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Artist
John Wetton
12+ albums
Progressive rockrockclassic rockmelodic rockjohn wetton
about
John Kenneth Wetton (12 June 1949 – 31 January 2017) was an English progressive rock singer, bassist, and songwriter. He was born in Willington, Derbyshire, and grew up in Bournemouth. He rose to fame with bands Mogul Thrash, Family, King Crimson, Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music, Uriah Heep, UK and Wishbone Ash. After his period with King Crimson, Wetton formed UK, and later he was the frontman and principal songwriter of the supergroup Asia, which proved to be his biggest commercial success. Their self-titled debut album sold eight million copies worldwide and was Billboard magazine's No. 1 album of 1982. He later formed the duo Icon with Geoff Downes (ex-Yes, ex-Buggles), and since the 1990s had a successful solo career releasing a large number of studio and live albums. He had a long career as an in-demand session bass player, and collaborated with many members of progressive rock bands such as Yes (including Steve Howe, Bill Bruford, Geoff Downes, Alan White, Billy Sherwood and Peter Banks), Roxy Music and Bryan Ferry, and Genesis (Steve Hackett). Wetton grew up in Bournemouth and was in a number of early bands with Richard Palmer-James, on bass and vocals, including, The Corvettes, The Palmer-James Group (formed with Alec James), Tetrad, and Ginger Man.[2] A key early band was Mogul Thrash; after live work with Renaissance, he joined Family and also did various sessions. Wetton's first big break came when he joined Wimborne, Dorset, musician Robert Fripp in his new line-up
