Editing Jon Anderson (section)

===1968–1980: Forming Yes and start of solo career===
In May 1968, Barrie introduced Anderson to [[Chris Squire]], bassist of the London-based rock band [[Mabel Greer's Toyshop]], which had previously included guitarist [[Peter Banks]].{{sfn|Hedges|1982|p=20}} The two talked, and found they shared common musical interests such as [[Simon & Garfunkel]] and the idea of [[vocal harmonies]]. In the following days, they developed "Sweetness", a song later recorded on the first Yes album.{{sfn|Welch|2008|p=24}} Anderson found himself on lead vocals for some Mabel Greer gigs afterwards, and talks of the formation of a new, full-time band developed. In June 1968, Anderson and Squire hired [[Bill Bruford]] to replace founding drummer Robert Hagger, and Anderson secured £500 from John Roberts, owner of a paper manufacturer,{{sfn|Welch|2008|pp=40–41}} to rent space in The Lucky Horseshoe cafe in Soho so a new, full-time band could rehearse. At their conclusion a month later, a line-up of Anderson, Squire, Bruford, Banks, who replaced a departing Clive Bayley, and keyboardist [[Tony Kaye (musician)|Tony Kaye]], who Anderson met in [[Leicester]] four years prior, was formed.{{sfn|Morse|1996|p=8}} They then renamed themselves Yes, originally Banks' idea. Anderson's first gig with Yes followed on 3 August 1968 at a youth camp in [[East Mersea]] in [[Essex]].{{sfn|Welch|2008|p=45}}

[[Image:Jon Anderson, 1973.jpg|thumb|upright|Anderson performing with Yes in 1973|left]]
Although the band had no formal leader, Anderson served as its main motivating force in their early days, doing most of the hustling for gigs and originating most of their songs. He played a key role in initiating their more ambitious artistic ideas, serving as the main instigator of some of the band's more popular songs, including "[[Close to the Edge (song)|Close to the Edge]]", "[[The Gates of Delirium]]", and "[[Going for the One#Songs|Awaken]]",<ref name="biography" /> and the concept behind their [[double album|double]] [[concept album]] ''[[Tales from Topographic Oceans]]'' (1973).<ref name="archive1"/>

Despite his initial lack of instrumental skills, Anderson was strongly involved in the selection of successive Yes members chosen for their musicality – guitarist [[Steve Howe (musician)|Steve Howe]] (who replaced Banks in 1970), Kaye's successive replacements [[Rick Wakeman]] and [[Patrick Moraz]], and drummer [[Alan White (Yes drummer)|Alan White]], who replaced Bruford in 1972.<ref name="archive1"/>

Ambitious and nicknamed "Napoleon" by the rest of the band, Anderson was also fond of sonic and psychological creative experiments, and in so doing contributed to occasionally conflicted relationships within the band and with management. An example of this was his original desire to record ''Tales from Topographic Oceans'' in the middle of the woods. When the band voted to record in a studio, he decided to arrange hay and animal cut-outs all over the floor to create atmosphere.<ref name="archive1">{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/JonAndersonOnOutsightRadioHours |title=Jon Anderson on Outsight Radio Hours : Outsight Radio Hours : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive |website=Archive.org |date=10 March 2001 |access-date=16 July 2014}}</ref> Anderson described the album's supporting tour as one of the low points of his career, as a portion of the audience and the band were unhappy with the album.<ref name=loudersep2016/>

In addition to Yes, Anderson appeared as a guest singer on ''[[Lizard (album)|Lizard]]'' by [[King Crimson]] for "Prince Rupert Awakes", the first part of their 23-minute title track recorded in 1970. He was chosen for the part as the desired vocal range was unattainable by the group's then-lead vocalist, [[Gordon Haskell]]. In 1974, Anderson co-wrote "Pearly Gates" with [[Iron Butterfly]] drummer [[Ron Bushy]] on the band's album ''[[Scorching Beauty]]''. This was followed by his first collaboration with Greek musician [[Vangelis]], singing on "So Long Ago, So Clear", the last section of "Heaven and Hell Part I" on his 1975 album ''[[Heaven and Hell (Vangelis album)|Heaven and Hell]]''.

