Steve Howe said there was a “hellish side” to Yes‘ induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2017, but he refused to go into much detail.
In a new interview with Classic Rock, the guitarist also explained why he didn’t think it was likely that any previous members of the band, notably singer Jon Anderson, would return in the future.
“The further I go from it, the more speechless I get about those couple of days,” Howe said of the induction event, which included several former bandmates, including Anderson. “There’s much I could tell you, but I’m not going to. Basically, there was a hellish side to it. It was like skating on ice, but you’ve never skated before. I don’t want to decry it, but there were problems.”
He added that “there was a bit of pushing and shoving going on. It was very unusual – the Union lineup had been selected, and it was fortunate that [original keyboard player] Tony Kaye was on that tour. Some people got their due respect and others didn’t.”
Howe noted that the Union-era experience was one reason why he felt the band’s current lineup couldn’t be augmented with any past bandmates. “It was very, very difficult and out of control,” he said of Yes’ early ‘90s era, which included eight past members from across the band’s career. “Sometimes I might have thought, ‘Well, one day maybe,’ and one never wants to say never, but basically I can’t see it.
“I love Jon,” he said. “I’m a lot older now, and so is he, [but] the only terms I work on is that I’m happy working on this. I’m not going to take a sudden load on my back that I either don’t need or want. My music’s always guided me, and it’s not telling me to do those things. It’s telling me to go forwards. … It’s great to have this live and vibrant Yes.”
Yes released its latest album, Mirror to the Sky, in May.
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