Asia are an English rock supergroup formed in London in 1981. The most commercially successful line-up was its original, which consisted of four members of different progressive rock bands that had enjoyed great success in the 1970s: lead vocalist and bassist John Wetton of King Crimson and U.K., guitarist Steve Howe of Yes, keyboardist Geoff Downes of Yes and the Buggles, and drummer Carl Palmer of Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Their debut album, Asia, released in 1982, remains their best selling album and went to number one in several countries. The lead single from the album, "Heat of the Moment", remains their top charting and best-known song, reaching the top 40 in over a dozen markets and peaking in the U.S. at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart.
Larks' Tongues in Aspic is the fifth studio album by the English progressive rock group King Crimson, released on 23 March 1973 through Island Records in the UK and Atlantic Records in the United States and Canada. This album is the debut of King Crimson's third incarnation, featuring co-founder and guitarist Robert Fripp along with four new members: bass guitarist and vocalist John Wetton, violinist and keyboardist David Cross, percussionist Jamie Muir, and drummer Bill Bruford. It is a key album in the band's evolution, drawing on Eastern European classical music and European free improvisation as central influences.
U.K. were a British progressive rock supergroup originally active from 1977 to 1980. The band was founded by bass guitarist John Wetton and drummer Bill Bruford, formerly the rhythm section of King Crimson. The band was rounded out by violinist/keyboardist Eddie Jobson, and guitarist Allan Holdsworth. Bruford and Holdsworth left in 1978, and Bruford was replaced by drummer Terry Bozzio. Jobson, Wetton and Bozzio reformed U.K. for a world tour in 2012.
John Kenneth Wetton was an English musician, singer, and songwriter. Known for his dexterous bass playing and booming baritone voice, Wetton first gained fame in the early 1970s. He performed with many members of the progressive rock scene, including King Crimson, U.K., Family, Roxy Music, Uriah Heep and Wishbone Ash.
William Wyman Sherwood is an American multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, singer, record producer and mixing engineer. He is best known for his tenures in the English progressive rock band Yes as guitarist and keyboardist from 1997 to 2000 and as bassist since 2015, following the death of original bassist Chris Squire. He is known for working with former and current Yes members on other projects as well.
John Payne is an English musician, best known as the lead singer and bassist of Asia from 1991 to 2006, then from June 2007, with Asia featuring John Payne. He also is now in Dukes of the Orient but continues to tour with The Rock Pack and also Asia Featuring John Payne.
Silent Nation is the ninth studio album by British rock band Asia, released in 2004. It was the last album with longtime vocalist and bassist John Payne, prior to the reunion of the original line-up in 2006.
Erik Norlander is an American musician known for his work in the progressive rock genre. From 2007 to 2014, he was the touring and recording keyboardist for Asia Featuring John Payne. He is also the managing director of the sound production company Sonic Reality.
Guthrie Govan is an English guitarist and guitar teacher, known for his work with the bands the Aristocrats, Asia, GPS, the Young Punx and the Fellowship, as well as his solo project Erotic Cakes. More recently, he has collaborated with Steven Wilson and Hans Zimmer. He is a noted guitar teacher, working with the UK magazine Guitar Techniques, Guildford's Academy of Contemporary Music, Lick Library, and formerly the Brighton Institute of Modern Music. Govan was named "Guitarist of the Year" by Guitarist magazine in 1993.
Jay Schellen is an American drummer who is best known as a member of the hard rock band Hurricane. Schellen has also worked and currently working with a number of other heavy rock and progressive rock bands, including with Asia, World Trade, Circa, Unruly Child, and Yes.
Back Against the Wall is an album released in 2005 by Billy Sherwood in collaboration with a number of (mostly) progressive rock artists as a tribute to Pink Floyd's album The Wall. A year later, Sherwood followed it with the release of Return to the Dark Side of the Moon, a tribute to Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon.
Qango were a short-lived progressive rock band, a spin-off from Asia. In 1999, an attempt was made at a partial reunion of the progressive rock supergroup Asia involving John Wetton, Carl Palmer (drums) and Geoff Downes (keys), with Dave Kilminster to be on guitar. However, Downes withdrew from plans, choosing to stick with John Payne in their Asia line-up. Wetton and Palmer instead formed Qango with Kilminster and John Young on keys. The band's live set was based on songs by Asia and Palmer's former band Emerson, Lake & Palmer.
Aura is the eighth studio album by British progressive rock band Asia. As a result of the diverse array of guest musicians, Aura had a wide mix of sounds with some songs trying to replicate Asia's earlier style, while others retained the more acoustic Latin production started by Arena five years prior.
GPS were a progressive rock group formed in 2006 by John Payne, Guthrie Govan (guitars) and Jay Schellen. These three had been working together in Asia, specifically on an album to have been called Architect of Time, when the fourth member of Asia, Geoff Downes, joined a reunion of the band's classic line-up, dissolving the then current line-up. Payne, Govan and Schellen announced the formation of a new band in February 2006 to be called One. However, after discovering another rock act with the same name, the band changed its name to GPS, from the initials of the three founders.
Frontiers Records is an Italian record label, predominantly producing hard rock. It was founded in 1996 by Serafino Perugino and is based in Naples.
Circa is a progressive rock supergroup founded by four musicians associated with Yes: former Yes members Alan White (drums), and Tony Kaye, current Yes member Billy Sherwood, and guitarist Jimmy Haun, who played on the Yes album Union.
Return to the Dark Side of the Moon is a tribute album organised by Billy Sherwood, and released in 2006 on Purple Pyramid. It is a re-creation of Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon, and a sequel to Sherwood's Back Against the Wall, itself a re-creation of Pink Floyd's The Wall. Return to the Dark Side of the Moon, in addition includes an original piece composed by Sherwood in the style of the original album.
Asia featuring John Payne is a British–American rock group band formed in 2007 following a schism in the lineup of Asia. The band is a continuation of singer and bassist John Payne's career as the band's frontman, which lasted from 1991 until 2006, when Asia's original 1982 lineup reunited. In December 2017, Payne and keyboardist Erik Norlander formed a new group, Dukes of the Orient, with various members and ex-members of Asia featuring John Payne as collaborators. Asia featuring John Payne remains active as a touring stage show.
Gary Wehrkamp is an American musician, songwriter and producer. He is most notably a member of the American progressive rock band Shadow Gallery.
Jeffrey "Jeff" Kollman is an American guitar player from Toledo, Ohio, best known for his work with Chad Smith's Bombastic Meatbats, Glenn Hughes, UFO offshoot Mogg/Way, progressive rock trio, Cosmosquad, and his 90s progressive metal band, Edwin Dare.
