Read the complete write-up of Alan Whte net worth, death, age, wife, children, height, family, parents, cause of death, Yes drummer, band as well as other information you need to know.
Introduction
Alan White was an English drummer and songwriter, best known for his tenure in the progressive rock band Yes. He joined Yes in 1972 as a replacement for original drummer, Bill Bruford. Following the death of bassist Chris Squire in 2015, White became the longest-remaining member in the band. In 1969 White had joined John Lennon & Yoko Ono’s Plastic Ono Band, after Lennon invited him to play at the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival festival, followed by a show at the Lyceum Ballroom.
White notably played drums on the singles “Instant Karma!” and “Imagine”, as well as on eight tracks on Lennon’s Imagine album. In addition to his work with Yes and John Lennon, White performed on over 50 albums by other performers, notably George Harrison, Ginger Baker’s Air Force, Terry Reid, Joe Cocker and The Ventures. White was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as a member of Yes, in 2017.
Early life
| Name | Alan White |
| Net Worth | $10 million |
| Occupation | Drummer, Songwriter |
| Height | 1.75m |
| Age | 72 years |
| Cause of death | Died at home (pending further investigations) |
Alan White was born on June 14, 1949, until his death on 26 May 2022 at 72 years. He was born and raised in the village of Pelton, County Durham, United Kingdom. His father had different jobs, working as a clerk, shopkeeper, and a lorry and bus driver who also played the piano in local pubs. His grandfather played the piano and his uncle was a drummer in local dance bands. He attended a technical school and, at age seven, moved to the nearby town of Ferryhill, where he spent the rest of his childhood.
White began to take piano lessons at age six, playing the instrument “very percussively”, which his uncle noticed and informed his parents who bought him an Ajax drum kit for Christmas when he was twelve. White names his uncle as a big influence. White felt he was pushed to learn and play like his drum instructor and wished “to be more individual” on the instrument, so he began to develop his own style. His parents went on to buy him a metallic silver Ludwig kit.
Career
Alan White joined his first band, a local group named the Downbeats, at thirteen after several months into formal drumming lessons. They performed songs by the Beatles, the Searchers, and Gerry and the Pacemakers. The group became well known in the Newcastle area, playing working men’s clubs and dance halls as much as seven nights a week until late. White’s school teachers only found out about his activities when the band were featured in the local newspaper.
White also had a paper round during his time in the band. In 1964, the Downbeats changed their name to the Blue Chips and travelled to London to enter an amateur band contest held at the London Palladium by Melody Maker. They won the contest and were awarded with money, new equipment, and a recording contract and recorded several singles which did not chart. They returned home and disbanded soon after.
He reduced his music commitments in order to pass his school exams, after which he became interested in studying technical drawing at college with the plan to become an architect. However, at seventeen, White chose to pursue music and toured the cabaret circuit as part of Billy Fury’s band the Gamblers, which included several gigs in Germany. White went on to play in Happy Magazine, later known as Griffin, with Alan Marshall and Kenny Craddock, and put out several records with Alan Price as their producer.
Alan White continued to tour and play with Price in his group, the Alan Price Set and took up several jobs as a session musician. In 1969, White received a call from John Lennon who invited him to join his Plastic Ono Band for their live performance at the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival festival. Lennon had attended a Griffin performance in a club and wanted White to join the band of Yoko Ono, Eric Clapton, and Klaus Voormann.
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White disbelieved Lennon’s call and offer and thought he was a prankster, but accepted the invitation for the show which took place on 13 September 1969 at Varsity Stadium in front of 20,000 people. The set was later released as a live album, Live Peace in Toronto 1969. The gig landed White further session jobs, including drum work on Imagine and “Instant Karma!” for Lennon and All Things Must Pass by George Harrison, as well as the openings track, the epic Govinda, for The Radha Krsna Temple (produced by George Harrison).
Around the same time, White worked with Denny Laine in his band Balls for several months, which was followed by a ten-week stint with the fifteen-piece band, Ginger Baker’s Air Force and a period with Steve Winwood[ and Terry Reid.
Yes Drummer and band
To save time commuting to London from the house he shared with his Griffin bandmates in Sussex, White shared a flat with engineer and producer Eddy Offord who worked with Yes on their albums and tours. In early 1972, White attended their session at Advision Studios to record a promotional film for their cover of “America” by Simon & Garfunkel.
Alan White turned up to one of their rehearsals of “Siberian Khatru”, a song for their fifth album, Close to the Edge. Their drummer Bill Bruford had to leave the session early, leaving White to sit in with the band for the rest of it. White then joined Chris Stainton’s All Stars for a European tour in support of Joe Cocker, which included a show at the Rainbow Theatre in London that Yes bassist Chris Squire attended.
On 19 July 1972, after Yes Band had finished recording Close to the Edge, Bruford left to join King Crimson. With their supporting tour less than a week away, the band were desperate for a replacement. White then got a call from Tony Dimitriades, who handled Offord’s affairs and later became Yes’s manager, informing White that the band wanted him to join. Anderson and Squire then met White at Offord’s flat, and White agreed to join.
He spent the following three days learning the band’s repertoire before the Close to the Edge Tour began in Dallas, Texas on 30 July 1972. In the same week, White was offered to join Jethro Tull and America. White’s performance was documented on their first live album Yessongs, in 1973; this was followed by his first studio album with them later that year, Tales from Topographic Oceans.
