Jon Anderson Says He’s Open to Reunion With Former Yes Bandmates

Jon Anderson mentioned he is open to a reunion along with his former Yes bandmates Steve Howe and Rick Wakeman. In a brand new interview with Mojo, the singer mentioned he nonetheless considers himself part of his outdated band, despite the fact that he left Yes in 2008.

“I was talking to [my touring band] the Band Geeks and said, Hopefully, we can play in London, and Steve will get up and do a couple of songs with us, maybe Rick, too,” Anderson recalled. “It simply means speaking. When I’m on the market singing alone, I nonetheless suppose I’m a part of Yes. They nonetheless really feel like my songs.”

Anderson was onstage with his former bandmates when Yes was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2017, his first time performing with the band since 2004. Anderson and Wakeman had toured together in 2010 and 2017, but, aside from the Rock Hall date, the singer and guitarist haven’t worked together since the band’s 35th-anniversary tour in 2004.

READ MORE: The 10 Most Underrated Yes Songs

“We’re nonetheless buddies however we’re not linked,” Anderson said. “The first time I noticed it wasn’t going to proceed was once I found you may ship MP3s on the pc. So I emailed Steve and Chris [Squire], saying, Why don’t we ship music to one another – we’re on the identical planet? And they by no means replied. Maybe they by no means bought the e-mail.”

Squire died in 2015. Anderson noted last year that he had a “stunning dream” about his former bandmate. “I may see this one girl standing there with robes – she appeared like an angel, and she or he most likely was,” he said at the time. “She pointed up … and there was Chris smiling with tears coming down his eyes and face.” He told his wife about the dream. “I mentioned, I simply noticed Chris. He was heading in the direction of the sunshine of heaven. She mentioned, ‘He liked you.’ I mentioned, ‘Yeah. We had been brothers.’ It was an unimaginable second.”

When Did Jon Anderson Leave Yes?

Anderson last appeared with Yes on record on 2001’s Magnification. After touring with the band through 2004, he left a few years later to work on his solo career. Yes’ next album, 2011’s Fly From Here, was with singer Benoit David. He was replaced by the time of Yes’ next album, 2021’s The Quest, which included Howe, Geoff Downes, Billy Sherwood, Alan White and new singer Jon Davison. (Drummer White died in 2022.) Their latest record is last year’s Mirror to the Sky; the band also toured in late 2023.

In 2016, Anderson, Wakeman and former Yes guitarist Trevor Rabin formed a new group that completed two tours, but no studio album, before their 2020 split. Anderson’s last solo album arrived in 2019; he’s now working on new projects after completing a tour with the Band Geeks in 2023.

Earlier this week, Wakeman announced his last solo tour, which he said will feature new Yes-based music. Howe, for his part, isn’t as enthusiastic about working with his former bandmates. Last summer he said he was “completely resistant” to any sort of reunion and has repeatedly noted that the 2017 Rock Hall performance was “hellish.”

Still, Anderson told Mojo he’d be open to working with the two classic-era Yes members again, though he recognizes the hurdles. “Life is stuffed with experiences and assembly individuals, and also you look again and suppose, I used to know him so properly,” he explained. “But not anymore.”