Yes Induction Acceptance Speeches Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 2017

Rick Wakeman had to join a rock band in 1971 and wait 46 years to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in order to finally live his dream of being a stand-up comedian! Now that’s perseverance and determination!

Clearly a man who wore a cape most of his career would have a sharp sense of humor.

“Ok, I’m Steve Howe.” Intense applause

Everyone else: meaningful heartfelt speeches. Rick: Hold my beer, watch this.

I love seeing Geddy and Alex cracking up during Wakeman's speech.

I interviewed Wakeman about six months after this, and brought this up. He said he asked Rabin before they went on whether he should do these jokes, and Rabin urged him to do it. TrainInVain guy got it exactly right - Wakeman said that no one cares about hearing about the inductees' grandmother or whatever. Everyone takes their speeches too seriously. He said he just wanted to have a bit of fun and wanted everyone to lighten up a bit. This was, remember, when Howe was extremely distressed about Anderson going out on tour playing Yes music and felt that he and Wakeman were promoting a competing (and lessor) version of the band, presumably to Howe's detriment. Wakeman's attitude was, basically, c'mon guys, we're all in our sixties and seventies. We've all done well and have a lot to be thankful for. We're too old for petty nonsense. Rick is a funny guy....and one hell of a pianist.

Jon’s speech: serious/funny Trevor’s speech: funny/happy Alan’s speech: happy/serious Steve’s speech: serious/serious Rick’s speech: funny/funny

My husband-a muscian- loved YES. He introduced me to them. He passed in 2008 and they were not inducted until years later...They were inducted on his birthday, unreal. He was a huge fan of Chris Squire and we played Chris's cover of Amazing Grace at his funeral...plus a couple of YES songs. So sorry he missed this induction

Jon: Hello, everybody! Trevor: Hi, there! Alan: Hi, everyone! Thank you! Rick: Thank you! Steve: OK I'M STEVE HOWE

Jon seems like a little hippie elf. Peace and love

When Jon says, "life has passed me by so fast...." and there's a shot of Close to the Edge in the background. That's poetic.

00:56. If you look closely Rick Wakeman is complimenting Geddy on his bass playing and how happy he was for him to sit in for Chris. Class act Mr Wakeman is. Him and Alex Lifeson are probably the funniest guys in Prog rock hands down!

Rick Wakeman is one of the infamous secret Monty Python society members. Thank God for his musical abilities and sense of humor. I have been a Yes fan for 47 years and it's long overdue for Yes and all of its members and don't forget keyboardist Tony Kaye.

Who knew Rick Wakeman was a comedian in addition to a keyboardist extraordinaire?

I remember seeing Rick Wakeman live on his own tour in 1976. He told a joke that took about five minutes to weave about Merlin wanting to have sex with Guinevere, but he could never get it up, eventually he died, the punch line was, "and then rigor mortis set in".

A friend played And You and I for me in 1973 and I was instantly awestruck at this music and I have been ever since. What has really baffled me over the years is the people who just don’t get it. Yes’ music borders on magical, they are so talented!

Who would've thought a dude who wears a cape while playing music would be hilarious behind a mic?

Bill Bruford, "He's behind me". He always was Jon. 😃

It's unbelievable how timeless the music is, J. Anderson hasn't aged, not even his singing. The performance is unbelievable from these grandpas anyway. Yes, Genesis and Zappa gave the 70's the artistic ground.

I met Alan White around Christmas of 2017, at a gig he did here in Washington. A very humble, gracious man, and it was beyond thrilled to congratulate him on finally being inducted into the hall of fame with Yes.