Peter Banks (July 15, 1947 - March 8, 2013)

It has been confirmed that Peter Banks – best known as a founding member of the groundbreaking progressive rock outfit Yes – passed away at his home in London on March 7, 2013. He was 65.

Although he would go on to leave Yes after only their first two albums, Banks went on to have a successful career with his follow up project Flash, releasing three well-received albums in the process – Flash, In the Can and Out Of Our Hands.

As a musician, Banks was well known for his adeptness for improvisation, being described by music critics as a cross between Pete Townshend and Wes Montgomery. It is even said that Townshend himself, after witnessing a Yes performance, walked up to Banks, slapped him on the back and said, “you’re great!”

During his extensive career, he released five solo records and had been recently active with acts such as the Prog Collective, Harmony and Diversity,  Days Between Stations and ANT-BEE.

Banks first solo record – Two Sides Of Peter Banks – is considered by many as one of the great prog records of all time and features a premium line-up of musicians such as John Wetton, Jan Akkerman and Phil Collins.

Peter was putting on the final touches of the long awaited live recording FLASH - IN PUBLIC CD set for release on Cleopatra Records at the time of his death.

Although he will be missed immensely by fans and fellow rockers alike, Peter Banks will forever be remembered as one of the early pioneers of progressive rock guitar.