Background

John Roy Anderson was born on October 25, 1944, in Accrington, a town in Lancashire in northwest England. His father Albert was from Glasgow, Scotland and served in the army in the entertainment division and later worked as a salesman; his mother Kathleen was of Irish and French ancestry and worked in a cotton mill, then the biggest export from Lancashire at the time. Together they became county champions in ballroom dancing, winning several awards. Anderson claimed they named him after an English singer who toured as "John Roy the Melody Boy" and the Scottish name Royston. Anderson grew up on Norfolk Street with brothers Tony and Stuart, and sister Joy. He is the third youngest. As a youngster, Anderson became a fan of several musicians, including Elvis Presley, Eddie Cochran, the Everly Brothers, and Jon Hendricks.

Education

Jon Anderson attended St. John's Infants School in Accrington, and made a tentative start to his musical career at an early age by playing the washboard in "Little John's Skiffle Group," which played songs by Lonnie Donegan among others.

Career

At fifteen, Anderson left school after his father became ill and took up work on a farm, a lorry driver transporting bricks, and a milkman to help support the family. A keen football fan, he tried to pursue a career at Accrington Stanley F.C., but at 5 feet 5 inches (1.65 m) tall, he was turned down because of his frail constitution. He remained a fan of the club and was a ball boy and mascot for the team for one year. Anderson dropped the "h" from his first name in 1970.

He began his musical career by joining his brother Tony's group the Warriors. Eventually, that band relocated from England to Germany, but Tony had left the group by then. So, the only Anderson still in the band by 1965 when they cut their first single was Jon (technically still John at that time). The single received a less than enthusiastic welcome and Anderson left the group in 1967, having put in five years with them. His next move was to the group the Party, but that one was quite short-lived. By 1968, Anderson had returned to England and recorded two singles under the moniker Hans Christian Anderson. Those received responses similar to what the Warriors' single had. Anderson found his way into the group Gun, but only stayed there for a couple of months.

The year was 1968 and musical history was about to be made with an introduction to a London club. Jon Anderson was introduced to Chris Squire, and finding a kindred spirit in music, he began showing up at gigs of Squire's band Mabel Greer's Toy Shop, whose guitarist at the time was Peter Banks. Anderson started getting up and singing with the group from time to time, eventually becoming their vocalist. However, Banks had left by the time Anderson was inducted. More pieces gradually began to fall into the mix as various musicians were brought into the Toy Shop fold. First Bill Bruford, then Tony Kaye. By the time Peter Banks returned, the band had decided to change their name to Yes. They released their first two albums in 1969 and 1970, and both received good critical response, but didn't gain a large commercial or radio presence.

By the time that they recorded 1970's The Yes Album, the band had replaced Peter Banks with Steve Howe and the combination, along with a stroke of luck at a U.S. radio station, proved the charm that started their commercial career. Interestingly, Anderson found the time for side projects even amidst recording and touring with Yes. In fact, he would show up on two albums in the first two years of the decade. The first was King Crimson's Lizard and the other was Johnny Harris' All to Bring You Morning. The next Yes album, 1972's Fragile, would feature both the debut of new keyboardist Rick Wakeman and the single "Roundabout." The combination propelled the group and Anderson well into the spotlight. For the next couple of years, Yes occupied the majority of Anderson's time. With the recording of three more studio albums before 1974 and steady touring, he would have little time for much else. However, after the tour for Relayer, things began to settle down a bit. Anderson managed to work with Vangelis Papathanassiou, who had been Yes' first choice for Rick Wakeman's replacement. Although immigration issues forced the band to go with Patrick Moraz instead, Anderson added vocals to the keyboardist's Heaven and Hell album released in 1975. It would definitely not be the last time they would work together.

1976 saw the entire band taking time to record solo albums. Anderson's outing, Olias of Sunhillow, was an ambitious creation. It was an album-long concept piece with nearly all the writing and performances being undertaken by the singer himself. He also added vocals to Yes drummer Alan White's Ramshackled album. The break seemed to revitalize the band and their next release, Going for the One, featuring the return of Rick Wakeman, was a very strong album and ushered the band into 1977 with style. Anderson's role in the group was close to coming to an end for a time, though. He stuck with them through the next album and couple of tours, but when they began recording for the follow up to Tormato, the dreaded "musical differences" cropped up and Anderson left. He definitely did not become idle, though. Indeed, the next couple of years proved very fertile for him. He released his second solo album, Song of Seven, in 1980. That same year, he collaborated again with Papathanassiou. This time they recorded an entire album together and released it under the moniker Jon & Vangelis. The album was called Short Stories, and they enjoyed that work so much that before the end of 1981, they released two more albums together. 1981 also saw Anderson appearing on Rick Wakeman's 1984 album. His next solo release was 1982's Animation, a show he took on the road.

