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Yes (band)

Yes are an English progressive rock band formed in London in 1968 by lead singer Jon Anderson, bassist Chris Squire, guitarist Peter Banks, keyboardist Tony Kaye, and drummer Bill Bruford. The band has undergone numerous lineup changes throughout their history, during which 20 musicians have been full-time members. Since February 2023, the band has consisted of guitarist Steve Howe, keyboardist Geoff Downes, bassist Billy Sherwood, singer Jon Davison, and drummer Jay Schellen. Yes have explored several musical styles over the years and are most notably regarded as progressive rock pioneers.

Yes began performing original songs and rearranged covers of rock, pop, blues and jazz songs, as evidenced on their self-titled debut album (1969), and its follow-up, Time and a Word (1970). A change of direction later in 1970 led to a series of successful progressive rock albums, with four consecutive U.S. platinum or multi-platinum sellers in The Yes Album (1971), Fragile (1971), Close to the Edge (1972) and the live album Yessongs (1973). Further albums, Tales from Topographic Oceans (1973), Relayer (1974), Going for the One (1977) and Tormato (1978), were also commercially successful. Yes toured as a major rock act that earned the band a reputation for their elaborate stage sets, light displays, and album covers designed by Roger Dean. The success of "Roundabout", the single from Fragile, cemented their popularity across the decade and beyond. Jon Anderson and Chris Squire remained with the group throughout the 1970s, with Peter Banks, Tony Kaye, and Bill Bruford all departing across 1970 to 1972, and being replaced by Steve Howe, Rick Wakeman, and Alan White, respectively. Wakeman left the group in 1974, but returned two years later, with Patrick Moraz taking his place in the interim. After a final album, Drama, and tour in 1980, both of which saw Geoff Downes and Trevor Horn replace Wakeman and Anderson, respectively, Yes disbanded in 1981.

In 1983, Squire and White reformed Yes, with Anderson and Kaye returning, and guitarist Trevor Rabin joining. Rabin's songwriting helped move the band toward a more pop-oriented sound, the result of which was 90125 (1983), their highest-selling album, which featured the U.S. number-one single "Owner of a Lonely Heart". Its follow-up, Big Generator (1987), was also successful. In 1989, Anderson and former members Bruford, Wakeman, and Howe released the self-titled Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe album, after which they and the other then-current Yes members–Squire, Kaye, White, and Rabin–unified into an eight-piece line-up of Yes for the 1991 Union album and its subsequent tour. From 1994 to 2001, Yes regularly released studio albums with varied levels of success. After a four-year hiatus, they resumed touring in 2008 and have continued to release new albums; their latest, Mirror to the Sky, was released in 2023. Former members Anderson, Wakeman, and Rabin collaborated as Yes Featuring Jon Anderson, Trevor Rabin, Rick Wakeman from 2016 to 2018. Among the longest serving members of the band, Squire (the last original member) died in 2015, and White died in 2022.

Yes are one of the most successful, influential, and longest-lasting progressive rock bands. They have sold 13.5 million Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)-certified albums in the U.S., as well as more than 30 million albums worldwide. In 1985, they won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance with "Cinema", and received five Grammy nominations between 1985 and 1992. They were ranked No. 94 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock. Their discography spans 23 studio albums. In April 2017, Yes were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which chose to induct current and former members Anderson, Squire, Bruford, Kaye, Howe, Wakeman, White, and Rabin.

