Rick Wakeman won't be joining his former band Yes for their upcoming reunion tour, instead he has chosen to send his son Oliver in his place.
Writing on his website, Wakeman Sr said: "My major concern was that of over-touring, which I felt Yes had done since 2002 with far too many shows, especially in America which for me diminished the 'specialness' of the band. I also was concerned for the health of the band, both as a whole and as individuals. It's a matter of public record for instance, that Jon [Anderson, vocals] in particular really suffered during the last weeks of the previous Yes tour which was extremely worrying for us all. Chris [Squire, guitar] and I met up a few times and spoke about who I felt would be able to do a good job in the keyboard department and I put forward just two names, my two eldest sons Adam and Oliver. Adam, to be truthful, was not really a 'contender' because he is fully committed to Ozzy and is touring constantly. Oliver has worked with Steve [Howe, guitar] of course on various recordings and so there was already a rapport there. I was therefore very happy when Oliver told me that Steve had called him".
Oliver Wakeman won't be the only fill in on the tour. As mentioned by Wakeman, vocalist Jon Anderson is not in great health, having suffered acute respiratory failure after a severe asthma attack earlier this year. He will be replaced by Benoit David on the tour, who was previously the frontman of a Yes tribute act.