Yes Signs Up Another New Singer - Jon Davison from Glass Hammer

Word buzzing around the Yes camp was that Jon Anderson's replacement Benoit David was ill, the band had to cancel a few shows, and there was going to be a temporary replacement for an upcoming tour of Australia -- another Yes tribute band singer, Jon Davison

But now Chris Squire has broken the news to Noise11 that Benoit is out for good. I am sure Yes' PR people are going apeshit with this:

“Jon Davison is coming in because of Benoit’s departure. I always hope that when there is a member change in the band that it will be a permanent thing. Only time will tell really”, founding member Chris Squire told Noise11.com this morning.

“I don’t know if I’m meant to be telling you this yet, so I guess you’ve got a scoop.”

Like Benoit David, Jon Davison was discovered fronting a Yes covers band. Benoit had joined Yes after the departure of original singer Jon Anderson. He has been suffering from respiratory failure this year and could not continue on for the Australia tour in April. However, his departure is permanent.

“Yes, he has officially left Yes,” Chris says.

Benoit David joined Yes in 2008. He sings lead on the latest yes album ‘Fly From Here’.

“People have left to go off to do various projects and solo projects over the years,” Chris says. “Some like Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman have left and come back. In Rick’s case, four times. It’s always been a fairly flexible in and out door for some members of the band. At the last count, including Jon Davison, he is the 18th member of the band. It has never been personal problems. It’s just things that happen at certain times”.

Ugh - this is really too bad. I mean, I hate to say this but I have been listening to Fly From Here a lot and started to really enjoy Benoit David's vocals! If you forget that it is supposed to be a Yes album, it helps. It's just mostly very good music - heavily influenced by Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes. Now that lineup is ditched. Whatever!

But for the record, Davison sounds pretty damn good in the below video, and his other band Glass Hammer is a true prog outfit. I always thought Benoit David was fairly passionless and didn't seem to be a big Yes fan - until I got into Fly From Here of course. So, who knows, maybe this will be a good pairing overall. I'll be watching YouTube for fan videos from Australia in April.