The version of Yes featuring Jon Anderson, Trevor Rabin and Rick Wakeman will split after a final tour in 2020.

The possibility of new music remains, but the decision will be made based on its quality, Rick Wakeman confirms. Yes ARW initially began working on ideas together back in 2011, but didn't become fully active in 2016. They went on hiatus earlier this year.

“We feel it’s sort of come to the end of the road,” Wakeman told Billboard in a new interview. “None of us are spring chickens anymore, although Trevor still has a ‘6’ in front of his age, whereas Jon and I don’t. I think we’ll thoroughly enjoy another [tour] and then I think we can sort of proudly close the lid on it, very happy in our belief that we’ve done it proud.”

He confirmed Yes ARW had “a couple of things we’ve worked on that we think are good enough,” but added: “we always said … we wouldn’t just release stuff for the sake of releasing it. I think when we start on the farewell dates, we’ll analyze what we’ve done and go, ‘OK, what can we make of this?’ I would like to think we can leave one final burst of music that we can be proud of and, perhaps, we’d like to think that Yes fans have been waiting for.”

Frontman Anderson recently said he’d be “very open” to a reunion with the other Yes lineup featuring Steve Howe. He remains philosophical about Yes ARW’s end.

“Life happens when you least expect it,” Anderson said. “You expect something to go for a long journey, and then all of a sudden it's not … because of life. People have a life they want to live and go through. It's not a good explanation, but it just doesn't work at times. There's maybe 20 versions of Yes I've been in, and every one's been fantastic – but it was always chaos in there for some reason.”

Howe, who appeared on Anderson’s recent solo album 1000 Hands: Chapter One, says he's happy for any artists to perform Yes music: “Basically I say ‘good luck’ to them.” Asked specifically about Yes ARW’s absence from the touring circuit, however, he added: “We’re not unhappy, so that maybe tells you something.”





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