Yes

Yes are an English progressive rock band formed in London in 1968. Comprising 20 full-time musicians over their career, their most notable members include lead singer Jon Anderson, bassist Chris Squire, guitarists Steve Howe and Trevor Rabin, drummers Bill Bruford and Alan White, and keyboardists Tony Kaye and Rick Wakeman, who represented Yes when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April 2017. Most often regarded as progressive rock pioneers, the band have explored several musical styles and are one of the most successful, influential, and longest-lasting bands in the genre. Their discography spans 25 studio albums, with 13.5 million Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)-certified albums sold in the US and more than 30 million worldwide.Founded by Anderson, Squire, Bruford, Kaye, and guitarist Peter Banks, Yes began performing a mix of original songs and covers of rock, pop, blues, and jazz songs, as showcased on their first two albums, Yes (1969) and Time and a Word (1970). A change of direction in 1970 after the replacement of Banks with Howe led to a series of successful progressive rock albums, with four consecutive US platinum or multi-platinum sellers: The Yes Album (1971); Fragile (1971), which included the successful single "Roundabout"; Close to the Edge (1972); and the live album Yessongs (1973). Further albums Tales from Topographic Oceans (1973), Relayer (1974), Going for the One (1977), and Tormato (1978) were also commercially successful. Yes earned a reputation for their elaborate stage sets, light displays, and album covers designed by Roger Dean. During this time, Kaye and Bruford were replaced by Wakeman and White respectively, while keyboardist Patrick Moraz joined for Relayer and its subsequent tour. In 1980, musical differences led to Anderson and Wakeman's departures; Yes recruited keyboardist Geoff Downes and singer Trevor Horn of the Buggles for the album Drama (1980) before disbanding in 1981.In 1983, Squire, White, Anderson, Kaye, and Rabin reformed Yes. Rabin's songwriting moved the band toward a more pop-oriented sound, which resulted in their highest-selling album 90125 (1983), which featured the band's only US number-one single, "Owner of a Lonely Heart" and won them a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance with "Cinema". The follow-up album Big Generator (1987) was also successful. In 1989, the offshoot group Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe formed and released a self-titled album. At the suggestion of the record company, the groups merged into a short-lived eight-piece line-up for Union (1991) and its tour. Yes regularly toured and released studio albums from 1994 to 2004 before going on hiatus.Following the cancellation of a 2008 world tour due to Anderson's health, Yes enlisted Benoît David as the new lead singer and resumed activity. Jon Davison replaced David in 2012. Squire died in 2015, leaving the band with no original members. Three former members toured separately as Yes Featuring Jon Anderson, Trevor Rabin, Rick Wakeman from 2016 to 2018. White, the longest-tenured remaining member, died in 2022. Since February 2023, the band's line-up consists of Howe, Downes, Davison, bassist Billy Sherwood, and drummer Jay Schellen. Their latest studio album, Aurora, was released in June 2026.In late 1967, bassist Chris Squire and guitarist Peter Banks, both formerly of the Syn, joined the psychedelic rock band Mabel Greer's Toyshop, which had been formed in 1966 by Clive Bayley and Robert Hagger. They played at the Marquee Club in Soho, London where Jack Barrie, owner of the nearby La Chasse club, saw them perform. He later recalled: "the musicianship was very good but it was obvious they weren't going anywhere". Barrie introduced Squire to singer Jon Anderson, a worker at the bar in La Chasse, who found they shared interests in Simon & Garfunkel and harmony singing. That evening they wrote "Sweetness", which was included on the first Yes album, and Anderson joined as lead vocalist. During this time, the band rehearsed in the basement of The Lucky Horseshoe cafe on Shaftesbury Avenue between 10 June and 9 July 1968. In June 1968, Hagger was replaced by Bill Bruford, who had placed an advertisement in Melody Maker, while in July the classically trained organist and pianist Tony Kaye, of Johnny Taylor's Star Combo and the Federals, became the keyboardist. Meanwhile, Banks had left Mabel Greer's Toyshop to join Neat Change, but he was dismissed by this group on 14 July 1968 and was recalled by Squire, replacing Bayley as guitarist.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.