Kansas

Kansas is an American rock band from Topeka, Kansas, formed in 1973 and active since then. The group is associated with progressive rock, classic rock, hard rock, AOR, folk rock and progressive music, and is identified as a US prog rock band.

Career and recognition

Kansas first builds its profile in the 1970s through album-oriented rock radio, then reaches wider commercial success with singles including “Carry On Wayward Son” and “Dust in the Wind”. The band spends more than 200 weeks on the US Billboard charts during the 1970s and 1980s, and tours extensively in North America, Europe and Japan.

Its commercial record includes nine gold albums and three multi-platinum albums. Leftoverture goes 5× platinum, Point of Know Return 4× platinum, and The Best of Kansas 4× platinum. Other certified releases include the platinum studio album Monolith, the platinum live double album Two for the Show, and the million-selling single “Dust in the Wind”. “Carry On Wayward Son” becomes the second-most-played track on US classic rock radio in 1995 and reaches number one in 1997.

Albums

The band’s studio albums include Kansas (1974), Song for America (1975), Masque (1975), Leftoverture (1976), Point of Know Return (1977), Monolith (1979), Audio-Visions (1980), Vinyl Confessions (1982), Drastic Measures (1983), Power (1986), In the Spirit of Things (1988), Freaks of Nature (1995), Always Never the Same (1998), Somewhere to Elsewhere (2000), The Prelude Implicit (2016) and The Absence of Presence (2020).

Members

Named members associated with the group include Steve Walsh, Dave Hope, Kerry Livgren, Robby Steinhardt, Phil Ehart, Richard Williams, John Elefante, Steve Morse, Billy Greer, Greg Robert, David Ragsdale, David Manion, Ronnie Platt, Zak Rizvi, Tom Brislin, Joe Deninzon and Scott Bernard.