Jon and Vangelis

In 1974, Vangelis was considered as a replacement for Rick Wakeman as keyboardist in Yes, and although the job went to Patrick Moraz, it led to several collaborations with Anderson, who contributed vocals to Vangelis' Heaven and Hell (1975) on the song "So Long Ago, So Clear", harp to Opera Sauvage (1979) on "Flamants Roses" and finally vocals to See You Later (1980) on "Suffocation" and "See You Later".

They recorded their first album together, Short Stories in 1979, producing the major hit "I Hear You Now" as well as "One More Time". Anderson wrote the lyrics and Vangelis composed the music. In 1980, Jon left Yes and while he published his third solo album Song of Seven in 1980, Vangelis did the same with See You Later on which Jon sang two songs. The two reunited to record their second album as a duo Friends of Mr Cairo in 1981, producing the hit songs "Friends of Mr Cairo", "State of Independence" ,"Back to School" and the UK top 10 hit "I'll Find My Way Home". In 1983, Jon Anderson got back with Yes and they published their album 90125, and so did Jon & Vangelis with their own album Private Collection the same year.

In 1986, the duo made a few attempts at writing a new album, but much of this work was never officially released under the Jon and Vangelis name. Twelve tracks were compiled on 1991's Page of Life, while other songs from these sessions appeared in later works, including "Let's Pretend", the last song on the 1989 album Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe. Anderson ultimately took it upon himself to re-work Page of Life, which was released in 1998 in the United States only with nine tracks. In 2011, Anderson approached Vangelis for a possible new collaboration but he did not receive a reply.[2]

• Jon & Vangelis discography