Alan White played drums and percussion on over 40 studio and live Yes albums, additionally adding piano parts and collaborating on the songwriting, notably ‘The Remembering (High The Memory)’, all the Relayer album (‘The Gates Of Delirium’, ‘Sound Chaser’, ‘To Be Over’), ‘Turn Of The Century’, ‘Future Times’, ‘Release, Release’, all of the Drama album (‘Machine Messiah’, ‘White Car’, ‘Does It Really Happen?’, ‘Into the Lens’, ‘Run Through the Light’, ‘Tempus Fugit’), ‘Changes’, ‘Our Song’, ‘Hearts’, ‘Big Generator’, ‘I’m Running’, all the Open Your Eyes album (‘New State of Mind’, ‘Open Your Eyes’, ‘Universal Garden’, ‘No Way We Can Lose’, ‘Fortune Seller’, ‘Man in the Moon’, and Wonderlove.
White has also collaborated in the following songs including: ‘From the Balcony’, ‘Love Shine’, ‘Somehow, Someday’, ‘The Solution’, ‘The Source’), all of The Ladder album (‘Homeworld (The Ladder)’, ‘It Will Be a Good Day (The River)’, ‘Lightning Strikes’, ‘Can I?’, ‘Face to Face’, ‘If Only You Knew’, ‘To Be Alive (Hep Yadda)’, ‘Finally’, ‘The Messenger’, ‘New Language’, ‘Nine Voices (Longwalker)’), all of the Magnification album (‘Magnification’, ‘Spirit of Survival’, ‘Don’t Go’, ‘Give Love Each Day’, ‘Can You Imagine’, ‘We Agree’, ‘Soft As a Dove’, ‘Dreamtime’, ‘In the Presence Of’, ‘Time Is Time’), ‘The Gift Of Love’, ‘The Game’, and ‘To Ascend’. He played over 3070 live shows during his tenure with Yes.
In 2018, White toured with Yes celebrating their 50th anniversary, with founder member Tony Kaye a guest on all USA and Japan shows. In 2019, during The Royal Affair tour, Yes acknowledged White’s career pre-Yes by performing “Imagine” as the first encore, with the Moody Blues’ John Lodge shar ing lead vocals towards the end of the tour. The video wall backdrop to “Imagine” featured unseen footage of John Lennon’s Imagine album sessions featuring Lennon, Yoko Ono, George Harrison, Klaus Voorman, White and other contributors to the album and sessions.
In 2020, the COVID pandemic saw the postponement of US dates around Cruise to the Edge, plus a 35 date European tour which was postponed to 2021 and then postponed to 2022 – the 50th anniversary of White joining Yes for the 1972 Close to the Edge Tour.
Solo works
Alan White released his only solo album, Ramshackled, in 1976. White had guested with local Seattle band MerKaBa on a number of occasions and White and MerKaBa also had links with another local band, Treason. In 2003, White joined sessions for a new MerKaBa album, but these evolved into a new band, called White, and an album’s worth of demo recordings under the name Loyal. As well as White, the band consisted of Kevin Currie (from MerKaBa; lead vocals), Karl Haug (from Treason; electric & acoustic guitars, lap steel).
White also worked on Steve Boyce (from MerKaBa; bass, guitar, backing vocals) and Ted Stockwell (from Treason and MerKaBa; keys, guitar). Stockwell left the band and, in April 2005, was replaced by White’s former colleague in Yes, keyboardist Geoff Downes. A new album, White, was recorded, partly based on the Loyal demos. The album was released in 2006, with a cover by Roger Dean.
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The band has played live (with various keyboardists) in the Seattle area. They were due to join the abortive More Drama Tour, scheduled to begin in North America in August 2005, with three acts: White, The Syn, and Steve Howe, with Yes members Chris Squire, Steve Howe and Geoff Downes playing Yes material at the end of the evening (with Currie handling lead vocals). However, the tour was cancelled shortly before it was due to begin. White later joined The Syn touring band for dates in the first half of 2006.
Alan White has been working on projects with Billy Sherwood, notably in the initial line-up of Circa, with a third Yes alumnus, Tony Kaye. In 2010, the band White re-emerged after a hiatus with a new line-up of White, Haug and Boyce joined by two musicians from Yes tribute band Parallels, who have previously worked with White: vocalist Robyn Dawn and keyboardist Jonathan Sindelman.
Wife
Alan White was married to Gigi White, they had their wedding in 1981. He was married to his wife for over 40 years. The couple had two children, Jesse White and Cassi White. Their son Jesse White is a musician. White lived in Newcastle, Washington, near Seattle. Alan was the best man at Jon Anderson’s wedding in 1997. However, on 28 October 2017, to celebrate his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, White played in a halftime performance with the University of Washington Husky Marching Band.
Cause of death
Alan White cause of death was not immediately released pending further investigations. However, White died at his home near Seattle on 26 May 2022, aged 72, following a brief illness. It had been announced three days earlier that he would be absent from the Close to the Edge 50th anniversary tour due to health issues.
White missed a 28-date tour with Yes Band in 2016 due to various health problems, with Jay Schellen substituting for him, after which White returned to the live touring band, accompanied by Schellen in 2017, Dylan Howe (son of guitarist Steve Howe) in mid 2017, and Schellen again from early 2018, contributing to some double drumming not seen onstage since Yes’s Union tours in 1991-2.
Alan White net worth
How much was Alan White worth? Alan White net worth was estimated at around $10 million. His main source of income was from his career as a drummer and songwriter. His salary and other earnings were over $5 million annually. White successful career earned him some luxurious lifestyles and some fancy car trips. He was one of the richest and influential drumers in the United Kingdom.