1968–1970: Formation, first album and Time and a Word
In late 1967, bassist Chris Squire and guitarist Peter Banks, both formerly of the Syn, joined the psychedelic rock band Mabel Greer's Toyshop, which had formed in 1966 by Clive Bayley and Robert Hagger. They played at the Marquee Club in Soho, London where Jack Barrie, owner of the nearby La Chasse club, saw them perform. "There was nothing outstanding about them", he recalled, "the musicianship was very good but it was obvious they weren't going anywhere". Barrie introduced Squire to singer Jon Anderson, a worker at the bar in La Chasse, who found they shared interests in Simon & Garfunkel and harmony singing. That evening at Squire's house they wrote "Sweetness" which was included on the first Yes album, and Anderson subsequently joined as lead vocalist. In June 1968, Hagger was replaced by Bill Bruford, who had placed an advertisement in Melody Maker, while in July the classically trained organist and pianist Tony Kaye, of Johnny Taylor's Star Combo and the Federals, became the keyboardist. This lineup rehearsed in the basement of The Lucky Horseshoe cafe on Shaftesbury Avenue between 10 June and 9 July 1968. Meanwhile, Banks had left Mabel Greer's Toyshop to join Neat Change, but he was dismissed by this group on 14 July 1968 and was finally recalled by Squire, replacing Bayley as guitarist. The last gig by Mabel Greer's Toyshop was on 27 July, at Newmarket.

Having considered the experience of Mabel Greer's Toyshop concluded, the group exchanged ideas for a new name. Anderson suggested Life and Squire thought of World, but the five agreed on Yes, which Banks had thought of a couple of years before. After rehearsals between 31 July and 2 August, the first gig as Yes followed at a youth camp in East Mersea, Essex on 3 August. Early sets were formed of cover songs from artists such as the Beatles, The 5th Dimension and Traffic. On 16 September, Yes performed at Blaise's club in London as a substitute for Sly and the Family Stone, who had failed to turn up. They were well received by the audience, including the host Roy Flynn, who became the band's manager that night. That month, Bruford decided to quit performing to study at the University of Leeds. His replacement, Tony O'Reilly of the Koobas, struggled to perform with the rest of the group on stage and former Warriors and future King Crimson drummer Ian Wallace subbed for one gig on 5 November 1968. After Bruford was refused a year's sabbatical leave from Leeds, Anderson and Squire convinced him to return for Yes's supporting slot for Cream's farewell concert at the Royal Albert Hall on 26 November.

After seeing an early King Crimson gig in 1969, Yes realised that there was suddenly stiff competition on the London gigging circuit, and they needed to be much more technically proficient, starting regular rehearsals. They subsequently signed a deal with Atlantic Records, and, that August, released their debut album Yes. Compiled of mostly original material, the record includes renditions of "Every Little Thing" by the Beatles and "I See You" by The Byrds. Although the album failed to break into the UK album charts, Rolling Stone critic Lester Bangs complimented the album's "sense of style, taste and subtlety". Melody Maker columnist Tony Wilson chose Yes and Led Zeppelin as the two bands "most likely to succeed".

Following a tour of Scandinavia with Faces, Yes performed a solo concert at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on 21 March 1970. The second half consisted of excerpts from their second album Time and a Word, accompanied by a 20-piece youth orchestra. Banks left the group on 18 April 1970, just three months before the album's release. Having expressed dissatisfaction with the idea of recording with an orchestra as well as the sacking of Flynn earlier in the year, Banks later indicated that he was fired by Anderson and Squire, and that Kaye and Bruford had no prior knowledge that it would be happening. Similar to the first album, Time and a Word features original songs and two new covers–"Everydays" by Buffalo Springfield and "No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed" by Richie Havens. The album broke into the UK charts, peaking at number 45. Banks' replacement was Tomorrow guitarist Steve Howe, who appears in the photograph of the group on the American issue despite not having played on it.

1970–1974: The Yes Album, Fragile, Close to the Edge and Tales from Topographic Oceans
The band retreated to a rented farmhouse in Devon to write and rehearse new songs for their following album. Howe established himself as an integral part of the group's sound with his Gibson ES-175 and variety of acoustic guitars. With producer and engineer Eddy Offord, recording sessions lasted as long as 12 hours with each track being assembled from small sections at a time, which were pieced together to form a complete track. The band would then learn to play the song through after the final mix was complete. Released in February 1971, The Yes Album peaked at number 4 in the UK and number 40 on the U.S. Billboard 200 charts.

