Throughout their entire career, British progressive rock royalty Yes has only had one constant member; bassist Chris Squire. While Yes is certainly not the heaviest band to come out of this scene, Squire’s gritty bass tone and grandiose songwriting have unquestionably left a huge mark on the world of both rock and metal which can still be seen today. Unfortunately, the band just announced yesterday that Squire would be sitting out his first tour with the band since he helped form the group in the late 60s due to acute enthyroid leukemia. He will be taking the summer off to get treatment for his cancer, which affects both his blood and bone marrow.
In an official statement, he said that “This will be the first time since the band formed in 1968 that Yes will have performed live without me, but the other guys and myself have agreed that Billy Sherwood will do an excellent job of covering my parts and the show as a whole will deliver the same Yes experience that our fans have come to expect over the years.”
Heavy Blog Is Heavy wishes Chris nothing but the speediest recovery and our thoughts go out to him, his family, and the rest of Yes. In the meantime, you can go see the band this summer perform with Toto or just revisit one of the many classic records the band has given us over the years.
-KB