Jon Anderson, 80, belts it out at a performance with the Bank Geeks.

Jon Anderson possesses one of the most distinctive voices in rock.

As the longtime lead singer of Yes, Anderson’s countertenor voice brought a melodic approachability to the pioneering progressive rock band’s radio staples such as “Starship Trooper,” “All Good People” and “Owner of a Lonely Heart” along with revered epics such as “Close to the Edge.”

Anderson, 80, is currently touring with the Band Geeks, an ensemble originally formed by Blue Oyster Cult’s Richie Castellano to perform together on YouTube. Anderson began collaborating with the band after a friend urged him to check out the group’s online performance of “Heart of the Sunrise,” an 11-minute workout often considered one of Yes’ heaviest and most complex tracks.

Anderson and the Band Geeks will perform at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts Friday, June 27, as part of a tour showcasing both 1970s Yes classics and songs from True, a collaborative album released last year.

The Current caught up with Anderson via phone from his home in California, where he talked about his continued work with the Band Geeks, keeping his voice healthy and his tenures in Yes, the last of which ended in 2008 after he was diagnosed with respiratory failure.

The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

It seems like a leap of faith bringing a crew of musicians you were largely unfamiliar with on the road based on a YouTube performance.

Well, someone sent me the video saying, “Check these guys out,” and I was just amazed how good they were. And not only that, how happy they looked performing “Heart of the Sunrise,” which is not an easy song. So, I just rang up … I got Richie’s phone number and said, “Hey, let’s go on tour.”

And of course he said, “Are you really Jon Anderson?” I said, “Yeah, let’s go on tour. Come on. I’d love to take you out there together. We can do ‘Close to the Edge,’ we can do ‘Gates of Delirium,’ we can do serious stuff. The classic Yes — Epics & Classics, we’ll call it.” And that’s what we did.

The set list I’ve seen for this tour includes a lot of ambitious pieces, some of the longer, more involved ones. It’s not structured like a typical classic-rock greatest hits package. How much input did you have on the set list, and what went into the thought process of creating one that was so focused on more expansive pieces that may not be the most familiar to casual listeners?

Well, I said, “First thing, let’s start off with ‘Close to the Edge.’ It’s a monumental piece of music.” So Richie said, “Yeah, let’s do that. What else do you want to do?” I said, “Well, ‘Gates of Delirium’ would blow people away. It’s a wild piece of music. And then ‘Starship Trooper,’ and then…” It’s endless, the amount of songs that I’d love to sing again with a band that can play the damn things.

You’ve since recorded new material with the Band Geeks as well —

Yeah. Well, the next thing we did, we did the 12 shows, and at the end of the 12 shows, I said, “We’ve got to make an album.” And I sent [Castellano] some songs that I had, a couple of songs that I thought were [in the] classic Yes style.

And lo and behold, within a couple of weeks, he actually sent me production of some of these songs — so beautiful. Richie’s a very talented producer. Not that I knew anything about it, but man, he’s so good.

So, that’s how it all developed. It just developed from the joy of playing Yes music that I haven’t sung for many years. And by going on tour now, we’re doing a couple or three new songs, four songs from the new album, so what we’re actually doing what is sort of Yes-Ism.

I was listening to YouTube clips of recent performances. Your voice is in remarkably good shape after all these decades of performing, especially after I learned about the serious health issues that you had in 2008. What’s enabled you to keep your voice in such amazing repair?

Well, because I’m happy. I’m very grateful to do what I do. I’m very blessed to have a beautiful wife, and we travel together all the time.

I remember when I got really sick, the guys in the Yes band, they decided to find another singer, and I went, “Wait a minute. Oh, OK. I’ve got a guitar. I’ll practice.” So, I practiced the guitar, kept playing the guitar and putting on a show — just me with a guitar and my wife on tour, and it was the most wonderful experience of my life, really.

Do you have any interest in collaborating with the remaining members of Yes, or have you kind of moved beyond that?

Yeah, you’re going to like this because I collaborate with them every night, because I know Chris is there, Alan’s still there on stage, spiritually, emotionally.

I’ve had some really good happenings, if you want to call it that. I go for a walk every day. It’s about a two-mile walk up and down the hills around where I live. And I was thinking about a song, which is on the new album. It’s all about a good friend of mine, and I’m holding hands with Chris and Alan subconsciously as I’m hearing the song, to say, “This is for you.”

We did a show up in Seattle, and I was happy and very proud to say that we decided, to do “Awaken.” I don’t know if you know the song “Awaken?”

Yep.

It’s a very special piece of music. It’s a very spiritual piece of music about if we all wake up a little bit and dream a better dream, this world won’t be so bad. That kind of thing.

