Yes Biography

Yes was established by Chris Squire in 1969. The band released its debut album, Yes, in the same year, and followed up with Time and a Word (1970), both to moderate success, before the band reached staggering success with the album which has now been recognized as the first of their finest, The Yes Album (1971.) The band’s iconic album was no accident in its formation. Realizing the stiff competition they were facing at the time, the members of Yes worked diligently to create the sound on The Yes Album which would sent them apart from others. Under the guidance of producer Eddie Offord, Yes embarked on twelve-hour recording sessions to ultimately lay down the tracks which would become part of The Yes Album, which eventually peaked at number four in the UK and charted well in the United States also.

A European tour followed its release, and so did a string of highly successful albums recognized by critics as the most significant in the band’s history: Fragile (1971), Close to the Edge (1972), Tales from Topographic Oceans (1973), Relayer (1974), and Going for the One (1977.) But the changing sound of music, evident in the rise of punk rock at the end of the decade, led to a decline in Yes’s popularity. The members went their separate ways before the start of the new decade.

Yes reunited in 1982, however, with some changes to the lineup and a more pop/rock-oriented sound.  The band released 90125 in 1983 and found surprising success with the chart-topping single “Owner of a Lonely Heart,” which reached the number one spot. A series of albums followed throughout the next two decades, all to moderate success: Big Generator (1987), Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe (1989), Union (1991), Talk (1994), Keys to Ascension (1996), Keys to Ascension 2 (1997), Open Your Eyes (1997), The Ladder (1999), and Magnification (2001.) Yes continued to tour and perform until 2004, when they began a period of inactivity.

Yes resurfaced at the end of the millennium’s first decade, however, and has continued to perform with the current lineup of Chris Squires, Steve Howe, Alan White, Geoff Downes, and Jon Davison.  Yes released Fly from Here in 2011, and the new album was accompanied by performances throughout 2011 and 2012. Additional plans for a 2013 tour and other albums in the coming years are also in the works. Yes is still recognized as one of the most important English rock bands of the progressive rock movement, iconic and significant because of their mystical lyrics and complex arrangements. To date, Yes has sold nearly fourteen million units in the United States, and placed nine studio albums into the Top Ten.