Recent Years
Wakeman's track "Arthur" has been used as the theme tune to the BBC's Election Night Coverage since 1979, with the exception of 2001 and 2010. Wakeman's album Fields of Green '97 features the track "Election '97/Arthur" which was used by the BBC for their coverage of the 1997 General Election. The music was revamped for the BBC's 2005 general election night coverage.
His TV career was launched in 1982 when he hosted Gastank on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom. The show featured a mix of interviews with 1970s musicians and impromptu performances where the guest artist would join Wakeman and his house band in playing re-arranged versions of their classic songs or entirely new pieces created for the show. Wakeman hosted the ITV comedy show Live at Jongleurs for 8 years.
Wakeman is a contributor to the BBC Two show Grumpy Old Men. He has also appeared in a number of episodes of Countdown. He has also appeared on the satirical panel shows Never Mind the Buzzcocks (4 appearances) and Have I Got News For You. Between September 2005 and December 2010, Wakeman presented Rick's Place, a weekly radio show on Planet Rock with David 'Kid' Jensen. Wakeman appeared as himself in "Journey to the Centre of Rick Wakeman", the season two finale of Mitch Benn's Crimes Against Music, a BBC Radio 4 comedy programme. The episode detailed a fictional war between England and Wales in 2009 which only Wakeman could stop. Wakeman provided piano for Benn's 2008 single "Sing Like an Angel", which was released on iTunes. In December 2006, Wakeman was the guest host for an episode of The Personality Test on Radio 4. He also appeared on Top Gear and set a race track lap time of 1'55.26. Wakeman made his debut appearance on Just a Minute on Radio 4 on 7 February 2011.
In October 2007, Wakeman commenced a new tour 'Rick Wakeman's Grumpy Old Picture Show', where he accompanies video performers such as Gordon Giltrap and the English Rock Ensemble (Ashley Holt, Lee Pomeroy, Dave Colquhoun and Tony Fernandez). A Freemason, he is a member of Chelsea Lodge No. 3098, the membership of which is made up of entertainers. In 2009, Wakeman became a Patron of Tech Music Schools.
In 2011, Wakeman, alongside Fiaba's drummer Bruno Rubino, has been recording and arranging the debut full-length studio album of the Italian singer Valentina Blanca.
In January 2012, Wakeman appeared as part of a group backing Jasper Carrott on BBC 1's The One Jasper Carrott.
Read more about this topic: Rick Wakeman
Famous quotes containing the word years:
“So here I am, in the middle way, having had twenty years—
Twenty years largely wasted, the years of l’entre deux guerres—
Trying to learn to use words, and every attempt
Is a wholly new start, and a different kind of failure....”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)
“I shall die as my fathers died, and sleep as they sleep; even so.
For the glass of the years is brittle wherein we gaze for a span;
A little soul for a little bears up this corpse which is man.
So long I endure, no longer; and laugh not again, neither weep.
For there is no God found stronger than death; and death is a sleep.”
—A.C. (Algernon Charles)