Rick Wakeman of Yes: Ridgefield Playhouse: Keyboard wizard Rick Wakeman (of prog-rock band YES) will embark on his first solo tour of America in 13 years!  Wakeman’s The Grumpy Old Rock Star Tour will combine spellbinding piano music with jokes and revealing insights in-to his 50-plus-year career. Expect an evening featuring music from YES, Rick’s own solo epics and early Bowie hits, plus original arrangements of Beatles’ tunes, interspersed with knockabout (and sometimes bawdy!) typically British humor.

Professional musician, keyboard player, songwriter, broadcaster and raconteur, Wakeman’s career started as a much-in-demand session player, who performed on recordings by David Bowie, Elton John, Lou Reed, Al Stewart and hundreds more artists. His big break came in 1971 when he joined YES, who went on to become the most successful prog rock band in the world, but Wakeman has also always gone his own way outside the framework of that group.