1983 would be another turning point for Anderson. He worked on Mike Oldfield's Crises album, but that would not be the decisive factor in his career. By that time, Yes had been broken up for almost three years. Chris Squire and Alan White were working with a young guitarist named Trevor Rabin on a project called Cinema. Tony Kaye had also been enlisted for the project. Producer and one-time Anderson Yes replacement Trevor Horn suggested that Anderson should add some vocals to the project. Upon agreeing. Anderson remarked that with his voice on the songs it would be Yes. The group agreed and the name Cinema was dropped in favor of Yes. The resulting album, 90125, propelled by the hit single "Owner of a Lonely Heart," saw the band receive more success than they had ever previously attained. A tour ensued, but then the band had some quiet time. Anderson took the opportunity to record another solo album, this time a collection of holiday songs, entitled Three Ships. He also managed to work on a few other projects including movie soundtracks with John Paul Jones and Tangerine Dream. The next Yes album and tour in 1987 saw those musical differences once again appearing and Anderson again left Yes.

In the time following his second departure from the group, he released another solo album, this one a rather poppy collection entitled In the City of Angels. He also guested on Toto's release The Seventh One. By that time, he had begun talking with several Yes alumni about working together again. The group of them, Anderson, Steve Howe, Rick Wakeman, and Bill Bruford were joined by Tony Levin and completed an album. The only problem was deciding what to call the group. They had wanted to name it Yes, but Chris Squire proved ownership of that name and was not going to let them use it. So, they chose to forego cleverness and work with their last names. Thus their album was a self-titled one called Anderson-Bruford-Wakeman-Howe. The group toured fairly extensively for the release, but Anderson still wound up finding the time to contribute vocals to Jonathan Elias' Requiem for the Americas album. Another odd turn of events was looming on the horizon, though. As Anderson-Bruford-Wakeman-Howe were working on their second release, Yes was in the process of recording their next album. Lines of communication were once again opened and both projects were combined into one Yes album, dubbed Union. The group toured for the album to both filled stadiums and rave reviews. Anderson still found time to get together with Papathanassiou again and release the next Jon & Vangelis album, Page of Life, in 1991. The following year, he worked on Kitaro's album Dream. Among other projects, Anderson would do another album with Papathanassiou (Chronicles) and two solo albums (Deseo and Change We Must) before the 1994 release of the next Yes album, Talk. The lineup on that disc was back to a five-piece, Steve Howe, Rick Wakeman, and Bill Bruford having gone their separate ways.

The next couple of years were quiet ones for Yes, but not for Anderson. He made guest appearances on a few projects and released two new solo albums. And big things were once again on the horizon for Yes. It was announced in late 1995 that Trevor Rabin and Tony Kaye were no longer part of the group. They were replaced by alums Steve Howe and Rick Wakeman. A classic Yes lineup and incredible fan enthusiasm surrounded both the band and Anderson. The group did three shows in San Luis Obispo in March of 1996. The shows were recorded and released along with new studio material as the two Keys to Ascension albums.

1997 saw quite a bit more activity from Anderson. He released two solo albums, the Celtic The Promise Ring and EarthMotherEarth. Yes also released an album featuring his vocals. The disc was called Open Your Eyes and in true Yes tradition of revolving door membership, it did not feature Rick Wakeman, who had already left. Anderson went along with the group on a tour of small intimate theaters that fall. In 1998, he released his next solo album, The More You Know. That same year saw several releases featuring his vocal talents. Among them was 4Him's album Streams, Yes' The Ladder, and Steve Howe's Portraits of Bob Dylan. Touring and working on the Yes album Magnification have kept Anderson pretty busy, but he found time to appear on Béla Fleck & the Flecktones' 2000 release Outbound.

