Famous and forgotten: the legendary rock musician of the seventies celebrated his birthday

Keyboardist Rick Wakeman is a bright representative of those trends in rock music of the 70s that are now commonly called progressive rock, art rock and symphonic rock. The boundaries between them are blurred, and historians and just fans of "old rock" still argue about them, but these disputes have long been interesting only to them and have turned into scholasticism like a medieval theological dispute on the topic of "how many angels can fit on the tip of a needle". 

But in the 70s, these trends were not just popular. Listening to bands playing in this style, some teenagers of that time moved from them to an interest in "normal" classics - although, of course, the musicians themselves did not set such goals for themselves. Here it is logical to ask: "What goals did they set?" In answering this question, rock historians forget one important fact: these guys were practically still boys at the time, but already spoiled by fame, money and fans. And they wanted even more. For example, to prove that they were serious musicians.

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Rick Wakeman, with his classical music education, was one of the most serious participants in this endeavor. For example, he played keyboards with the legendary band Yes when they recorded their cult album Fragile, in which he performed Cans and Brams, his arrangement of the third part of the fourth symphony by Johannes Brahms. And with Black Sabbath on the album Black Bloody Sabbath, where they used complex arrangements.

Usually today, it is these works of Wakeman that are mentioned when they want to emphasize the scale of his achievements. But in fact, in the 70s, it was his own albums that made a much greater impression, which Wakeman recorded first while still playing in Yes, and then after leaving the group, and for which he hired session musicians. He achieved his greatest success in this in 1974, when he was only 24 years old, with the album "Journey to the Center of the Earth" based on the novel of the same name by Jules Verne, which took first place in the British hit parade.

The session, along with Wakeman and five other rock musicians, included the London Symphony Orchestra, the English Chamber Choir and the actor David Hemmings, who read the text, famous for having previously starred in the leading role in the cult film Blow Up by Michelangelo Antonioni. Wakeman wanted to record the album in the studio, but the management of the A&M label, with which he was contracted, decided that it would be cheaper to make a live recording from a concert. And two such concerts took place at the Royal Festival Hall in London.

For the 24-year-old musician, first place in the British charts and third in the American charts with his solo and rather complex organizational project was a real shock. So much so that he decided to finally leave Yes in order to continue similar projects to "Journey to the Center of the Earth", which became more and more pompous over time.

So, "Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table" based on the classic collection of corresponding legends, were staged at London's Wembley Arena (not to be confused with Wembley Stadium). And since the arena floor was already covered with ice for another future event, in addition to rock musicians, a symphony orchestra and a choir, 14 figure skaters also took part in the performance. Nevertheless, three performances were sold out, and the music album was sold in the amount of 12 million copies.

However, the hybrid of rock music and academic art eventually turned out to be unviable. And not only in the case of Wakeman, but in general. Of course, he still had his fans, but it was a narrow circle. And the general public, tired of symphonic rock, became interested in punk rock and disco. Here, by the way, we can remember that even such talented rockers as the Bee Gees switched to disco. However, Wakeman continued to remain true to himself, although with fewer opportunities - for example, in 1988, he was unable to record the album "Time Machine" based on the novel by Herbert Wells with an orchestra, choir and ice show due to lack of funds.

Nevertheless, today Wakeman has more than 90 recorded albums, six children and several heart attacks. Moreover, he suffered the first at the age of 20 due to a combination of drunkenness, smoking and fragile health. In 1979, he gave up smoking, and in 1985, after being diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver and alcoholic hepatitis, he gave up drinking.

In 2016, Wakeman announced that he had diabetes, and in 2023, he said that his playing was now affected by macular degeneration in his left eye and arthritis in his hands and feet. Perhaps he was slightly consoled by the fact that two years earlier, for services to music and broadcasting, he had been made a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire, the highest British award, the two senior degrees of which (there are five in total) give the right to a knighthood.

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