Jon Davison (born January 16, 1971) is an American singer, musician and songwriter who has been the lead vocalist of progressive rock band Yes since 2012.
He was previously the lead singer of progressive rock band Glass Hammer from 2009 to 2014, and the bass guitarist of Sky Cries Mary from 1993 to 2016, in which he was credited under his nickname of "Juano" Davison. In 2020, he and fellow Yes member Billy Sherwood created a new band, Arc of Life, which released its eponymous first studio album the following year and its second album in 2022. Davison also works regularly with John Lodge, who is also his father-in-law.
Career
Early years
Davison's earliest involvement with music began when he sang in the church youth choir led by his mother. From an early age, she instilled in him an appreciation for music and love for singing. Soon after, he took up guitar and bass, which eventually led him during High School to perform in various original and cover bands with his childhood best friend, Taylor Hawkins (who was later the drummer for Foo Fighters).[1] It was Hawkins who gave Jon the nickname "Juano" that has stuck to this day.
Sky Cries Mary
Davison then attended the Art Institute of Seattle to study audio and video production, where he became bassist for Northwest group Sky Cries Mary. Throughout the 1990s, he continued recording and touring with the band. This included traveling to Japan, and appearing on late night talk shows including Late Night with Conan O'Brien and The Daily Show.
In 2001, Davison and his then wife Maewe moved for a year to her home of Brazil. While living there, Davison played bass with Ronald Augusto.
In November 26, 2016, Sky Cries Mary premiered a new line-up without Davison.
Glass Hammer
While still a member of Sky Cries Mary, Davison also joined the now-disbanded Yes tribute band Roundabout. In 2009, Glass Hammer discovered Davison singing Yes music online and asked him to join the band. He went on to record five albums with them, If, Cor Cordium, Perilous, a new version of The Inconsolable Secret and Ode to Echo. He was the lead vocalist on the first three, and sharing that role on Ode to Echo given his engagements with Yes; he subsequently left the band to focus on Yes.
On the 2018 Cruise to the Edge festival, Davison performed live with Glass Hammer as a guest; as Glass Hammer was mainly a studio project when he was a member, it marked the first time he performed with them live.[2]
He guested on one track of Glass Hammer's 2022 album At the Gate.[3]
Yes
Davison performing in 2013
In February 2012, Davison was announced as the new lead singer of Yes, replacing Benoît David, who left the group because of illness.[4] "Strangely enough, Jon's name came up when we started working with Benoit," Yes bassist Chris Squire recalled. "In fact, my friend, Taylor Hawkins, had been telling me for years: 'If you ever need a replacement (singer), I know exactly the guy.'"[5] Davison has described how the band had a tour booked when David dropped out, "so there was sort of this frantic race to resolve this matter [...] because they weren't going to back out of the tour. So in the same moment, perhaps even the same hour, of the same day, Chris is calling Taylor to get my phone number, because he's gonna give me a call, and then the manager is also working on contacting me, so I got contacted by both of them."[6]
Davison has toured with Yes since joining the band, and sang lead on 2014's studio album Heaven & Earth. He wrote or co-wrote seven out of the eight tracks.[7]
In July 2020, Davison said the band were at work writing their next album, stating that it was still in the early stages of compiling demos, but the band has half an album of material ready.[8]The Quest, Yes's second studio album to feature lead vocals by Davison, was released in October 2021. A new album, Mirror to the Sky, was released in May 2023.[9]
Work with John Lodge
In February 2019, during the Cruise to the Edge music cruise, Davison became friends on board with John Lodge of the Moody Blues when Davison began dating John's daughter Emily. Davison has since toured with John as an additional vocalist.[10] He appears on Lodge's live album The Royal Affair And After.[11] Davison has continued to tour with Lodge.
During the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, Davison provided backing vocals on Lodge's single, "In These Crazy Times". Lodge wrote and recorded the song in his home studio, and Jon appears alongside John's son, Kristian, and his wife, Kirsten. Emily managed the project.[12] He also guests on Lodge's Days of Future Passed - My Sojourn (2023).
Davison and drummer Taylor Hawkins were friends from childhood. In 2015, Davison appeared at a Foo Fighters concert, playing with Hawkins, to perform the Rush song "Tom Sawyer" with them.[13] In August 2019, Davison joined the Foo Fighters in concert in Dublin, Ireland to sing the Queen song "Under Pressure" with Taylor Hawkins while Dave Grohl took over on drums.[14]
Davison performed at the Los Angeles tribute show to the late Hawkins in 2022.[16]
In July 2020, Davison described a new side project with fellow Yes member Billy Sherwood and Yes touring drummer Jay Schellen called Arc of Life. Their self-titled debut album was released the following year on February 12, 2021.[8] Featuring vocalist Jon Davison, bassist/vocalist Billy Sherwood, drummer Jay Schellen, keyboardist Dave Kerzner, and guitarist Jimmy Haun, their second album Don't Look Down was released on 18 November 2022.[17]
Davison has worked more broadly with Kerzner, including singing in his In Continuum project.[18]
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