Rick Wakeman

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Rick Wakeman (born May 18, 1949 as Richard Christopher Wakeman) is a progressive rock keyboard player. He is a classically trained pianist and has been highly acclaimed for his virtuosity. In his early years he was a pioneer in the use of electronic keyboards, and his name has become a byword for a keyboard player surrounded by a vast array of equipment.

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He was born in Perivale, Middlesex, England.

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Wakeman came to fame in 1970 playing with The Strawbs, and joined Yes for the first time in 1971. Wakeman has joined and left Yes at least four times in his turbulent long-term relationship with the group. In 2002, he joined the band for a fifth time.

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Wakeman has enjoyed a long, extremely prolific, but only occasionally successful solo career. He has also performed as a guest or session musician for artists as disparate as John Williams, Brotherhood Of Man, Elton John, Lou Reed, David Bowie, Cat Stevens, and Black Sabbath.

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Wakeman became highly skilled at playing the temperamental and notoriously intractable Mellotron - an electronic musical instrument that worked using continuous prerecorded tape loops. He went on to invent the Birotron, developed with David Biro, and designed to overcome the quirks and challenges on the Mellotron. The Birotron was not a commercial or technical success.

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Once known as one of the hardest-partying rock musicians, he has been calmed down somewhat by an early heart attack, marriage (to former model Nina Carter, although they have since divorced), children and renewal of his Christian faith. Children include Adam Wakeman, Oliver Wakeman and Nina Wakeman, who are all musicians too. Despite once being a director of Brentford F.C., he now supports Manchester City F.C. after a disagreement with the board.

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He is a strong supporter of the UK's Conservative Party, and performed a concert in September 2004 for the benefit of the party.

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May 18: May 18 is the 138th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (139th in leap years). There are 227 days remaining....

1949: 1949 is a common year starting on Saturday....

Progressive rock: Progressive rock (shortened to prog, or prog rock when differentiating from other "progressive" genres) is an ambitious, eclectic, and often grandiose style of rock music which arose in the late 1960s, reached the peak of its popularity in the early 1970s, and continues as a musical form to this day...

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