BIOGRAPHY – Steve Howe

Steve Howe is best known as the guitarist in Progressive rock band Yes. He has also produced solo work and is a founder member of the band Asia.
 
Steve Howe was born in North London in 1947 and first started playing guitar aged 12. He joined his first band, The Syndicats in 1963 and the band released a cover version of Chuck Berry’s Maybelline in 1964, produced by Joe Meek.
 
Steve Howe left The Syndicats and joined Tomorrow – a psychedelic rock band, much fancied by John Peel but not particularly successful. Then he joined Bodcast who failed to get a record deal. Steve Howe was approached by both Jethro Tull and The Nice to join their bands, but he declined. However when the call came from Yes in 1970 to replace their original guitarist Peter Banks, he agreed.
 
Steve Howe played with Yes throughout the 1970s, a period of arguably their best work. Steve Howe’s acoustic and electric guitar work and experimentation with styles and use of the pedal steel guitar, helped create the distinctive Yes sound.
 
Although the line-up of the band changed throughout the 1970s, the departure of singer Jon Anderson and keyboard legend Rick Wakeman was hard for Steve Howe, as he felt that this version of Yes had worked well together. He stayed with Yes until they split up in 1981. When Yes reformed in 1983 Steve Howe did not rejoin.
 
Steve Howe was invited back to work on some projects with Yes in 1988, but failure to include him on the next album led him to leave. However, Steve Howe rejoined Yes in 1995, recording five albums with the band.
 
Steve Howe also formed the band Asia in 1981. Labelled a super group comprising of ex King Crimson players, Steve Howe left the band after releasing two albums and some successful singles due to personal difficulties. However reforming in 2006, Asia continue to perform, and an album “Omega “was released in 2010.
 
Throughout his musical career Steve Howe has also recorded 23 solo albums between 1975 and the most recent Homebrew 4 released in 2010. Releasing a solo album every year, his work has been varied and encompasses many different styles including jazz and acoustic.