In a new conversation with Classic Rock, Jon Anderson responded to Steve Howe’s possible offer to rejoin Yes.
“No. Not right now,” the singer replied when asked what he would say if Howe asked him to come back to Yes tomorrow. “I actually contacted him and got very little back.”
He added, “But think of the song ‘Still A Friend of Mine’ [from ‘True’]. So many people I’ve met, it didn’t quite work out, and eventually you say: ‘I’ve got to move on. You’ve got to move on, do your own thing, it’s okay. But you’re still a friend of mine because we went through so much together at a certain time.’ Me and Steve, we wrote ‘Close To The Edge.’”
Anderson talked about the same topic in an interview with Mojo in January. He said he still sees himself as part of the band, even though he left in 2008. He also mentioned that his former bandmates never responded to his messages.
“I was talking to [Anderson’s current touring band] The Band Geeks and said, Hopefully, we can play in London, and Steve will get up and do a couple of songs with us, maybe Rick too… It just means talking. When I’m out there singing on my own I still think I’m part of Yes. They still feel like my songs,” the vocalist explained.
He also shared, “We’re still friends but we’re not connected. The first time I realised it wasn’t going to continue was when I discovered you could send MP3s on the computer. So I e-mailed Steve and Chris, saying, Why don’t we send music to each other – we’re on the same planet? And they never replied. Maybe they never got the e-mail.”
“It’s something I’m absolutely resistant to because I remember the fiasco of the Union tour,” Howe also said about a reunion with Jon last year. “It was very, very difficult and out of control. Sometimes I might have thought, ‘Well, one day maybe,’ and one never wants to say never, but basically I can’t see it.”
The rocker went on, “I love Jon [Anderson]. I’m a lot older now, and so is he, and the only terms I work on is that I’m happy working on this. I’m not going to take a sudden load on my back that I either don’t need or want. My music’s always guided me, and it’s not telling me to do those things. It’s telling me to go forwards. If it keeps steering me where it is now, then it’s great to have this live and vibrant Yes.”
Anderson’s last album with Yes was 2001’s ‘Magnification.’ He toured with the band until 2004, then left to focus on his solo career. Yes’ next album, ‘Fly From Here,’ featured singer Benoit David. By the time of their 2021 album ‘The Quest,’ Jon Davison replaced David, with Howe, Geoff Downes, Billy Sherwood, and Alan White still in the band.