79 years old, and Jon looks amazing (he's also sounding terrific these days on stage). He's a timeless classic!

Jon Anderson spent the sixties trying to be the Beatles, Other musicians including myself spent the seventies and onward trying to be Yes. :-)

Jon Anderson and YES changed my life and countless other musicians. ❤

There is still something totally remarkable about his voice right now, given his age. I have loved his work since I first heard yes, aged 14 in 1972.

I got to meet Jon before a show once and asked him if he ever got to meet one of his idols from the Beatles. He said once he was at a concert and saw Paul McCartney coming down the stairs and he was speechless -- too speechless to go up and talk to him, though.

Very kind of Jon Anderson to credit the late Peter Banks with naming Yes…

yes, pink floyd, elp, elo, genesis, king crimson, nektar, hawkwind and a dozen other "progressive" bands is what we cool kids listened to in the early 70s. we were fans of other rock subgenres as well. the music at this time offered a wide variety of types and tastes. it was one of the joys of growing up in that era.

Jon Anderson THE VOICE. THE MASTER. FOREVER YES❗️❗️❗️🎤🎤🎤 LOVE AND LIGHT ❤🌅

Jon has been my music idol since the early 1970s. Always glad to hear him talk. What a musical force.

I was 2 years old when Jon was playing in the Cavern. Years later I would see YES perform three times and it was always an extremely emotional experience.

Went to 9 Yes concerts from 1973 and the last in 1989. I also saw Rick Waksman Journey to the Center of the Earth ❤❤❤ Those were the days! 😂

I love this. I never thought Jon Anderson would ever get enough mainstream appeal to be interviewed by Dan Rather. 🤟✌

I got into YES back in 72 and never stopped loving their music.

I met Jon and his wife at a tiny airport in San Luis Obispo CA about 7 years ago. He was very friendly and approachable.

The Yes Album was my first ever album. Still my favorite all time album after all these years.

I saw Yes in 1978 at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, one of the most awesome live productions ever.

Jon answered the question in a roundabout way and you and I know it's true.

The album Friends of Mr. Cairo he did with Vangelis is incredible.

"Let's call ourselves Yes." "Is it The Yes?" "No, no. Yes."

*I was a kid when I saw the video for **_Owner of a Lonely Heart._* It was awesome. Years later, someone gave their old records and one of these was _The Yes Album._ I realized that they weren't a new band, they've been around for a minute. Anyways, they proved that one could listen to a 10 minute long song more than once.

I always thought the Olias of Sunhillow album was hugely underrated. I love it.

In my opinion Jon Anderson is the best vocalist in history

I love Jon , he is the voice of yes. It is very moving knowing how one of the greatest rock band of all time got its name, especially told by Jon. Cristian from Chile.

Who knew Dan Rather was such a fan of Progressive Rock music! Never would’a thought that in a million years!

Love Jon Anderson. He has such a sweet, gentle spirit. The kind this world desperately needs more of. Thank you Jon for all the great music. ❤️

His singing is still as sharp and clear & powerful as it was since their first album. I don't know of any other rock singer from that era who can make that claim.

Great singer and a lovely person!

In 1980 a friend loaned me the Fragile album, needless to say, he never got it back. Love Yes!!!

Always great to see a Jon interview. Loved Yes in their Bill Bruford/Rick Wakeman years. Saw them many times. Happy days!

It's the word I often utter when I hear their beautiful music: "Yes!" 🙏

The one and only Jon Anderson… Love his music, voice, SPIRIT…

Peter Banks was a major Who fan (as was Chris,) and because of that he'd seen how short band names were useful because they could be huge on a poster. Clever guy, Peter (RIP).

YES❗️The greatest band on this or any other planet❗️😎

YES changed my life in better way since i was 16 y.o. and i can't stop to thank Jon A., Chris S., Steve H., Bill B., Tony K, Alan W., Rick W. and Patrick M. for the incredible music they composed all these years. God bless you.

Great interview - minus the drugs. So lucky to buy tickets for five friends. We saw Yes in '75 and Jon was twenty feet away. Made an impression to this day.

