Last year, the ultimate keyboard wizard, Rick Wakeman CBE, announced that his 2024 tours of solo piano concerts would be his last. Rick, who has become almost as well-known for his intimate piano shows as his prog rock extravaganzas, had decided that after a career spanning over 50 years, he would be calling a halt to lengthy American one-man show tours, in order to concentrate on composing, recording and collaborating with other musicians.
However, after receiving an offer to take part in the latest of the highly popular Cruise To The Edge, he couldn’t resist adding more dates to include some of the venues he couldn’t fit into his schedule in 2024.
Audiences can expect an evening of highlights from his career with YES and his solo work, including the new 30-minute instrumental work Yessonata, featuring YES themes and melodies, woven into sonata form, which he wrote especially for the Final Solo Tour.
Rick first started establishing a reputation as one of rock’s most original and proficient keyboard players in the late Sixties, when he worked with the likes of David Bowie, Cat Stevens, Marc Bolan, Lou Reed, Al Stewart, Elton John and other artists too numerous to mention, as a much-in-demand session player. He stepped out of the recording studio and into the limelight when he first joined the Strawbs and then YES, helping to make the latter the most successful progressive rock band in the world by contributing to seminal albums such as Fragile and Close To The Edge.
But outside of YES, Rick was really able to unleash his creativity with a series of groundbreaking concept albums: The Six Wives of Henry VIII, Journey to the Centre of the Earth, and The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and theKnights of the Round Table, which have been performed in large-scale shows featuring bands, orchestras and choirs.
However, he is equally at home as a solo artist in the upclose environment of concert halls, performing music on a piano – both his own and tunes that have a special resonance for him – and recounting wickedly funny stories taken from the length of his career. In recent years, he has added a rack of electric keyboards to ring the changes and enable him to enlarge his live solo repertoire.
Don’t miss this final opportunity to enjoy an evening of great music and hilarious stories, delivered by one of the truly legendary figures of rock music.
Says Wakeman: “I always planned to stop touring by my 77th birthday – for those of you who wish to send me a card, it’s 18th May! – but there is so much to fit in beforethen that I’m having to make plans now and so my final one-man shows will have to cease by that date .
“I have thoroughly enjoyed performing the various one-man shows, but it’s time to call it a day. I intend to throw in the best of what I have done in the past, plus a few new surprises on the way, and possibly even the odd guest joining me on the odd occasion.
“The plan is not to perform at the same venue twice throughout this period, so whatever venue you are hopefully thinking of coming to, it will be the last performance there – and I am taking this opportunity of thanking everyone and anyone who has supported me over the last 53 years!”
2025 Tour Dates (check venue for specific on-sale information)
March
27 – Vienna, VA – The Barns at Wolf Trap*
28 – Charlotte, NC – Booth Playhouse at Blumenthal Arts Center
30 – Charleston, SC – Charleston Music Hall
April
1 – Clearwater, FL - Capitol Theatre
2 – Orlando, FL - The Plaza Live
4-9 – Miami, FL - Cruise To The Edge*
10 – Fort Lauderdale, FL – The Parker
12 – Nashville, IN – Brown County Music Center
13 – Columbus, OH – The Southern Theatre
15 – Munhall, PA - Carnegie of Homestead Music Hall
16 – Huntington, NY – The Paramount
17 – Peekskill, NY - Paramount Hudson Valley Theater
* On-sale now
(Photo – Lee Wilkinson)