In August 1975, Yes took an extended break for each member to release a studio album. Anderson chose a concept album, ''[[Olias of Sunhillow]]'', about an alien race of four tribes and their journey to a new planet as theirs is under threat from destruction. Olias, one of the three main characters, builds the Moorglade Mover, an aircraft formed of living organisms to transport everyone to their new home.<ref name=melodymaker1976>{{cite web|url=http://zenponies.com/yitp/1976/jun/jun05_76.html|title=Jon Anderson's Fairy Tales|work=[[Melody Maker]]|date=5 June 1976|first=Chris|last=Welch|access-date=4 September 2016|archive-date=23 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190423164228/http://zenponies.com/yitp/1976/jun/jun05_76.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Anderson gained inspiration from science fiction and fantasy novels, works by [[J. R. R. Tolkien]], ''The Initiation of the World'' by [[Vera Stanley Alder]], and the art work from Yes's ''Fragile''.<ref name=circus1976>{{cite magazine|url=http://zenponies.com/yitp/1976/oct/oct26_76.html|title=The Sunhillow Saga|magazine=Circus|date=26 October 1976|first=Peter|last=Crescenti|access-date=4 September 2016|archive-date=23 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190423164307/http://zenponies.com/yitp/1976/oct/oct26_76.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> He recorded the music from his garage in six months, learning to play all instruments himself, including several types of drum, stringed, and percussion instruments associated with [[world music|world]] or [[ethnic music]],<ref name=circus1976/> which took up as many as 120 track recordings in its original form.<ref name=clevelandsound>{{cite web|url=http://www.theclevelandsound.com/?p=8761|title=Yes Singer Jon Anderson is Survivor|publisher=The Cleveland Sound|date=30 August 2011|access-date=4 September 2016|archive-date=1 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160901225209/http://www.theclevelandsound.com/?p=8761|url-status=dead}}</ref> Anderson found the experience a valuable one in learning about music. [[Atlantic Records]] released the album in July 1976, and it reached number 8 in the UK and number 47 in the US.
[[Image:Jon Anderson 1977.jpg|thumb|upright|Anderson singing at a Yes concert in 1977]]
Between 1976 and 1979, Anderson recorded ''[[Going for the One]]'' and ''[[Tormato]]'' with Yes and completed their supporting tours. In February 1979, he reconvened with Vangelis to start recording as [[Jon and Vangelis]]. Their first album, ''[[Short Stories (Jon and Vangelis album)|Short Stories]]'', was recorded in a matter of weeks with minimal preconceived ideas which Anderson found to be a refreshing experience.<ref name=melodymaker1980/> Released in January 1980, ''Short Stories'' went to number 4 in the UK. In 1979, Anderson played the harp on "Flamants Roses" on Vangelis's album ''[[Opéra sauvage]]''{{sfn|Griffin|1997|p=44}} and wrote music for Ursprung, an act for a three-part modern ballet named Underground Rumours performed by the [[Scottish Ballet]] company, that also featured music by [[Ian Anderson]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tullpress.com/mm17feb79.htm|title=Shake a leg, jock|work=[[Melody Maker]]|date=17 February 1979|first=Chris|last=Welch|access-date=4 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120311121223/http://www.tullpress.com/mm17feb79.htm|archive-date=11 March 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> The choreographer was [[Royston Maldoom]] and the lighting designer was [[David Hersey]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GstAAAAAIBAJ&pg=4614%2C4558547|title=A force to be remembered|newspaper=The Glasgow Herald|date=22 August 1979|first=Ray|last=Gardner|page=6|access-date=4 September 2016}}</ref>

In October 1979, Anderson travelled to [[Paris]] to record a new Yes album with producer [[Roy Thomas Baker]]. Progress staggered early into the sessions following disputes over the band's musical direction. Material prepared by Anderson and Wakeman was not met with enthusiasm by their bandmates, who started to put down tracks without them. These appeared on the Yes album ''[[Drama (Yes album)|Drama]]''. "Very quickly", recalled Anderson, "the mood changed from enthusiasm to frustration and then complete confusion". Matters failed to improve when they reconvened in February 1980, and Anderson and Wakeman left in the following month.<ref name=melodymaker1980/> They were replaced by [[Trevor Horn]] and [[Geoffrey Downes]] of [[the Buggles]].