Died On This Date (June 28, 2015) Chris Squire / Co-Founder Of Yes

Chris Squire
March 4, 1948 – June 28, 2015

Photo by David Plastik - Click To Order Quality Prints - Discount code: 10OFF
Photo by David Plastik – Click To Order Quality Prints – Discount code: 10OFF

Chris Squire was a singer, songwriter, and co-founding bassist of the influential British progressive rock band, Yes. And to many, he was one of rock’s greatest bass players of all time. Born in a London suburb, Squire began his musical training as part of his church choir.  Like so many teens in 1964, Squire heard the Beatles and knew that was what he wanted to do, so he picked up the bass and began learning how to use it.  After perfecting his craft playing in a few bands around town for a couple of years, Squire was introduced to Jon Anderson. During the summer of 1968, and after recruiting Peter Banks, Bill Bruford, and Tony Kaye, Yes was born.  Over the next four decades, the band went through several personnel changes and a couple of breaks, with Squire remaining the one and only constant throughout.  They released twenty studio albums with nine reaching the Top 10 in either the US or UK and sold over 13 million in the US alone.  Along the way they not only helped create the blueprint for prog rock, but helped refine it along the way.  They were also very instrumental in expanding its fan base into the mainstream.  In May of 2015, it was announced that Squire was suffering from and acute form of leukemia. Less than six weeks later, on June 28, 2015, Chris Squire died from it at the age of 67.

Thanks to David Plastik at eRock Photos for the assist.

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Died On This Date (March 7, 2013) Peter Banks / Founding Guitarist Of Yes

Peter Banks
July 15, 1947 – March 7, 2013

peter-banks1Once called “The Architect Of Progressive Music,” Peter Banks was the original guitarist for prog rock pioneers, Yes.  Raised in North London, Banks first learned the guitar when his father gave him an acoustic one as a child.  By his teens, he was also playing the banjo.  The first band of note he played in was the Syn, which also counted future Yes members, Chris Squire and Steve Howe as members. The band’s biggest claim to fame was opening for Jimi Hendrix‘s legendary Marquee Club show that was witnessed my just about every member of England’s rock royalty of the day.  After the Syn broke up in 1967, Banks joined Mabel Greer’s Toy Shop who eventually morphed into Yes, a name suggested by Banks as temporary, until a better one presented itself.  Banks was a member of the band until 1970, playing on their self-titled debut as well as Time And A Word.  In later years, he joined the band on stage on occasion and participated in a 1997 tribute album to them.  He was also involved in later album and documentary projects.  Banks went on to play in Flash, Empire, and Harmony Of Diversion as well as do session work well into the 2000s.  On March 7, 2013, Peter Banks died of heart failure.  He was 65.

Thanks to Harold Lepidus of Bob Dylan Examiner for the assist.

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Died On This Date (June 4, 2011) Martin Rushent / Prominent English Record Producer

Martin Rushent
January 3, 1948 – June 4, 2011

Martin Rushent was a successful record producer who could count records by Shirley Bassey, the Buzzcocks, Pete Shelley, the Human League, XTC, Joy DivisionGeneration X, and the Stranglers among his best work.  Picking up the production bug while still in high school, Rushent found work soon after graduation, working as a tape operator alongside Tony Visconti on records by T-Rex, Jerry Lee Lewis, Yes, and Petula Clark.  Eventually advancing to the ranks of recording engineer, Rushent went to work for United Artists where he was instrumental in getting the Stranglers signed and subsequently recording their UA releases.  By the early ’80s, Rushent grew tired of producing guitar bands, so he opened his own studio and began working with synth-driven groups, helping launch the synth-pop movement of the ’80s.   By the late ’80s, he was all but retired from the music business to raise his family, but resurfaced to run his own dance club, Gush in the mid ’90s.  He went back to producing during the mid 2000s, working with the likes of Hazel O’Connor, the Pipettes, and Does It Offend You, Yeah? which is fronted by his son, James Rushent.  Martin Rushent was 63 when he passed away on June 4, 2011.  Cause of death was not immediately released.

Thanks to Craig Rosen at number1albums for the assist.

Died On This Date (July 14, 2009) Michael Klenfner / Respected Music Industry Executive

Michael Klenfner
DOB Unknown – July 14, 2009

michaelMichael Kenfner was a long time record company executive that got his start working for Ahmet Ertegun at Atlantic Records during the ’70s.  Throughout his career, he was instrumental in the successes of Laura Branigan, AC/DC, Genesis, Yes, Cher, and in particular, the Blues Brothers, with whom he appeared in the film of the same name.  Michael Klenfner died of congestive heart failure at the age of 62.


Died On This Date (May 17, 1999) Bruce Fairbairn / Producer

Bruce Fairbairn
December 30, 1949 – May 17, 1999

Bruce Fairbairn was a Canadian trumpet player, but made a huge mark on popular music as a rock producer. Fairbairn hit his stride in the ’80s producing such albums as Loverboy’s Get Lucky, Bon Jovi’s Slippery When Wet, Aerosmith’s Permanent Vacation,   and later, Bon Jovi’s New Jersey, Aerosmith’s Pump, Poison’s Flesh and Blood, Van Halen’s Balance, AC/DC’s The Razor’s Edge Kiss’ Psycho Circus, and many more.  It was while working on Yes’ Ladder, in May of 1999 that Jon Anderson discovered Bruce Fairbairn’s body in his home.  Cause of death was not immediately released.