Yes Bassist Squire Battles Leukemia; Will Miss First Tour Ever

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Within the shifting membership of the band Yes over more than four-and-a-half decades, only one person has remained throughout: Chris Squire. But now a diagnosis of acute erythroid leukemia – a rare form of leukemia – will cause him to miss the group’s upcoming co-headlining tour with Toto that begins on August 7, 2015, as well as the now-annual Yes “Cruise to the Edge” that sets sail November – as he undergoes treatment in Phoenix, AZ, where he lives. His bass playing duties will be covered by Billy Sherwood, who toured with the band on guitar and keyboards in 1994 and was a member of Yes from ’97 to 2000, and also worked with Squire in the side project Conspiracy.

“This will be the first time since the band formed in 1968 that Yes will have performed live without me,” Squire says. “But the other guys and myself have agreed that Billy Sherwood will do an excellent job of covering my parts and the show as a whole will deliver the same Yes experience that our fans have come to expect over the years.”