Richard Christopher Wakeman (born 18 May 1949) is an English keyboardist and composer best known for his multiple tenures in the progressive rock band Yes and for his prolific solo career, which has spanned six decades. His most successful and acclaimed albums are his first three progressive rock concept albums–The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1973), the UK number-one Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1974), and The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table (1975). AllMusic describes Wakeman as a "classically trained keyboardist extraordinaire who plied his trade with Yes and developed his own brand of live spectacular in a solo act."
Born and raised in West London, Wakeman intended to become a concert pianist but quit the Royal College of Music in 1969 and became a sought after session musician. Amongst the estimated 2,000 sessions he did, he played on "Space Oddity" and "Life on Mars?" for David Bowie, "Morning Has Broken" by Cat Stevens, and on tracks for Elton John, Marc Bolan, and Lou Reed. After a brief stint in the folk rock group the Strawbs, during which he received national press attention, he joined Yes in 1971, playing on seminal albums such as Fragile (1971), Close to the Edge (1972) and Tales From Topographic Oceans (1973). His technical virtuosity on keyboards such as the Hammond organ, Moog synthesizer, and Mellotron, combined with his flamboyant stage presence and trademark capes, made him an iconic figure in 1970s progressive rock. In 1974, he formed his touring and recording band, the English Rock Ensemble, and in the following year, expanded into soundtrack work for Ken Russell feature film Lisztomania (1975).
Wakeman's subsequent career is characterised by its vast productivity and stylistic diversity, with a discography exceeding 100 solo albums. During the 1980s and 1990s, amidst shifting musical trends and personal financial strain, he transitioned toward low-budget albums for niche markets while maintaining a consistent presence as a live performer through band-led tours and one-man shows featuring music and anecdotal storytelling. This period saw Wakeman diversify into broadcasting and record label management, and pursued new musical directions with his first new-age and Christian music albums, Country Airs (1986) and The Gospels (1987), respectively. A commercial resurgence began with Return to the Centre of the Earth (1999), his first release to reach the UK Top 40 in 18 years, followed by a revisit of his three best-selling concept albums with new and expanded arrangements. His piano album Piano Portraits (2017) was his first UK Top 10 in 42 years. Throughout this time, Wakeman completed a total of five stints with Yes until 2004 and mostly recently performed in the offshoot band Yes Featuring Jon Anderson, Trevor Rabin, and Rick Wakeman from 2016 to 2020.
In addition to music, Wakeman is a well-known media personality, recognised for his appearances on television shows such as Live at Jonguleurs, Countdown and Watchdog, and as a regular on the BBC comedy series Grumpy Old Men. He has published three books, presented a Saturday morning radio show on Planet Rock from 2005 to 2010, and has a podcast. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Yes in 2017, and was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his services to music and broadcasting in 2021.
Early life Richard Christopher Wakeman was born on 18 May 1949 at Perivale Maternity Hospital in Perivale, Middlesex. He is the only child of Cyril Frank Wakeman and Mildred Helen Wakeman (née Eastment). The family lived in Wood End Gardens in nearby Northolt. Cyril worked at a building supplier, starting as an office boy at age 14 and working up to become one of its directors; he was also a pianist in Ted Heath's big band while serving in the British Army. Mildred worked at a removals firm. Wakeman attended Wood End Junior School until age ten, before moving on to Drayton Manor Grammar School in Hanwell, spending most of his summer holidays with his parents in Exmouth. Although raised in a Christian household where religion was never forced upon him, Wakeman enjoyed attending South Harrow Baptist Church. He took up the church organ at twelve, joined the Boys' Brigade, and completed a two-year course to qualify as a Sunday school teacher before he was baptised by immersion at eighteen.
Wakeman was inspired to play the piano at the age of five. His parents, aunts and uncle had previously performed as a concert party troupe called The Wakeans until World War II caused them to disband. They occasionally revived the act in the front room on Sunday evenings, playing the piano and singing songs that Wakeman would listen to from his upstairs bedroom. He later recalled climbing out of bed to sit on the bottom of the stairs to listen, eventually being allowed to play a piece himself. "Everybody clapped, and I thought, I'll have some more of that, and refused to go back to bed." Sergei Prokofiev made a profound impression on him after his father took him to a concert performance of Peter and the Wolf around age eight, inspiring him to tell stories through music and making the Russian composer a lifelong hero. Other early musical influences included trad jazz musician Kenny Ball, skiffle singer Lonnie Donegan, and pianist Russ Conway, whose records were among his first purchases. His first keyboard was a simple reed organ bought from Woolworths.
