What do you think?
Rate this book
Yes: The Authorized Biography
Since the band's formation in 1968, Yes album sales have passed the twenty million unit mark, while individually and collectively they have been consistent top winners of music awards on both sides of the Atlantic. They are one of the most highly respected and successful bands Britain has produced, ranking with The Who and Led Zeppelin.
In 1979 the band's three month/fifty-two city American tour included four sell-out nights at New York's Madison Square Garden, while their EWuropean tour in the autumn of 1978 reached its climax in London with five sell-out performances at the Empire Pool Wembley.
For three years Dan Hedges was personal publicist for the band, serving as official liaison between them, Atlantic Records, and the European and American press while working from the Yes offices in London and on tour around the world.
In addition to providing extensive behind-the-scenes glimpses of Yes off-stage, the book covers the band's entire history, utilising quotes and information from over one hundred hours of original interviews with the five current members of the band, as well as all the ex-Yes members, managers, production people, and everyone else central to the band's twelve-year history.
The book is heavily illustrated with black-and-white photographs and eight pages of colour illustrations.
[from inside cover of dust jacket]
In 1979 the band's three month/fifty-two city American tour included four sell-out nights at New York's Madison Square Garden, while their EWuropean tour in the autumn of 1978 reached its climax in London with five sell-out performances at the Empire Pool Wembley.
For three years Dan Hedges was personal publicist for the band, serving as official liaison between them, Atlantic Records, and the European and American press while working from the Yes offices in London and on tour around the world.
In addition to providing extensive behind-the-scenes glimpses of Yes off-stage, the book covers the band's entire history, utilising quotes and information from over one hundred hours of original interviews with the five current members of the band, as well as all the ex-Yes members, managers, production people, and everyone else central to the band's twelve-year history.
The book is heavily illustrated with black-and-white photographs and eight pages of colour illustrations.
[from inside cover of dust jacket]
144 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1981
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 8, 2026
Fun for me to revisit this after about 40 years. An older friend's brother had this Yes bio when I was in high school and as a big fan of the band I longed to read it, but the library didn't have it and so I would go over to the friend's house and read a chapter at a time as he wouldn't let it out of the house! Leap forward to 2025 and a kind Yes fan sent his copy to me after we chatted online about the band. I loved being able to read this again, reliving those early memories and the excitement that comes with being 14 and high on a band's music. Because it was published 45 years ago, Dan Hedges only covers the first 12 years or so of the band's history, going back to the 1968 founding, and then ending with the Dramatic shakeup in 1980 when co founder and lead singer Jon Anderson and iconic keyboardist Rick Wakeman left the band at the same time. I still enjoy classic Yes music from that first magical decade of their existence and reading this book served as a stark reminder of how many lineup changes have come and gone for this band since 1980. Yes still exists but with no founding members and the years in between have seen some decent music released but looking back I feel like most of the music has been lost in the Drama of lineup changes and bickering among some of the principles. So much so that I almost find myself wishing Yes had ended after the Drama experiment folded due to Trevor Horn being unable to sing the classic material live, or really even sing live at all for an extended tour, even with the songs in his native range. Drama made for a fun studio album that sounded fresh in 1980, but if things had ended there, you would still have all the classic memories and great music without much of the unfortunate drama that has followed around the band since. There is a reason that guitarist Steve Howe, who came aboard for album no. 3 and now leads a version of Yes that might kindly be referred to as a top notch cover band, focuses current Yes live shows on the classic music only. It's what sells tickets still in 2026, and has been true for many years now. Curious about Yes? 1968-1980 has you covered and this book is an excellent chronicle of those years for the most part.
Displaying 1 of 1 review