Over the course of a remarkable 40-year career that has time and again redefined the boundaries of rock, YES have become renowned for their live performances since being formed in 1968 by Chris Squire and Jon Anderson from a mutual interest in vocal harmonies and classical song structure.
With drummer Bill Bruford, guitarist Peter Banks and keyboardist Tony Kaye, they metamorphosed into YES, earning a residency at the famed London venue The Marquee Club, where they played with the likes of Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd, releasing their self-titled debut album in July 1969.Guitarist Steve Howe, who went on to play in the popular prog-rock groups Asia and GTR and continues releasing acclaimed solo albums and touring, brought an experimental cutting edge to YES for their 1970's The Yes Album, their first album to top the UK charts. Drummer Alan White, who had been hand-picked to play on John Lennon's Imagine and George Harrison's All Things Must Pass, came aboard in 1972. YES then went on to conquer America and played at some of the largest paid attendance concerts of all time, including JFK Stadium in Philadelphia in 1976 to a crowd of over 130,000 people.
