Rick Wakeman is a British musician, born in 1949, who rose to prominence as the pioneering keyboard player for Yes in the 1970s and went on to enjoy a successful solo career.
Born in London, he attended the Royal College of Music, though he left after a year and a half in order to pursue work as a session musician. By 1971 he had joined Yes, the first of several jaunts with the band. He was to return to the band briefly in 1977, 1991 and 1996. In 2002 he rejoined them for good and remains with them to the present day. His periods with Yes have resulted in appearances on eight of the Yes albums.
It was during first residency with Yes that he released his first solo album The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1971). This was the first of a veritable avalanche of solo albums and live performances, he has released at least one album in almost every year since 1971, and in some years he has released as many as nine (in 1991). His success has fluctuated throughout the many changes in the musical barometer, and he has battled alcoholism, divorces, suffered heart attacks, a plane crash, a car crash and occasional threatened financial disaster.
Throughout his career he has performed on several albums by respected peers, including playing the mellotron on David Bowie's "Space Oddity", piano on Cat Steven's "Morning Has Broken" and, somewhat alarmingly, piano on "There's no one quite like Grandma" by St. Winifred's School Choir. In all, he has guested on over 2000 tracks. His career reach extends for some distance, into television and radio presenting, electioneering (he is a conservative party supporter), football directorship, charity patronage and famously, as one of the Grumpy Old Men.
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