An original rock legend is coming to town – and he’s bringing some family along for the ride. On March 28, The United Theatre will host keyboard virtuoso Rick Wakeman, the exuberant prog-rock pioneer who helped define the sound of Yes. Wakeman, however, won’t be alone. He’ll share the stage with his son, Oliver Wakeman, for a night of fine music – and plenty of playful family banter.
Wakeman described the show’s format in a recent call from the UK. “It's just the pair of us, myself and Oliver, with a couple of small keyboard rigs and a grand piano; we'll be doing stuff together, and stuff on our own,” he says. And in true Wakeman fashion, the music isn’t the only entertainment planned. “In between the pieces,” he laughs, “we’ll probably just be insulting one another, which will be great fun.”
The legendary keyboardist – who turns 77 in May – says performing live still brings him the same joy it did at the height of prog rock’s arena era. “I'll keep going until I stop,” he explains. “I don't care where I play. I just love playing and feel very honored to be able to do what I do. It doesn't worry me whether it's a massive arena, a football stadium, or a little theater. Whatever side stage I'm on, I'm still lucky. I play arenas over here in Europe, and I'm equally at home doing small shows, which I do a lot of for my animal charities when there might be just 100 or so people in the room.”
Early Years
Long before becoming a prog-rock icon, Wakeman was already one of London’s most in-demand session musicians in the early 1970s. His distinctive playing can be heard on classic recordings by artists including Elton John, Cat Stevens, and David Bowie. He created the now-iconic piano introduction for Stevens’ “Morning Has Broken,” and his work on the mellotron was featured prominently on Bowie’s breakthrough hit “Space Oddity.”
Wakeman recalls recording at now-defunct Trident Studios in London. “The studio was amazing. They had a Beckstein piano there; it was a wonderful piano. A lot of people booked their sessions there simply because of that piano. I recorded all of Hunky Dory there with David Bowie, which was fantastic. I did Mark Boland and T-Rex stuff there. I recorded with so many different people in that studio. It was just a great place to go.”
“‘Space Oddity’ was the first piece I recorded with David Bowie, in '69,” continues Wakeman, who famously played the mellotron on the track. “That was the first time I met David. After we'd done the recording, David said to me, and it was really kind, ‘I've heard some of your piano playing. I love what you do. Would you like to do some piano stuff for me?’ And I said, ‘That would be fantastic.’ A couple of weeks later, I was in there doing tracks like ‘Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud’ with him, and then after that, the Hunky Dory and Life on Mars albums.”
Yes Era
In 1971, Wakeman joined Yes and held down keyboards during the prog-rock band’s heyday, playing on seminal LPs including Fragile, Close to the Edge, and Tales from Topographic Oceans. He also recorded grand concept albums like The Six Wives of Henry VIII and the UK chart-topper Journey to the Centre of the Earth. Fans can expect to hear tracks from those releases at the United show, along with some of his favorites, and deep cuts that don’t always get the spotlight they deserve.
He includes “the album Tormato, which might as well have been mixed on a food mixer,” as one of those favorites. “The production was appalling -- but there was some great stuff on there, and the album gets a bit overlooked because it came out just at the time when prog wasn't remotely in vogue. I'd love to remix and re-record songs on there like ‘Arriving UFO,’ which was just a great track, but wasn't well-produced. The final product was nowhere near as good as I think it could have been.”
Music has indeed become a family business for the Wakemans. Rick’s son Adam, longtime keyboardist in Ozzy Osborne’s band, won a 2026 Grammy Award for his work with Yungblud. Of course, his son Oliver, who also has a solo career, is joining him on this tour. “The most important thing of all, music should be fun,” declares Wakeman. “And if you enjoy it, if you enjoy what you're doing, there's a reasonable chance that other people who are listening may just enjoy it as well. My music teacher used to say to me, remember, music is there to share.”
Find tickets for The United Theatre show here: https://unitedtheatre.org/shows/rick-wakeman-and-son
Learn more about Rick Wakeman here: https://rwcc.com
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