Jon Anderson – lyricist, vocalist (countertenor) and multi-instrumentalist with a high voice, who went down in the history of music not only as an unforgettable leader of a progressive band Yesbut also as a solo artist and a musician who has recorded duets with Vangelis. The singer has also collaborated with such artists as, among others: King Crimson, Mike Oldfield, Tangerine Dream, Toto Whether Kitaro.
The future progressive rock star (still called John, dropping the “h” from his name in 1970) dropped out of school as a teenager. Reality forced him to do so – he took up work as a truck driver and milkman to support his family when his father fell ill.
The beginnings of his musical career date back to 1962, when he joined his older brother Tony Anderson in the team The Warriors. The group went down in music history mainly due to the fact that its members included musicians who achieved considerable success in other configurations in later years. The brothers performed alongside, among others: Ian Wallace (later drummer King Crimson and Bob Dylan), Brian Chatton (keyboardist played along with Phil Collins in his first team The Flaming Youth) i David Foster (the bassist co-wrote Badger with the former keyboardist Yes Tony Kaye).
The Warriors, apart from concerts in England and Germany (they performed in the famous The Cavern in Liverpool) and playing covers from the early period, The Beatles released several original singles, which, however, went unnoticed. In the spring of 1968, the singer was approached in one of the clubs in London’s Soho. Its owner, Jack Barrieintroduced Anderson to the bassist Chris Squirewho in turn played together with the guitarist Peter Banks. It soon turned out that the men had a similar view on music and thus the foundations of a new formation were created.
In June 1968, the leaders engaged a drummer Bill Bruford and keyboard player Tony Kayewhom Anderson knew from earlier years. Peter Banks suggested the simple name Yes and an impressive story began.
Jon Anderson – musical Napoleon
Jon Anderson remained in the band until the 1980s and this time was considered the most classic period in the group’s activity. The role played by the singer in the band is best described by the nickname used by his bandmates – Napoleon. He was responsible for artistically ambitious ideas, such as a double concept album “Tales from Topographic Oceans” from 1973, or “Close To The Edge”, “Awaken” and “The Gates Of Delirium”. He was also responsible for engaging other musicians with great skills, such as a guitarist Steve Howe (replaced in 1970 Peter Banks), keyboardists Rick Wakeman and Patrick Moraz and a drummer Alan White (in 1972 he appeared on site Bill Brufordwhich passed to King Crimson).
The second half of the 1970s was the beginning of Jon Anderson’s musical experiments with his solo debut “Olias of Sunhillow” inspired by, among others, science fiction and novels JRR Tolkien. For the needs of this release, the singer learned to play all the instruments used in the recordings, including various types of drums related to ethnic sounds. It was then that he began a fruitful collaboration with the Greek composer Vangelisknown from the prog rock group Aphrodite’s Child. The musician was reportedly being considered for the role of keyboardist Yesbut he finally got the job then Patrick Moraz.
Duo Jon & Vangelis he achieved considerable success with his first albums “Short Stories” (1980) i “The Friends of Mr. Cairo” (1981) with hits “I Hear You Know”, “The Friends of Mr. Cairo” and “I’ll Find My Way Home”which peaked at number six in the UK.
“From enthusiasm to frustration”. Yes’s winding road to the top
The vocalist was already out of Yes at that time – this was the result of internal friction while working on the album “Drama”. “The mood went from enthusiasm to frustration and complete disorientation very quickly,” recalled Anderson, who, together with Rick Wakeman, decided to leave the original formation (they were replaced by Trevor Horn and Geoffrey Downes With The Buggles).
In 1983, Jon Anderson received an offer from the head of Atlantic Records to listen to the demos of the new band Cinemawho was working on her new album. It quickly turned out that the band was created by already well-known people Chris Squire, Alan White, Tony Kaye and guitarist Trevor Rabin (With Trevor Horn as a producer). Cinema changed its name to Yes, and the result of the work in the studio was the album “90125”which turned out to be the greatest commercial success of the group’s career (three times platinum in the United States alone). The material showed a more pop-rock side of the band, the best example of which is one of the biggest hits of the 80s – “Owner of a Lonely Heart”.
This was by no means the end of the line-up shuffling – in the late 1980s, a supergroup was created Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe (ABWH) complemented by a bassist Tony Levin (King Crimson, Peter Gabriel). After the release of their namesake album, there was another surprising twist – ABWH joined forces with Yes musicians to release the album as an eight-person band. “Union” (1991). Chris Squire said each of them received a 90-page contract to clarify legal issues between all musicians, labels and promoters.
Jon Anderson with regret to his colleagues. “They disappointed a lot of fans”
The following years brought Yes albums (with subsequent line-up rotations) and Anderson’s solo albums, but they were not very successful. The singer also began to struggle with health problems (including asthma) – doctors recommended he take a six-month break from concerts. At that time, Chris Squire, Alan White, Steve Howe, as well as those playing keyboards Olivier Wakeman (Rick’s son) invited a Canadian singer to cooperate David Benoit known from Mystery and Close to the Edge – Yes tribute band.
Anderson did not hide his disappointment with this turn of events, explaining that he did not leave Yes, but it did not change much and the next album, “Fly from Here” (2011), was recorded with Benoit. When he became seriously ill a year later, Yes was accepted Jon Davison. “They disappointed many fans,” commented Jon Anderson bitterly, who ultimately did not return to his original band.
Health problems did not prevent him from continuing his musical adventure – at the end of August he released the song recorded with The Band Geeks album “True”which harkens back to the ’70s vibes of Yes and the more commercial phase of the “90125” era. Jon Anderson himself called the album “a gift from heaven” and the recording process of this material – “one of the best experiences in my life”.
The singer has been living with his second wife since the late 1990s Jane Luttenberger in the USA (the witness at their wedding was Alan White, who died in May 2022).