Between the ages of seven and eighteen, Wakeman took classical piano and theory lessons with Dorothy Symes in Harrow. His father spent nearly half of his income on the tuition. Wakeman passed each grade with distinction; Symes recalled him as "an enjoyable pupil to teach, full of fun and with a good sense of humour", though he often lacked the discipline to practise his scales and preferred adapting arrangements into his own style, revealing an early gift for composition. His first public performances were recitals organised by Symes for her pupils' parents, pieces he would fondly remember performing on stage decades later included "Buy a Broom" and "See a Monkey on a Stick". His natural showmanship also emerged early, when, at age ten, he played Conway's honky-tonk hit "Side Saddle" instead of his scheduled Clementi piano sonatina at the annual school talent show. That same year, Symes entered him into the Southall Music Festival, which he won in his category. Over the following years, he accumulated numerous awards on the London competition circuit; biographer Dan Wooding noted he earned over 100 certificates and 20 medals and cups.
Wakeman described himself as "a horror" at Drayton Manor, noting that he worked hard in his first year before easing up. He passed O Level examinations in music, art, maths and English, and went on to study music, art, and British constitution at A-level, failing the latter. Jazz pianist Mike Westbrook served as his A-level art teacher, and Wakeman also played football for the school team.
Career 1962–1969: Early groups and Royal College of Music
Wakeman began his musical career performing in a variety of local jazz, blues, and dance ensembles during his teenage years in West London. At age twelve, he formed the traditional jazz outfit named Brother Wakeman and the Clergymen, followed in 1963 by a year-long residency with the Atlantic Blues at a rehabilitation club in Neasden—an experience he later credited with teaching him the essential discipline of playing in a group. Over the subsequent years, he played pop and dance standards with local groups such as the Concordes (later the Concorde Quartet), which featured his cousin Alan Wakeman on saxophone and clarinet, and the Green Dolphin Trio, which held a residency at the Brent council social club in Alperton. Earnings from these performances led to the purchase of his first electronic keyboard, a Hohner Pianet. In 1967, Wakeman joined the Ronnie Smith Band at the Top Rank ballroom in Watford, where he met vocalist Ashley Holt, who would become a frequent collaborator on his future solo projects. During this period, Wakeman also frequented jam sessions at the Red Lion pub in Brentford, performing alongside notable contemporary musicians including John Entwistle and Mitch Mitchell. These connections led to his first radio appearance when singer James Royal invited him to join a live BBC session alongside Entwistle and guitarist Mick King.
In 1968, Wakeman secured a scholarship to the Royal College of Music in London, aiming to pursue a career as a concert pianist. His admission followed a period of intense study, having been forced to complete two years of curriculum in ten months. Though he initially enrolled in the performer's course, with piano as his primary study and clarinet, orchestration, and modern music as his second, he soon switched to the teacher's course after feeling intimidated by the technical standard of his peers. Despite this shift, his classical tenure provided foundational influences on his future progressive rock career when his orchestration professor, Philip Cannon, introduced him to Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's seminal textbook Principles of Orchestration. However, Wakeman's tenure at the college was marked by increasing friction with the institution's traditionalism. His proposals to establish a rock and jazz club were rejected, and he clashed with faculty over his appearance after refusing a professor's demand to cut his hair.
Disillusioned with academia, Wakeman began neglecting his studies and spending time at the Musical Bargain Centre, a music shop in Ealing. The shop's owner, Dave Simms, recognised Wakeman's potential and employed him as a pianist in his own dance band. Wakeman's breakthrough into the professional recording industry occurred when guitarist Chas Cronk visited the shop seeking an organist and brass arranger for a session with Jimmy Thomas, a vocalist for the Ike & Tina Turner Revue. Simms recommended Wakeman, who attended the session at Olympic Studios where he met influential producers Denny Cordell, Gus Dudgeon, and Tony Visconti. Though he initially struggled with the technicalities of scoring for brass—incorrectly writing the parts in concert pitch—his playing style impressed Cordell, who subsequently offered Wakeman freelance session work for Regal Zonophone Records. This lucrative outside work provided a necessary supplement to his small student grant but directly violated the college's official rules against external professional engagements. Encouraged by his clarinet professor, Basil Tschaikov, to follow his professional momentum, Wakeman officially withdrew from the Royal College of Music in 1969 after one year of study.
1969–1970: Session career and rise to prominence Following his departure from the Royal College of Music, Wakeman secured a steady income by returning to the Ronnie Smith band at the Top Rank ballroom in Reading. This period proved significant personally as well as professionally; he met his first wife, Rosaline Woolford, at the venue, and the pair were engaged within three months. Later that year, Wakeman accepted a seven-day-a-week residency with the Spinning Wheel, the house band at The Greyhound pub in Chadwell Heath. This stable employment allowed him to leave his family home in Northolt and relocate with Woolford to a basement flat in nearby Ilford.