Yes members, Todd Rundgren among musicians featured on new tribute to late Yes bassist Chris Squire

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Purple Pyramid RecordsA new album paying homage to the music of late Yes bassist Chris Squire features contributions from current and former Yes members, Todd Rundgren, Toto‘s Steve Porcaro, ex-Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett and others.

A Life in Yes: The Chris Squire Tribute is available now on CD and as a two-LP vinyl set. It was produced by Squire’s friend and frequent collaborator Billy Sherwood, who became Yes’ bassist after Chris’ death.

Among the present and past Yes members appearing on the album are Sherwood, current frontman Jon Davison, founding keyboardist Tony Kaye and ex-keyboard player Patrick Moraz.

Other musicians who lent their talents to the project include former E Street Band keyboardist David Sancious, Billy Idol guitarist Steve Stevens, Renaissance singer Annie Haslam, Dweezil Zappa and Chris’ ex-wife, singer Nikki Squire.

The album features mostly Yes songs, including new versions of classics like “Roundabout” and “Owner of a Lonely Heart,” and gems such as “South Side of the Sky” and “The Fish.” A Life in Yes also contains two bonus tracks: a cover of Pink Floyd‘s “Comfortably Numb” that Squire recorded for the Floyd tribute album Back Against The Wall, and a song called “The Technical Divide” by the supergroup The Prog Collective, of which Chris was a member.

“Needless to say this record is near and dear to my heart,” says Sherwood. “Chris and I were friends for decades and his loss was epic. I wanted to honor his spirit, his writing, his bass work…And so I set forth to create this record.”

He adds, “Everyone who participated lifted the project and did it out of the deepest respect and love for Chris.”

Squire died in June 2015 from leukemia. He was 67.

Here’s the album’s full track list:

“On the Silent Wings of Freedom” — Jon Davison & Patrick Moraz
“Hold Out Your Hand” — Steve Hogarth & Larry Fast
“Onward” — Annie Haslam
“South Side of the Sky” — David Sancious & Steve Stevens  
“The Fish” — Sonja Kristina
“The More We Live – Let Go” — Steve Porcaro & Steve Hackett
“Parallels” — Jon Davison & Tony Kaye
“Owner of a Lonely Heart” — Nikki Squire & Dweezil Zappa
“Roundabout” — Todd Rundgren, John Wesley & Tony Kaye
“Don’t Kill the Whale” — Candice Night & Brian Auger

Bonus Tracks
“The Technical Divide” — The Prog Collective
“Comfortably Numb” — Chris Squire

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