British vocalist and co-founder (with bassist Chris Squire) of English progressive rock band Yes. He is also an accomplished solo artist and has collaborated for over 20 years with the Greek musician Vangelis as the duo Jon & Vangelis.
He was born John Anderson in Accrington, Lancashire, but later began referring to himself as Jon. He started his musical career at an early age by playing the washboard in a local skiffle group. After leaving school at 15, he had various jobs and even tried to become a footballer with Accrington Stanley F.C., but was turned down due to his frail constitution.
In 1962, Anderson joined The Warriors (aka The Electric Warriors) where he shared lead vocal with his brother Tony and recorded one single in 1964. He quit this band in 1967, released two solo singles for Parlophone Records in 1968 under the pseudonym Hans Christian Anderson, and then briefly sang for the bands The Gun and The Open Mind.
In the summer of 1968, Anderson met bassist Chris Squire and joined him in a group called Mabel Greer's Toyshop. Anderson fronted this band, but ended up leaving again before the summer was over.
Anderson and Squire went on to form Yes with drummer Bill Bruford and keyboard player Tony Kaye. Their debut album was released in 1969. He stayed with the group until 1980, and this period is now known as the classic period of Yes. Anderson was a major creative force and band leader throughout the period (describing himself as 'team captain') and is recognised as the main instigator of the series of epic albums produced by Yes at the time.
Anderson rejoined a reformed Yes in 1983 which produced their most commercially successful album 90125 with newcomer Trevor Rabin, and departed again in 1988 over the band's continued pursuit of major commercial success and mainstream radio play. In 1989, Anderson and other former Yes members formed the group Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman, Howe (ABWH), augmented by bassist Tony Levin who had played with drummer Bill Bruford in King Crimson. After the successful first ABWH album, a bizarre series of business deals caused ABWH to reunite with the then-current members of Yes, who had been out of the public eye while searching for a new lead singer. The resulting eight-man band assumed the name Yes, and the album Union was assembled from various recordings. A successful tour followed, but the eight-man lineup of Yes never recorded a complete album together before splintering in 1992. Many more personnel changes followed, but Anderson has been with the band ever since. He appears on all Yes albums except their 1980 album Drama.