and scored his first film, Lisztomania. In the 1980s he hosted the television show Gastank, and recorded his first of several New-age, ambient, and Christian music albums with Country Airs and The Gospels. In 1988 he joined Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe which led to his third Yes stint until 1992. He returned twice more between 1995 and 2004, during which he completed several more solo projects and tours, including his most significant of the decade, Return to the centre of the earth. In 2016 to 2020 he was a part of Yes Featuring Jon Anderson, Trevor Rabin, Rick Wakeman.
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