Jonny B wrote:Rick Wakeman is still playing? I wish he'd release some of his solo work on sheet music.
Whatever happened to his son anyway? Oliver Wakeman had a pretty good progressive rock album some 6 years ago.
In 2008, the official Yes website announced that Oliver Wakeman would tour with Yes in the bands 40th anniversary tour. However, the tour was postponed due to the illness of Yes singer Jon Anderson. A revamped In The Present Tour featuring Steve Howe, Chris Squire and Alan White of Yes plus Oliver Wakeman and Canadian singer Benoît David (filling in for Anderson) began in the fall of 2008 and continued into 2009. The second leg of the tour was cancelled after one date when Squire had to have an urgent leg operation on 11 February.
The band returned to touring in summer 2009 and have continued through to summer 2010. They have signed to Frontiers Records, an Italian record company. Yes started work on an album, with Wakeman, in October/November 2010 followed by a tour of South America in November/December of that year. Though he worked with the band on the initial sessions for their first album in 10 years,"Fly From Here", he was dismissed from Yes during recording. Wakeman stayed on for the Rite of Spring tour (March to early April 2011) and has formally left following its completion. Asia and Drama era Yes keyboardist Geoff Downes, who replaced Wakeman for the rest of the album's sessions, was later announced by as keyboardist for its upcoming summer tour. Some of Wakeman's contributions to Fly From Here nevertheless made it onto the released version of the album, and he was even credited as having co-written one track.
In 2009, Wakeman joined Strawbs (another of his father's former bands) in their tours of Canada, the UK and Italy. He continued with the band, his first album with the band being Dancing to the Devil's Beat, recorded and released in 2009.