Rick Wakeman

“Even the two times that I left, I never really felt like I left the band. It's very bizarre. It's like there's sort of an umbilical cord that stretches between us spiritually.”

“I am a Yes fan, ultimately. I've been a member of the band, but I was always a fan of the band first.”

“There's a fine line between angry and grumpy. Angry isn't nice, but grumpy is funny.”

“Touring with Yes was generally great fun, and I got on well with the rest of the guys, but we were like chalk and cheese in many respects. I was unique in the band as a card-carrying Conservative.”

“I was in and out of Yes six times. Someone once likened it to Liz Taylor and Richard Burton's marriage where we couldn't live with or without each other. There's an element of truth, and I last left in 2005.”

“There must be something wrong with the mirrors in our house because every single one I gaze into makes me appear somewhat overweight.”

“I like Toronto a lot, it's a good city. The only thing that really annoys me about Toronto is that you're turning Maple Leaf Gardens into a grocery store, which is absolutely nothing short of disgusting.”

“I always say that it's about breaking the rules. But the secret of breaking rules in a way that works is understanding what the rules are in the first place.”

“People like Frank Zappa were amazing for us Brits.”

“But I listen to live recordings of things that I did back in the '70s and then how I've done things since. And there's no doubt about it: if I compare the two, it's like chalk and cheese.”

“My eyes are green, and in one of them there is a splash of brown - apparently it is not a colour, but a freckle! Sometimes I notice that one eyelid droops more than the other.”

“My mother had never had a day's illness in her life and never thought to have checks. Then, at 78, she discovered she had breast cancer and passed away the next year. But if she'd had a check two years before, they could have done something about it, they could have saved her.”

“Sparks is a sporting charity that puts on golf tournaments for sick children, and my animal charities include Oldham Cats and Feline Care, a big cat charity close to me in Norfolk. I'm also a Freemason and the money they raise for charity is phenomenal.”

“I had joined Yes in 1971. I was a classically trained musician who had worked with numerous artists as a session musician. I played on David Bowie's 'Life On Mars,' Cat Stevens's 'Morning Has Broken' and even on some Des O'Connor records, though I kept that quiet.”

“I avoid preset sounds wherever possible, and all the sounds I use I have edited.”

“I cut out bread, I don't eat after 6 P.M., and I go on walks, and it's had a great effect.”

“Coming back to Yes is like never having left. Even when I have not been in the band, I have always felt part of it.”

“My earliest professional musical experiences were really as a session player, and every day was an adventure. Three sessions a day, every day, and you never knew who you would be working with until you arrived at the studio.”

“I would have loved to record with Paul McCartney on some of his early solo recordings, wonderful music. Playing some lovely organ, perhaps. I would have loved to record with John Lennon. He was a dear friend. I had lunch with him just two days before he died.”

“The studio is not the place to write. You need to be 75% ready when you go into the studio, and then the music can develop to the next stage.”