Anderson toured off and on with Yes until 2008 when he left due to health concerns. He re-emerged in 2011 with the solo album Survival and Other Stories and The Living Tree in collaboration with Wakeman. In 2012, he began collaborating with violinist Jean Luc Ponty, resulting in the Anderson Ponty Band's Better Late Than Never, comprised mostly of new readings of Yes material. A year earlier, at the instigation of InsideOut Music label boss Thomas Waber, Anderson began working with Flower Kings /Transatlantic guitarist Roine Stolt. They were asked to consider recording a series of suite-like tunes that would echo what Yes accomplished on Tales from Topographic Oceans and Anderson's own Olias of Sunhillow, albeit with a modern prog bent. After trading ideas back and forth on the internet for months, live sessions were initiated in March of 2015 with a full band and backing vocalists. Invention of Knowledge, billed to Anderson/Stolt, consisted of four long tracks. It was released by Inside/Out in June 2016.

Anderson aims to complete his solo album 1,000 Hands in late 2018. He had started it almost 30 years prior and named the album accordingly due to the many musicians that play on it, including Howe, Ponty, Chick Corea, and Billy Cobham.

Achievements

• Yes are one of the most successful, influential, and longest-lasting progressive rock bands. They have sold 13.5 million RIAA-certified albums in the US. In 1985, they won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance with "Cinema," and received five Grammy nominations between 1985 and 1992. They were ranked No. 94 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock. Yes have headlined annual progressive rock-themed cruises since 2013 named Cruise to the Edge. Their discography spans 21 studio albums. In April 2017, Yes were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which chose specifically to bestow the honour upon current and former members Anderson, Squire, Bruford, Kaye, Howe, Rick Wakeman, White, and Rabin.
  
  Anderson is also noted for his solo career and collaborations with other artists, including Vangelis as Jon and Vangelis, Roine Stolt as Anderson/Stolt, and Jean-Luc Ponty as AndersonPonty Band. He has also appeared on albums by King Crimson, Tangerine Dream, Iron Butterfly, and Mike Oldfield.

Works

More photos

• music

  • Earth Mother Earth

    ( )

    1997
  • Yes 1976
  • Time And A Word 1970
  • The Yes Album 1971
  • Fragile 1971
  • Close To The Edge 1972
  • Tales From Topographic Oceans 1973
  • Relayer 1974
  • Olias Of Sunhillow 1976
  • Going For The One 1977
  • Tormato 1978
  • Jon Anderson 1980
  • Animation 1982
  • 90125 1985
  • Big Generator 1987
  • In The City Of Angels 1988
  • Union 1991
  • Talk 1994
  • Deseo 1994
  • Change We Must 1994
  • Angels Embrace 1995
  • Toltec 1996
  • Keys to Ascension 1996
  • Keys to Ascension, Vol. 2 1997
  • The Promise Ring 1997
  • Open Your Eyes 1997
  • Yes, Friends & Relatives 1998
  • The Ladder 1999
  • Magnification 2001
  • Survival & Other Stories 2011

Religion

Anderson stated he had a spiritual adviser that "helped him see into the fourth dimension". Before live performances, he often meditates in a tent with crystals and dreamcatchers, a practice he started in the 1980s. Anderson's religious beliefs are syncretic and varied, including respect for the Divine Mother Audrey Kitagawa.

Views

Anderson is also responsible for most of the mystically-themed lyrics and concepts which are part of many Yes releases. These elements are crucial components of the classic Yes sound, but have occasionally alienated some members of the band (most notably Bruford and Rick Wakeman), contributing to their leaving the group. The lyrics are frequently inspired by various books Anderson has enjoyed, from Tolstoy's War And Peace to Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha. A footnote in Paramahansa Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi inspired one Yes album. Recurring themes include environmentalism, pacifism and sun-worship.

Quotations: “Using the Internet as vehicle to work with people is fascinating. It's sort of a Pandora's box of energy for me.”

“I believed and still believe that success is only part of the story. It makes you want to get better and better so as not to let yourself down and not to let the people down who like what you do and you don't waste your success.”

“Music is beautiful. Yes, music is great. My music's great.”

“I nearly died three times in 2008, and when you go through those experiences, you realize that you're blessed every day that you wake up. My world changed, my life changed, and with the help of my wife Jane, I was able to survive.”

“Everybody wants to be American, it seems; I travel enough to know.”

“Some people haven't got a life, I suppose. They want to be on the road all the time.”

“We are all in Christs energy. We are all in the divine plan. We are all on the sacred journey, if you want to put it into some very spiritual words. And I like to sing about it, so thats what I do.”

