Success is buried in the garden of failure.
I learned an invaluable lesson from a kid in Argentina when we were playing Buenos Aires in 2002. I came out of the hotel and this 16-year-old-boy asked me to sign his copy of my Six Wives of Henry VIII album. As I was signing it I asked him 'what does a 16 year-old like about this old music?' and he looked at me, quite hurt, and said, 'it might be old to you, Mr Wakeman, but I only heard it for the first time last week. When you hear something for the first time, it's new.' I've never forgotten that.
When I die, I'll probably climb out of the coffin and play the organ at my own funeral!
My life revolves around music and always will. I need to be a part of music and not an observer.
Tales From Topographic Oceans is like a woman's padded bra.
My faith is very private to me. It plays an important part in my life, but I do not try and throw my beliefs at others. I have tremendous respect for all faiths and beliefs, but have a deep concern that religion and faith are currently a long way apart from each other.
The secret of breaking rules in a way that works is understanding what the rules are in the first place.
When the first list was being drawn up in the rock and roll book of Genesis, it would have been: In the beginning, God created Pink Floyd.
Coming back to Yes is like never having left. Even when I have not been in the band, I have always felt part of it.
People like Frank Zappa were amazing for us Brits.
Country and western is the music of the devil. Thats the real truth of the matter. My late Mother, bless her, loved country and western. God, I couldnt handle it.
I read numerous books - loads in fact - and, as I always do when recording a historical project, immersed myself into the subject matter. I spent many hours at Henrys old homes, such as Hampton Court, and visiting the Tower of London. I read no other books during that period.
I'm always writing or playing because that is my life.
The studio is not the place to write. You need to be 75% ready when you go into the studio, and then the music can develop to the next stage.
I was born in 1949 - which seems like a long time ago... Actually, it is a long time ago, when I think about it.
Even the two times that I left, I never really felt like I left the band. It's very bizarre. It's like there's sort of an umbilical cord that stretches between us spiritually.
But I'd play on everything from pop records to a lot of the glam stuff to rock stuff to classical stuff. I used to get called to do all those things, it was great.
My earliest professional musical experiences were really as a session player, and every day was an adventure. Three sessions a day, every day, and you never knew who you would be working with until you arrived at the studio.
As a songwriter, I was influenced by David Bowie - a great writer. A class above everybody in so many ways. Lennon and McCartney, of course. Class stuff. David Cousins was my favorite lyricist.
Ive been married three times and divorced three times.
I like Toronto a lot, it's a good city. The only thing that really annoys me about Toronto is that you're turning Maple Leaf Gardens into a grocery store, which is absolutely nothing short of disgusting.
But I listen to live recordings of things that I did back in the '70s and then how I've done things since. And there's no doubt about it: if I compare the two, it's like chalk and cheese.
Actually, I only left twice. I left then, and then rejoined literally two years later for Going For The One.
