Jon Anderson

Jon Anderson is an English singer and musician from Accrington, Lancashire, born in 1944. He is best known as the lead vocalist of Yes, and he also records and performs as a solo artist and in collaborative projects, including Jon & Vangelis with the Greek musician Vangelis. His work is associated with progressive rock, art rock, new age, pop rock, progressive pop and christmas music.

Early life and first bands

Anderson is born John Roy Anderson. He attends St. John’s Infants School in Accrington and begins making music as a child by playing washboard in Little John’s Skiffle Group, which plays skiffle songs by Lonnie Donegan and others. He leaves school at 15 and works in a series of jobs, including farm work, lorry driving and milk delivery. He also tries to pursue a football career with Accrington Stanley FC.

In 1962 he joins The Warriors, also known as The Electric Warriors, where he shares lead vocals with his brother Tony. He leaves in 1967, records two solo singles in 1968 under the name Hans Christian Anderson, and briefly sings with The Gun and The Open Mind. He also spends a short period with Mabel Greer’s Toyshop after meeting bassist Chris Squire.

Yes

Anderson forms Yes with Chris Squire and Peter Banks, alongside drummer Bill Bruford and keyboardist Tony Kaye. The band’s first album appears in 1969. He remains a central figure through the group’s classic period and is closely associated with the long-form pieces that define much of Yes’s work, including Close to the Edge, Awaken and The Gates of Delirium. He also writes many of the band’s mystical and concept-driven lyrics, drawing on books and ideas that include War and Peace, Siddhartha and Autobiography of a Yogi.

He leaves Yes in 1980, returns in 1983 for 90125 with Trevor Rabin, and leaves again in 1988. In 1989 he forms Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe with former Yes members, later joined by bassist Tony Levin for live and studio work. After the ABWH album, that line-up is folded into a larger reunion under the Yes name for Union in 1991. Anderson continues with Yes through later line-up changes and appears on all Yes albums except Drama. He also takes part in the project Yes featuring Jon Anderson, Trevor Rabin, Rick Wakeman.

Solo work and collaborations

Outside Yes, Anderson works with a wide range of artists. He sings on King Crimson’s Lizard in 1970, guesting on “Prince Rupert Awakes”. He appears on Vangelis’s Heaven and Hell in 1975, then records with Vangelis as Jon & Vangelis on Short Stories, The Friends of Mr. Cairo, Private Collection, Page of Life and later releases connected with that partnership. His solo albums include Olias of Sunhillow, Song of Seven, Animation, 3 Ships, In the City of Angels, The Best of South America, Deseo, Change We Must, Angels Embrace, Toltec, The Promise Ring, Earth Mother Earth and The More You Know, along with The Lost Tapes of Opio and later archive material.

He also contributes vocals or lyrics to releases by Rick Wakeman, Mike Oldfield, Tangerine Dream, Gowan, Toto, Kitarō, 4HIM, Glass Hammer, Dream Theater, Peter Machajdík and Tommy Zvoncheck. Other work mentioned includes songs used on film and soundtrack releases such as Metropolis, St. Elmo’s Fire, Scream for Help, Legend and Biggles: Adventures in Time.

Style and other activities

Anderson is known for a high vocal register that is not falsetto, and he describes his singing voice as naturally above tenor range. He is also identified with the spiritual, environmental and pacifist themes in Yes lyrics, and with an interest in meditation and mysticism. He has children including Deborah Anderson, Jade Anderson and Damion Anderson, and he also paints, with his artwork presented on his official website.

Selected discography

With Yes: Yes, Time and a Word, The Yes Album, Fragile, Close to the Edge, Tales from Topographic Oceans, Relayer, Going for the One, Tormato, 90125, Big Generator, Union, Talk, Keys to Ascension, Keys to Ascension 2, Open Your Eyes, The Ladder and Magnification.

With Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe: Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe and An Evening of Yes Music Plus.

With Jon & Vangelis: Short Stories, The Friends of Mr. Cairo, Private Collection, The Best of Jon & Vangelis, Page of Life, Chronicles and Page of Life.