“Who sings of all of Love's eternity Who shines so bright In all the songs of Love's unending spells? Holy lightning strikes all that's evil Teaching us to love for goodness sake. Hear the music of Love Eternal Teaching us to reach for goodness sake.”

“The secret of poetry is cruelty.”

“I think people should be able to have at their behest, like, four hours of music, entertainment, visual knowledge, different pathways.That's what I'm trying to do with modern technology, not just another song and another song.”

“This is love that surrounds, only a fool without wisdom can see. Blind as I am in your eyes, my lady of dreams.”

“Sweet music, and your secret heart. Both have the healing grace.”

“My thoughts and wishes are all that surrounds, mysteries hold you then fly you away. You know you are my life, my lady of dreams.”

“Wretched excess is an unfortunate human trait that turns a perfectly good idea such as Christmas into a frenzy of last-minute shopping.”

“Tell me I'm a fool. I would not know how to believe it.”

“You are the reason. If you want, you are the answer in the end.”

Personality

Nicknamed "Napoleon" by his bandmates for his diminutive stature and leadership of Yes, Anderson was fond of experimenting within the band, also adding to what were at times conflicted relationships within the band and with management. He originally wanted to record the album Tales from Topographic Oceans in the middle of the woods, and instead decided to put hay and animal cut-outs all over the recording studio, causing lice to infest one of Rick Wakeman's keyboards. In another incident, Anderson had tiles installed in the studio, to simulate the echo effect of one's vocals in a bathroom.

Anderson was a smoker in the 1960s and 1970s and once tried cocaine, but "didn't like it." He now lives a much healthier lifestyle, particularly in his later life, with vitamin supplements and meditation. In the mid-1970s, Anderson became a vegetarian, as did most members of Yes; however, in an interview he stated, "I was a veggie for a while, but again I grew out of that. But I do eat very healthy." In a 16 August 2006 interview on The Howard Stern Show, Anderson said he eats meat, mostly fish, on occasion.

Physical Characteristics: Though he considers himself an alto tenor vocalist, Jon's performance on Owner of a Lonely Heart is an example of what is known by singers as "the blend voice": a technique where the head voice, falsetto and chest voice (speaking voice) are gradually blended allowing a smooth breakless transition to the male countertenor register. The higher the voice gets, the more falsetto and less chest and head voice are used. The lower the voice gets, the less falsetto and more chest voice come to bear. At the highest limit, (the high "yeeows" before the guitar solo) full falsetto is used.

On 13 May 2008, Anderson suffered a severe asthma attack which required a stay in hospital. According to Yes' website, he was later "at home and resting comfortably." Yes' planned summer 2008 tour was subsequently cancelled, with the press release saying, "Jon Anderson was admitted to the hospital last month after suffering a severe asthma attack. He was diagnosed with acute respiratory failure and was told by doctors to rest and not work for a period of at least six months."

Interests

• One of Anderson's passions is painting, and he uses his art as another channel for his creativity and self-expression.

• Writers

  Leo Tolstoy, Hermann Hesse

• Music & Bands

  Elvis Presley, Eddie Cochran, the Everly Brothers, Jon Hendricks

Connections

Anderson married Jennifer Baker on 22 December 1969; they divorced in 1995. They have three children: Deborah (b. 1970), Damion (b. 1972) and Jade (b. 1980). Deborah is a photographer and sang on her father's solo album Song of Seven (1980), Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe (1989), and Angel Milk (2005) by the French electronica band Télépopmusik. Damion is a musician and spoke the final lines on the Yes song "Circus of Heaven" on Tormato (1978) when he was six years old. He released the EP Close to the Hype (1994) with his father. Jade's birth is celebrated in her father's song "Animation" on his album of the same name. She sang backing vocals on many of his later albums and released a solo album in Japan.

In 1997, Anderson married American Jane Luttenberger. Yes drummer Alan White was his best man at the ceremony. In 2009, Anderson became an American citizen.

Father:

Albert Anderson

Mother:

Kathleen Anderson

Brother:

Tony Anderson

Brother:

Stuart Angerson

Sister:

Joy Anderson

Wife:

Jennifer Baker

Daughter:

Deborah Anderson

Son:

Damion Anderson

Daughter:

Jade Anderson

Wife:

Jane Luttenberger

Friend:

Alan White

References

• Time And A Word: The Yes Story
• Yes: Close To The Edge
• Yes Stories: Yes In Their Own Words
• Yes and Philosophy: The Spiritual and Philosophical Dimensions of Yes Music
• Prog Magazine