Rest In Peace - Alan White

[The Letter M]

Alan White, our beloved husband, dad, and grandpa, passed away at the age of 72 at his Seattle-area home on May 26, 2022, after a brief illness.

Throughout his life and six-decade career, Alan was many things to many people: a certified rock star to fans around the world; band mate to a select few, and gentleman and friend to all who met him.

Alan was born in Pelton, County Durham, England on June 14, 1949. He began piano lessons at the age of six, began playing the drums at age twelve, and has been performing publicly since the age of thirteen.

Throughout the 1960s, Alan honed his craft with a variety of bands, including The Downbeats, The Gamblers, Billy Fury, Alan Price Big Band, Bell and Arc, Terry Reid, Happy Magazine (later called Griffin), and Balls with Trevor Burton (The Move) and Denny Laine (Wings).
In 1968, Alan joined Ginger Baker’s Airforce, a new group that was put together by the former drummer of Cream and other noted musicians from England’s music scene including Steve Winwood, formerly of Traffic.

In 1969, Alan received what he thought at the time to be a prank phone call, but it was John Lennon calling to ask Alan to join the Plastic Ono Band.  The next day Alan found himself learning songs in the back of an airliner headed to Toronto with Lennon, Yoko Ono, Eric Clapton, and Klaus Voormann.  The ensuing album, Live Peace in Toronto, sold millions of copies, peaking at number 10 on the charts.

Alan’s association with Lennon continued, recording singles like ‘Instant Karma’ and the subsequent landmark album, Imagine, with Alan providing drums for the title song, ‘Jealous Guy’, and ‘How Do You Sleep at Night’. Alan’s work with Lennon led to an introduction to George Harrison, who asked Alan to perform on the album All Things Must Pass, including the single, ‘My Sweet Lord’, released in 1970. Alan subsequently worked with many artists for the Apple label, including Billy Preston, Rosetta Hightower, and Doris Troy.

Alan joined YES on July 27, 1972, and with only three days to learn the music, YES opened their US tour before 15,000 fans in Dallas, Texas on July 30, 1972.  Alan has been with YES ever since, and with the passing of founding member, Chris Squire, in June 2015, Alan is the longest continuously serving band member.

Alan is preceded in death by his parents, Raymond and May White (née Thrower), his sister-in-law, Mindi Hall, and many loyal furry companions. He is survived by his wife of forty years (May 15, 1982) Rogena “Gigi” (née Walberg), his children, Jesse (Emily), their two children JJ and Ellie, and Cassi (Kela), and sister-in-law Andrea Holmqvist (Robert).

Gigi, Jesse, and Cassi
Seattle, WA

No words...

-Marc.

[lonestar]

 :'(


Damn...

[King Postwhore]

Just posted this on Facebook. My brother's 1st concert I took him too was the Big Generator tour.  R.I.P.

[Cool Chris]

I don't think she's talked to her in a decade but my wife used to play soccer with Cassi. She was very pleasant the few times I talked with her.

[Architeuthis]

I got to meet Alan White in Seattle a couple of times. Very nice guy and gave me the time of day. 
One of my favorite drum performances ever was at the Gorge amphitheater on the TALK tour 7-10-1994.  Mind blowing show!
So sad to hear this.. 

[romdrums]

Not unexpected given his recent health issues, but still sad.  Got to see him at a drum clinic back in the late 80s, and it was a really cool experience.  Unfortunately, never got to see Yes live.  Somewhat of an underrated drummer (and musician) given that he not only played with Yes, but on two of the most iconic solo albums of all time in Imagine and All Things Must Pass.  His drumming on Relayer is ferocious!

[emtee]

Man, what sad news. The hours I've spent listening to his music....

RIP Mr. White. You will be missed.

[Stadler]

Not unexpected given his recent health issues, but still sad.  Got to see him at a drum clinic back in the late 80s, and it was a really cool experience.  Unfortunately, never got to see Yes live.  Somewhat of an underrated drummer (and musician) given that he not only played with Yes, but on two of the most iconic solo albums of all time in Imagine and All Things Must Pass.  His drumming on Relayer is ferocious!

As good as Bruford was/is, Alan White elevated that band.  I've often said that the various prog bands are amalgams; Genesis is prog/pop, Crimson is prog/jazz, etc. etc. and Yes was the most "rock and roll" of the prog bands, and Alan White was a huge part of that.  "Ferocious" is the right word (and not just for Relayer).  Heart Of The Sunrise is one of my favorite Yes songs, and as good as the studio version is (with Bruford), White just makes that song MOVE in a way that (I think) it was always intended to.

Even non-prog fans, when they hear "Ba-ba-dum-dum-da!" know it's "Owner Of A Lonely Heart".

[HOF]

Sad news indeed.

[Mladen]

I love his work in Yes. Once I digest the news, Relayer is getting a spin. Sad news indeed...

[romdrums]

Not unexpected given his recent health issues, but still sad.  Got to see him at a drum clinic back in the late 80s, and it was a really cool experience.  Unfortunately, never got to see Yes live.  Somewhat of an underrated drummer (and musician) given that he not only played with Yes, but on two of the most iconic solo albums of all time in Imagine and All Things Must Pass.  His drumming on Relayer is ferocious!

As good as Bruford was/is, Alan White elevated that band.  I've often said that the various prog bands are amalgams; Genesis is prog/pop, Crimson is prog/jazz, etc. etc. and Yes was the most "rock and roll" of the prog bands, and Alan White was a huge part of that.  "Ferocious" is the right word (and not just for Relayer).  Heart Of The Sunrise is one of my favorite Yes songs, and as good as the studio version is (with Bruford), White just makes that song MOVE in a way that (I think) it was always intended to.

Even non-prog fans, when they hear "Ba-ba-dum-dum-da!" know it's "Owner Of A Lonely Heart".

His playing I think gave Yes some weight and heft.  I love Bruford's more nimble approach on the records he played on, but Alan's playing is definitely more rock than Bruford, and that helped drive things like Gates of Delirium and Awaken.  Also, Alan White was absolutely perfect for the Rabin era material.  Rabin, Squire and White could get really heavy when they wanted to. 

[Polarbear]

The passing of an icon.

R.I.P

[pg1067]

I saw this after first reading about Ray Liotta.  I thought it was another announcement about him not participating in the tour, but then I read more carefully.

Very sad news.

[KevShmev]

Sad news for sure.

R.I.P.

[Fritzinger]

Very sad news. I have already been concerned about Alan's shape over the last few years. 72 is not such a high number.

I will spin one of my all time favorite albums today, the gigantic Relayer. Rest In Peace, Alan, rock out with Chris when you can, wherever you are.

[SoundscapeMN]

RIP. I've had Ritual in my head over the last 12 hours thinking about Alan.

Also in the Music In Progress/Live in Tokyo, there's a clip of Portnoy and him. Portnoy talking about his admiration and appreciation for Alan's drumming. To go along with, when Dream Theater opened for Yes in 2004, I recall Alan would join Portnoy on stage for Machine Messiah at the end of Dream Theater's set.

As sad and hard to deal with his passing is, the story I shared a little while ago in the Yes Thread, looking at him, this does not come as such a surprise.

https://www.q13fox.com/news/thieves-steal-piece-of-rock-and-roll-history-from-local-hall-of-fame-drummer

WTF. Although I'm not sure if the stuff they stole is as concerning as Alan's health. 

edit:
also this story
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25sfcQ45GdA

[LithoJazzoSphere]

Saw the Yes reunion tour in the early 00s with him.  He will certainly be missed.