Jon and Vangelis was a music collaboration between British rock singer

Jon Anderson John Roy Anderson (born 25 October 1944) is an English singer, songwriter and musician, best known as the lead singer of the progressive rock band Yes, which he formed in 1968 with bassist Chris Squire. He was a member of the band across thre ...

(lead vocalist of the

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

band Yes) and Greek synthesiser musician

Vangelis Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou ( el, Ευάγγελος Οδυσσέας Παπαθανασίου ; 29 March 1943 – 17 May 2022), known professionally as Vangelis ( ; el, Βαγγέλης, links=no ), was a Greek composer and arranger of ...

. The duo released four albums between 1980 and 1991.

History

In 1974, Vangelis was considered as a replacement for

Rick Wakeman Richard Christopher Wakeman (born 18 May 1949) is an English keyboardist best known as a former member of the progressive rock band Yes across five tenures between 1971 and 2004, and for his solo albums released in the 1970s. Born and raised ...

as keyboardist in Yes, and although the job went to

Patrick Moraz Patrick Philippe Moraz (born 24 June 1948) is a Swiss musician, film composer and songwriter, best known for his tenures as keyboardist in the rock bands Yes and The Moody Blues. Born into a musical family, Moraz learned music at a young age a ...

, it led to several collaborations with Anderson, who contributed vocals to Vangelis' '' Heaven and Hell'' (1975) on the song "So Long Ago, So Clear",

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...

to '' Opera Sauvage'' (1979) on "Flamants Roses" and finally vocals to ''

See You Later ''See You Later'' is an album by the Greek electronic composer Vangelis, released in 1980. It breaks quite violently with the style he had employed in the late 1970s and later, relying much more on vocals and being more experimental and returni ...

'' (1980) on "Suffocation" and "See You Later". They recorded their first album together, ''

Short Stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...

'', in 1979, producing the major hit " I Hear You Now" as well as "One More Time". Anderson wrote the lyrics and Vangelis composed the music. In 1980, Anderson left Yes and while he published his third solo album, ''Song of Seven'' in 1980, Vangelis did the same with ''See You Later'' on which Anderson sang two songs. The two reunited to record their second album, ''

The Friends of Mr Cairo The Friends of Mr Cairo is the second album by Jon and Vangelis, released in 1981. There are two editions of the album, with different sleeves. Both were released in 1981 within a few weeks of each other. The title track, "The Friends of Mr Cai ...

'', in 1981, producing the hit songs "Friends of Mr Cairo", " State of Independence", "Back to School" and the UK top 10 hit "

I'll Find My Way Home I'll Find My Way Home is a song written by Jon Anderson and Vangelis for the Jon and Vangelis' 1981 album ''The Friends of Mr Cairo''. The song was released late November 1981. It was later covered by numerous artists, including Demis Roussos, Ch ...

". In 1983, Anderson rejoined Yes and they released the album ''90125''. Jon and Vangelis released their own album, ''

Private Collection A private collection is a privately owned collection of works (usually artworks) or valuable items. In a museum or art gallery context, the term signifies that a certain work is not owned by that institution, but is on loan from an individual ...

'', the same year. In 1986, the duo made a few attempts at writing a new album, but much of this work was never officially released under the Jon and Vangelis name. Twelve tracks were compiled on 1991's ''

Page of Life ''Page of Life'' is the fourth and final studio album by Jon and Vangelis. It was recorded in 1986 in Athens and Rome and released in 1991 by Arista Records, and is their last studio collaboration as a duo. It was initially unavailable in t ...

'', while other songs from these sessions appeared in later works, including "Let's Pretend", the last song on the 1989 album ''

Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe was an English progressive rock band active from 1988 to 1990 that comprised four past members of the English progressive rock band Yes. Singer Jon Anderson left Yes as he felt increasingly constrained by their c ...

''. Anderson ultimately took it upon himself to rework ''Page of Life'', which was released in 1998 in the United States only with nine tracks. In 2011, Anderson approached Vangelis for a possible new collaboration but he did not receive a reply. Vangelis died on May 17, 2022.

Discography

Albums

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Singles

References

External links

Jon and Vangelis discography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jon And Vangelis Electronic music duos Musical groups established in 1979 Musical groups disestablished in 1991 1979 establishments in England 1991 disestablishments in England British synth-pop new wave groups English pop music groups Rock music supergroups Vangelis