(Seattle) Alan White, drummer of (almost) always of the group Yes, who also played on projects with John Lennon and George Harrison, died Thursday at the age of 72.
Posted at 5:44 p.m.
His family said on their Facebook page on Thursday that he died at his Seattle-area home after a brief illness.
A few days earlier, the band had announced that due to health issues, White would not be taking part in Yes’s upcoming 50th UK tour.and landmark album anniversary Close to the Edge.
Alan White joined Yes in 1972, replacing original drummer Bill Bruford. In a band notorious for frequent member changes, White has stuck around ever since. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017, as a member of the band Yes.
Although he did not play on the landmark album Close to the EdgeWhite went on to appear on every Yes studio album over nearly five decades, including the band’s latest album, The Questreleased last year.
An important player in the “progressive rock” scene in England, which enjoyed popular growth in the early 1970s alongside bands like Genesis, Pink Floyd and Jethro Tull, Yes was particularly known for his complex arrangements and the musical skills of each of its members.
When progressive rock fell into disuse in the late 1970s, many bands associated with the genre struggled. After another change in its composition, but with White still behind the drums, Yes knew how to reinvent itself, in the 1980s, as a harder group, which attracted young people more sensitive to “heavy metal” and the visual codes of music videos. So in 1983, Yes released the hit album 90 125.
A long-time Seattle-area resident, Alan White was born in 1949 in Pelton, County Durham, England. His family said he started piano lessons when he was six and played the drums when he was 12.
White had started playing with bands in England during the 1960s. In 1969, John Lennon asked him to join his Plastic Ono Band. White performed in 1969 in Toronto with Lennon’s band, which also included guitarist Eric Clapton.
He also played with another Beatles, contributing drums on George Harrison’s solo album All Things Must Pass (1970).