Jon Anderson - The Voice of Yes
8-11-2011
Jon's solo acoustic show includes many classic songs from throughout the YES songbook, as well as his own eclectic work.
JON ANDERSON is undoubtedly one of the most recognizable voices in progressive rock as the lead vocalist and creative force behind Yes. Anderson was the author and a major creative influence behind the series of epics produced by Yes and his role in creating such complex pieces as "Close to the Edge", "Awaken", and especially "The Gates of Delirium" was central to the band's success. Additionally, Anderson co-authored the group's biggest hits, including "I've Seen All Good People," Roundabout," and "Owner Of A Lonely Heart."
That voice. It punches through the stratosphere, down along a sunbeam, and straight into your heart. Jon Anderson has been the lead singer of Yes, one of the most long-lived and successful rock acts in history, for more than three decades (give or take a few respites when the drama got too thick). Perhaps more than any other element in this progressive rock flagship, it is Anderson's vocals that instantly identify what you're hearing as Yes Music, a complex, giddy, positive amalgamation of rock's fire and classical music's grace. English folk, American pop, and plugged-in jazz also rear their heads on album oriented FM-radio staples. Anderson is also the band's lyricist and his stanzas are full of light and cries for peace, wondrous journeys and whales, cosmic travelers and seafarers happily adrift. He remains one of the few people in rock that continues to espouse the same cool values that came out of the '60s social movements around the globe. His voice, a strange otherworldly thing, high and pure, never comes across as anything other than achingly sincere. He believes in the power of music to change the world for the better. He believed that in 1968 when he met bassist Chris Squire and formed a fresh idea for what a rock band might be and he believes it today with a force that's frankly pretty infectious.
Jon's solo acoustic show includes many classic songs from throughout the YES songbook, as well as his own eclectic work.
JON ANDERSON is undoubtedly one of the most recognizable voices in progressive rock as the lead vocalist and creative force behind Yes. Anderson was the author and a major creative influence behind the series of epics produced by Yes and his role in creating such complex pieces as "Close to the Edge", "Awaken", and especially "The Gates of Delirium" was central to the band's success. Additionally, Anderson co-authored the group's biggest hits, including "I've Seen All Good People," Roundabout," and "Owner Of A Lonely Heart."
That voice. It punches through the stratosphere, down along a sunbeam, and straight into your heart. Jon Anderson has been the lead singer of Yes, one of the most long-lived and successful rock acts in history, for more than three decades (give or take a few respites when the drama got too thick). Perhaps more than any other element in this progressive rock flagship, it is Anderson's vocals that instantly identify what you're hearing as Yes Music, a complex, giddy, positive amalgamation of rock's fire and classical music's grace. English folk, American pop, and plugged-in jazz also rear their heads on album oriented FM-radio staples. Anderson is also the band's lyricist and his stanzas are full of light and cries for peace, wondrous journeys and whales, cosmic travelers and seafarers happily adrift. He remains one of the few people in rock that continues to espouse the same cool values that came out of the '60s social movements around the globe. His voice, a strange otherworldly thing, high and pure, never comes across as anything other than achingly sincere. He believes in the power of music to change the world for the better. He believed that in 1968 when he met bassist Chris Squire and formed a fresh idea for what a rock band might be and he believes it today with a force that's frankly pretty infectious.