The creative genius of YES and consistent star of TV’s ‘Grumpy Old Men’ in – Rick Wakeman’s Grumpy Old Picture Show ‘live’ on tour - Including rare, previously unseen footage as part of a full musical production show that will, change your grumpiness into laughter whilst wallowing in musical nostalgia!

The only person to have appeared in every one of  BBCs ‘Grumpy Old Men’, Rick Wakeman suddenly found himself in a new guise as a highly in-demand raconteur, which mixed with his unique style of piano and keyboard playing, resulted in some highly successful sell out one man shows around the world.
 
Although now retired from lengthy touring, he always said he would continue with limited number of live performances, and to this end he put together a truly unique show for 2007 in which he tells much of his life story in hilarious fashion using film and pictures and coupled with some great music from the piano and keyboards. He said that he would limit the performances to 14, which indeed was the case. What he was not prepared for though was the tremendous response and critical acclaim that the show received with some of the finest reviews Rick can ever recall ever having!
 
With theatres clamouring for more shows, Rick has gone back on his word as regards limiting the number of performances and 24 further shows have been added for 2008 commencing on April 15th. (Truth is, Rick’s rather pleased in having to go back on his word as he was quite sad when the last performance took place as he had to admit that he had really thoroughly enjoyed himself)!

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Brief Potted Musical History of the legendary Mr Wakeman:
Bands:
Between 1962 and 1969 Rick played with a several semi-professional outfits. These included The Concord Quartet, The Atlantic Blues, The James Royal Set, The Ronnie Smith Band, The Tony Dee Showband, The Green Dolphin Trio and two bands of his own: - Brother Wakeman and the Clergyman, (a trad jazz band) and Curdled Milk, (a blues band).
 
In 1967 he started performing on sessions and by 1972 had played on over 2000 records and numerous hits. Artists he performed with include such diversity as Black Sabbath, Cat Stevens, (including the legendary ‘Morning Has Broken’), David Bowie, (including ‘Space Oddity’ and ‘Life on Mars’), Cilla Black, Lou Reed, Dana, Mary Hopkin, Karl Douglas, Ozzy Osbourne and even Clive Dunn!
 
He joined Strawbs in April 1970 leaving in July 1971 to join YES. He left YES in May 1974 to pursue an already successful solo career but rejoined in November 1976.
 
He left YES for a second time in January 1980 and reformed Anderson Bruford, Wakeman and Howe in 1989, who eventually merged with YES in 1991 for the record breaking ‘UNION’ tour.
 
He left again in 1992 rejoining briefly in 1997 for a year to record and perform the ‘Keys To Ascension’ projects and rejoined YES for a major world tour, which commenced in July 2002 and finished in 2005!

Albums:
The major Strawbs albums were ‘Just A Collection of Antiques and Curios’ and ‘From The Witchwood’.
 
The major YES albums were ‘Fragile’, ‘Close To The Edge’, ‘Yessongs’, ‘Going For The One’ and ‘Tormato’.
 
His major solo albums, (there are 106 to date), have been ‘The Six Wives of Henry VIII’, ‘Journey To The Centre of the Earth’, ‘The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table’, ‘White Rock’, ‘Criminal Record’, ‘1984’, ‘Out There’ and ‘Return to the Centre of the Earth’.
To date he has sold in excess of 50,000,000 albums and CDs worldwide and of the 130 recordings he has done with YES, Strawbs and as a solo artist, only four are currently unavailable.

Record Labels: 
He owns two record labels: - Music Fusion and Hope Records, the latter being a Christian cross-over label which was formed especially to compliment Rick’s recordings in this area as he is a committed Christian.

Television:
His hundreds of television appearances over recent years have included hosting his own comedy show, ‘Live at Jongleurs’, (now in its eighth year), and as a team captain on ‘Bygones’ for BBC 1. Other major appearances over the last few years have included ‘Through The Keyhole’; ‘This is Your Life’, ‘Under Offer’, ‘Never Mind The Buzzcocks’, ‘Inside Out’, ‘Countdown’, ‘Grumpy Old Men’, ‘He Says She Says’, Can’t Cook Won’t Cook’, ‘The Reluctant Chef’, ‘Heaven and Earth’, ‘Songs of Praise’, ‘Have I Got News For You’, ‘The Weakest Link’, ‘Top Gear’ and ‘The Generation Game’.

Radio:
He has been a regular presenter for Radio 2, BBC Digital Radio and the BBC World Service and now has his own digital world-wide programme, ‘Rick’s Place’ from 10-1 on a Saturday morning on the Planet Rock digital station.
His almost constant association with radio and television have moved him into celebrity status for all ages and with the current revival of “all things 70’s”, has enjoyed something of a swansong, filling theatres and indoor arenas with his progressive rock band, The New English Rock Ensemble in-between his work with YES.

The New Show:
His new one man show ‘Rick Wakeman’s Grumpy Old Picture Show’ was an immediate box office success when launched in 2007, so much so that a further 24 shows were immediately booked by theatres for 2008.

A special DVD has been made using elements of the ‘Grumnpy Old Picture Show’ for release in time for the tour and will be available through Classic Media.

 http://www.rwcc.com