And I was able to say, “I’m dedicating this to Alan White, he really helped me write this song,” which he did, and we were working together in Switzerland when we made the Going for the One album. And Alan and me really got on very well writing, and I felt really proud to be able to say — his wife Gigi was there with the kids — and I said, “This is for Alan White. Thank you, Alan.”

And as I played the song, it was such an emotional night for me to remember what Alan put into my life musically, because he was a beautiful guy, and he was actually my best man at my wedding. So, you have these feelings that you never lose.

As for anybody else who was with the band over the years, gosh, I don’t know what I would do, but I just know that I’ve worked with every one of them and had great times with Rick and Steve and everything, and I just get on with my life.

Singer Jon Anderson took the Band Geeks on tour after seeing the members do a YouTube rendition of Yes’ “Heart of the Sunrise.” Credit: Courtesy Photo / Jon Anderson and the Band Geeks

When you’re talking about the original incarnation of Yes, you’re working with musicians have quite a high caliber and quite a lot of creativity. And I assume there were some egos involved in that as well. How did you manage to keep things fruitful and moving forward for so long, considering how many strong personalities you had in that band?

Gosh, I could write a book about it. But the thing was, the music drives you.

When we did 90125, my God, it’s like you’re No. 1 around the world, and everybody wants to stroke you and say, “Come on, Jon, do this, do that. Let’s do this and do that, and we’ll play in front of a half a million people in Brazil.”

“Oh, yeah, I can do that.” But you just do it, and eventually you say, “I think I’ve had enough of this.” Because it’s not real. It’s not really real. It’s like one song perpetuated the whole idea.

I assume less ego comes into play with the Band Geeks.

They haven’t got one ounce of ego. Well, they’re happy. It’s like being with some kids, honestly.

I just did a tour last year with 25 kids from the School of Rock, and they were just so damn good.

And then you work with the Band Geeks, and they’re a bunch of happy guys. You want to hear them backstage, singing away, doing some song from, well, the Beach Boys to whatever. They’re just enjoying life.

Are there going to be some more recordings with the Band Geeks?

It’s already started, because I wrote some songs and sent them to Richie, and he sent me some ideas, and he’s going to start probably in October. It depends when he has a break. I looked at him and said, “You know, we should do one more album.” And he said, “Are you sure? You’re Jon Anderson.” “Of course.”

Looking back on a lengthy musical career, what one recording would you hold up as something that encompasses everything that Jon Anderson wanted to contribute to the world of music?

Right. I got a phone call one time, probably 10 years ago now, from a guy who lives in Iceland, and he has a band of musicians and stuff like that, and he said, “Would you come to Iceland and perform?”

I said, “What song can we do?” He said, “I want to do ‘Awaken.’ We have an orchestra, we have a choir and we have a band.” And I said, “Please, I will be there tomorrow.”

And a couple of weeks later, I went to Iceland with me and my wife, Jane, and we just had a glorious time. We only rehearsed for four days, which is kind of short, but man, the recording, the actual recording of ‘Awaken’ with these guys and the orchestra in … what’s the capital of Iceland? I keep forgetting.

Reykjavik.

Reykjavik, yeah. So, anybody who wants to see [my] best is me doing ‘Awaken’ with the orchestra and the band musicians that were really sweet as guys and girls, singers and everything. That is the most important moment in my life, my career — how beautiful. And it’s got people typing in a review, “I’ve been crying all the way through the ending,” that sort of thing. You do. Every time I watch it, I emotionally fall apart.

I understand you’re a very spiritual person. Someone who’s borrowed—

Aren’t we all?

Borrowed from here and there to follow your own bliss, as Joseph Campbell might say. How important has that been to keeping you creative and active, especially now that you’re the age you are?

Now that I’m old and gray, eh? No, I’m more excited about my life now. Over the period of the last 10 years, I wrote three operas and three musicals and have a bunch of ideas for a book I’m actually writing … I wrote an autobiography, and then I’ve written another part of it, and now I’m writing more.

I can’t believe that I was writing stuff for the last 10, 15 years on cassette. So I’ve got about 100 cassettes sitting around waiting for me to wake up and record them.

Sounds like you’re someone who’s perpetually creative and perpetually motivated to share your creativity. At the end of the day, what motivates you to continue that?

Well, it’s a very spiritual feeling when you’re on stage and people are singing along with you, and you’re performing well, and the sound is a great sound. And the visually, the projection is good, the people are happy, and you get a feeling like, what a life, to be able to do this at the age of 80. I hope I’ll be able to do it for the next 10 years or 20 years. Who knows?

$44 and up, 7:30 pm. Friday, June 27, Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, 100 Auditorium Circle, (210) 223-8624, tobincenter.org.

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This article appears in Jun 12-25, 2025.

Sanford Nowlin is editor-in-chief of the San Antonio Current. He holds degrees from Trinity University and the University of Texas at San Antonio, and his work has been featured in Salon, Alternet, Creative...