Adam Wakeman
Adam Wakeman | |
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![]() Adam Wakeman on Ozzy Osbourne's Black Rain world tour 2008 | |
Background information | |
Born |
Windsor, Berkshire, England | 11 March 1974
Genres | Rock, pop, Heavy metal |
Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter |
Instruments | Keyboard, guitar |
Associated acts | Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath, Headspace, Strawbs, Snakecharmer |
Adam Wakeman (born 11 March 1974) is an English musician and the current keyboardist and rhythm guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne's band; he also plays keyboards and guitar off-stage for Black Sabbath.[1] Other musicians Wakeman has been involved with include Annie Lennox, Travis, Company of Snakes, Will Young, Victoria Beckham, Strawbs and Atomic Kitten.
The second son of long term Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman (who also played keyboards for Black Sabbath on their 1973 release Sabbath Bloody Sabbath) and the younger brother of Oliver Wakeman, another former Yes member. Adam often collaborated with his father, releasing albums with him. In 2006 he created his own band, Headspace.
Biography
Adam Wakeman, the son of long term Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman, was born into a musical family and started playing classical piano at the age of 8. By the age of seventeen he had obtained grade 8 from the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music and had recorded the first album with father Rick Wakeman.[2] Father and son toured extensively, the two of them sitting at grand pianos to full scale rock performances with orchestra and choir. At the age of 24 Adam won the Keyboard Magazine Best New Talent award and promptly started a session career of his own in London.[2]
In the mid-1990s, Wakeman formed Jeronimo Road with Fraser Thorneycroft-Smith. An album, Live at the Orange, was released after the band broke up on the Explore Multimedia label.
In 2000 and 2001 he toured with his father's old band the Strawbs.
Adam released 4 solo albums, "Soliloquy", "100 Years Overtime", "Real World Trilogy" and "Neurasthenia".
In 2006, he put together the progressive rock band Headspace, with vocalist Damian Wilson, guitarist Pete Rinaldi, bass player Lee Pomeroy and drummer Richard Brook. Their EP entitled I am... was released in 2007 to coincide with support shows at Wembley Arena, Birmingham's NIA and Dublin's The Point with Ozzy Osbourne. They released their debut concept album I Am Anonymous worldwide on 22 May 2012 on the Inside Out / Century Media record label to critical acclaim.
He recorded six original albums with his father as Wakeman with Wakeman, and three live albums. He also participated in Wakeman's tours from 1992, and he appeared in the Border TV's 1996 broadcast and VHS presentation of the 'The New Gospels' from the Isle of Mann,[3] the DVD from the Gran Rex, Argentina as well as 2009's Six Wives of Henry VIII at Hampton Court Palace. The 2010 release, Scream, from Ozzy Osbourne featured five songs co-written by Adam Wakeman, although an error in the liner notes means the track "I Want It More" was wrongly credited to only Osbourne and Kevin Churko.[4]
With over 200 pieces of music composed for several production music libraries, Adam started www.theperfectmusiclibrary in 2010 representing and creating music for Film, TV and Media. As director of the company, he has placed music across most major TV networks including the BBC, ITV and Sky.
On 2 July 2011, Adam started his own radio show on TotalRock radio in London along with fellow members of Headspace, where he (once a month, every first Saturday) playing "the best rock, metal and prog over the last 30 years".[2]
Also in 2011, Adam joined with original Whitesnake members Micky Moody and Neil Murray, Laurie Wisefield (Wishbone Ash), Harry James (Thunder, Magnum), and Chris Ousey (Heartland) to form the band Snakecharmer.
In November 2012 Adam rejoined the Strawbs on tour and again in 2015.
Discography
Solo
- Neurasthenia
- Real World Trilogy
- 100 Years Overtime
- Soliloquy
As Rick & Adam Wakeman
- Tapestries
- Vignettes
- Romance of the Victorian Age
As Wakeman with Wakeman
- The Official Bootleg
- No Expense Spared
- Wakeman With Wakeman
As Damian Wilson & Adam Wakeman
- Weir Keeper's Tale (2016)
Collaborations
- Snakecharmer - Snakecharmer
- Scream - Ozzy Osbourne
- I Am Anonymous - Headspace
- Live at the Orange - Jeronimo Road
- The Revealing Songs of Yes - various artists
- Out of the Blue - Rick Wakeman and the E.R.E.
- Light Up The Sky - Rick Wakeman
See also
- Rick Wakeman (father)
- Oliver Wakeman (brother)
References
- ↑ Black Sabbath personnel
- 1 2 3 Metal-Trails.com (9 Oct 2012). "OZZY OSBOURNE's Keyboardist ADAM WAKEMAN To Launch Radio Show". Blabbermouth. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
- ↑ Insert of the VHS
- ↑ Adam Wakeman website