I was too young to happen upon Yes until I was about 11 years old in 1979, found Fragile, been an important sound of my life ever since.

Awesome interview. One of my heroes in music. How interesting hearing about his childhood and the formation of Yes!

Close to the edge was the best Yes album

I have every Yes album or CD in my collect and listen to them frequently. No doubt one of the greatest bands of all time!

Gotta love Jon, he seems like such a down to earth likable gentleman. Someone you could sit & have a pint with, and talk to for hours.

Yes! What a sweet interview; he's still got a kind of innocence and wonder. I had no idea Jon saw the Beatles and played at the original Cavern Club. I'm only commenting today because his band and their music has meant so much to me throughout my life.

I’ll bet a stoned Peter Banks saw the Yellow Submarine movie in ‘68, and when the giant, magical YES appeared on screen, he had the revelation.

first albums I -had- (permanently borrowed from my sister/brother in law) was 'the yes album'....'fragile'....'close to the edge'.... I brought 'tales from topographic oceans'....and 'relayer'....myself.... .....along with yes....I 'borrowed'.... 'welcome back, my friends'....E.L.P. I was 10 years old and had never heard a song longer than 3 minutes before....

Goosebumps - I can hear all of those Yes vocals when the man speaks. God given talent. Goosebumps.....

Very interesting, Jon, but what about Accrington Stanley? Do they really play Tales From Topographic Oceans during the half-time interval at the Wham Stadium?

Much love for Jon.

I've been a diehard YES fan since I was 8. I'm 62. I've seen the band at least 30 times since I was 17 and in my first band (Sisyphus) when my sister, who at the time was in ticket sales for a 10,000 seat venue got us all front row. Fast forward, I've seen Anderson's solo performances (he and Freddie Mercury have always been my top 2 favorite singers) exactly 12 times since I moved from NE to L.A. In three days, Jon will be 79 years old. Not a month has gone by since I was 8 when I haven't listened to 5:48 angelic Jon.

the best vocalist and songwriter ever, been a fan since the 70s

Love that he still has the old Lancashire accent, my old geography teacher went to school with Jon .

This was awesome! Jon is a legend in his own time. Love YES.

What a lovely bloke. Legend.

Yes was my first concert in Philly, 1974, it was awesome! They were great! I was a freshman in high school.

GREAT JOB ALL...THANX 4 MAKING Tee with LIONS NAMED LEO the music worldwide. LOVE YOU ALL...!!!

YESSSS, The best years of my life with YES music as background music.

Back in the day when I heard Yes playing in some cafe, room, it would always take me on a journey back to myself, like a sign post thats says 'You Are Here'

And I have been listening and enjoying their music ever since! Their music transcends most rock and roll and steers closer to classical elements. Genius!

Johnny you finally Made it!...lol I sing in my Church Band and His influence has carried me well in and far. Love You!

Great interview...

A Spirit that just Shines bright. Nice to see you again John

Loved yes back in the day saw them in concert 3 times were awesome

I like hearing the Wonderous Stories.

I had just turned 13 when I saw yes for the first time. It was at Newcastle City Hall & because of a mix-up with ticket sales me and my pal ended up with front row seats. We sat right in front of Chris Squire who kept looking down at us & although I didn't realise it at the time he was probably thinking along the lines of "bloody hell, they're just children." We were definitely the youngest there that I could see & it was a bit odd to be so heavily into Yes at that age. Treasured memories of that night & Jon has always been and always will be, me musical hero.

It’s funny that the band member who came up with the band name was the first one to be fired.

I loved "Yes Songs" double 8 track. I played it to death.

Aside from extraordinary talent he is just so positive

Interesting how Dan Rather, of all people, ends up this great interviewer of huge rock legends.

Saw him as a solo act pushing the Cairo LP Opened up for King Crimson August 1982 Mann Music Center Philadelphia Saw Peter Banks with his own band FLASH Sounded like Yes! August 1973

Really interesting to hear from a legend. Gotta love Dan Rather....😂

Brilliant. Can’t get enough of Jon ❤

I could listen to Jon all day, with that lovely accent of his.

I guess Love Does Find A Way!!! Thank you, Jon, Yes and Dan Rather for this great interview!!! ❤

Great voice (in music), great band !

I must have seen Yes 25 times over the years. My favorite was the 35th anniversary tour with Rick Wakeman. They played Tales from Topographic Oceans so wonderfully that the audience gave them the longest standing ovation I ever saw.

Yes was always out there but I was never interested. Caught up with them recently and can’t get enough. This guy is a gem, lovely man and a perfect voice for Yes.

Jon, thank you for ALL (YES & solo) the lovely music that you have given to the world! You have been a Blessing to the Mother Earth, and GOD bless YOU! 😊

I got into them in highschool, but I was the only one who knew who they were. Union was my first album (just came out and great album artwork). I think it was the local classic rock station, WIBA 101.5 Madison that introduced me to them. Union was the soundtrack to my Junior/Senior years. This band is a lot like classical music. Hard to listen at first, but never gets old.

One of my all time heroes, love you Jon!

At the end of this clip, when Anderson says that the drummer had left the band, he also met a young guy hanging around the Marquee club called Phil Collins and offered him an audition .....and he never went.

And i for one say YES to YES . Since the late 60’s they have been my biggest YES

Quite agree with all comments. NOW; we maybe should inquire about what influential books he reads or reveres!❤

My favorite singer. Good to see him get some press.

If you are a fan (I fell in love with Yes' music with The Yes Album.) of the band and you found this interview interesting, I would recommend you pick up two books by keyboard man Rick Wakeman....Grumpy Old Rock Star, and Further Adventures of a Grumpy Old Rock Star. Many of his stories will have you in stitches. (Especially the one about how the band drank an airliner dry not once, but twice on a flight from London to Tokyo.)

My four fav albums from this mythical band are The Yes Album, Close to the Edge, Going for the One and Fragile. Those albums are killing ones. Also I have a special love for the two first albums with Peter Banks and also, those with Trevor Rabin as 90125 & Talk.

What a very very talented man! May God bless the memory of Chris Squire!

Great musician, composer, songwriter, and of course the band...YES!!!

Happy Birthday Jon❤

*_Hold On_* ! Jon sure did go on and on in a *_Roundabout_* way to tell *_You and I_* how Yes got its name. At least I did not wait around to the end of the video for *_Five Percent of Nothing_* and found out that it was *_All Connected_* .

Close to the Edge down by the river,

A stunning voice IMHO.

Love this

Ageless Wonder,…he’s really blessed with a voice that has a cadence that doesn’t age…..I read somewhere, where, Jon Anderson says he doesn’t sing fallesto….then how does one explain those ridiculous high notes he tackles in his music….I was introduced to yes in 1983 by way of 90125 & I was 15 and blown away by what I thought was a new band called Yes…only to be laugh at by my friends dad who had all the Yes albums of the 70’s & he told me, Son, you haven’t heard shit yet 😂😂😂😂….I listen to his back catalogue of earlier Yes albums & my life in music has changed forever……

Unforgettable times, when Ed Sciaky and I would go see Yes in Philly.

YES! YES! YES! and YES!!!

Yes is the answer.....

Yes is the word that made John Lennon fall in love with Yoko. (Long story that relates to an art exhibit where a ladder led to a word pasted onto the ceiling, and the word was “yes”.) That is what I guessed the band name was about. Love Jon Anderson, ever since the mid ‘70s. Saw Yes on the Owner of a Lonely Heart tour at Saratoga Springs, NY. People in the audience were throwing marshmallows at each other. Maybe Jon remembers it.

Love it.

Tanta salute per te carissimo ❤️

I remember seeing Jon at the Marquee carrying crates of Coca-cola around just as Yes were getting going. They were wilder, more raw, more rockier then. Brilliant! PS: the name-change bit is at 5:22

Legend

"Very cool! He's very smart and still sounds great!"