Yes embarked on a 28-day tour of Europe with Iron Butterfly in January 1971. The band purchased Iron Butterfly's entire public address system, which improved their on-stage performance and sound. Their first date in North America followed on 24 June in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, supporting Jethro Tull. Friction arose between Howe and Kaye on tour; this, along with Kaye's reported reluctance to play the Mellotron and the Minimoog synthesizer, preferring to stick exclusively to piano and Hammond organ, led to the keyboardist being fired from the band in the summer of 1971. Anderson recalled in a 2019 interview: "Steve and Chris came over and said, 'Look, Tony Kaye... great guy.' But, you know, we'd just seen Rick Wakeman about a month earlier. And I said, 'There's that Rick Wakeman guy,' and we've got to get on with life and move on, you know, rather than keep going on, set in the same circle. And that's what happens with a band." Wakeman, a classically trained player who had left the folk rock group Strawbs earlier in the year, was already a noted studio musician, with credits including T. Rex, David Bowie, Cat Stevens and Elton John. Squire commented that he could play "a grand piano for three bars, a Mellotron for two bars and a Moog for the next one absolutely spot on", which gave Yes the orchestral and choral textures that befitted their new material.

Released on 12 November 1971, the band's fourth album Fragile showcased their growing interest in the structures of classical music, with an excerpt of The Firebird by Igor Stravinsky being played at the start of their concerts since the album's 1971–1972 tour. Each member performed a solo track on the album, and it marked the start of their long collaboration with artist Roger Dean, who designed the group's logo, album art and stage sets. Fragile peaked at number 7 in the UK and number 4 in the U.S. after it was released there in January 1972, and was their first record to reach the top ten in North America. A shorter version of the opening track, "Roundabout", was released as a single that peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.

In February 1972, Yes recorded a cover version of "America" by Paul Simon and released it in July. The single reached number 46 on the U.S. singles chart. The track subsequently appeared on The New Age of Atlantic, a 1972 compilation album of several bands signed to Atlantic Records, and again in the 1975 compilation Yesterdays.

Released in September 1972, Close to the Edge, the band's fifth album, was their most ambitious work so far. At 19 minutes, the title track took up an entire side on the vinyl record and combined elements of classical music, psychedelic rock, pop and jazz. The album reached number 3 in the U.S. and number 4 on the UK charts. "And You and I" was released as a single that peaked at number 42 in the U.S. The growing critical and commercial success of the band was not enough to retain Bruford, who left Yes in the summer of 1972, before the album's release, to join King Crimson. The band considered several possible replacements, including Aynsley Dunbar (who was playing with Frank Zappa at the time), and decided on former Plastic Ono Band drummer Alan White, a friend of Anderson and Offord who had once sat in with the band weeks before Bruford's departure. White learned the band's repertoire in three days before embarking on their 1972–1973 tour.

By this point, Yes were beginning to enjoy worldwide commercial and critical success. Their early touring with White was featured on Yessongs, a triple live album released in May 1973 that documented shows from 1972. The album reached number 7 in the UK and number 12 in the U.S. A concert film of the same name premiered in 1975 that documented their shows at London's Rainbow Theatre in December 1972, with added psychedelic visual images and effects.

Tales from Topographic Oceans was the band's sixth studio album, released on 7 December 1973. It marked a change in their fortunes and polarised fans and critics alike. The double vinyl set was based on Anderson's interpretation of the Shastric scriptures from a footnote within Paramahansa Yogananda's book Autobiography of a Yogi. The album became the first LP in the UK to ship gold before the record arrived at retailers. It went on to top the UK charts for two weeks while reaching number 6 in the U.S., and became the band's fourth consecutive gold album. Wakeman was not pleased with the record and is critical of much of its material. He felt sections were "bled to death" and contained too much musical padding. Wakeman left the band after the 1973–1974 tour; his solo album Journey to the Centre of the Earth topped the UK charts in May 1974. The tour included five consecutive sold-out shows at the Rainbow Theatre, the first time a rock band achieved this.

1974–1980: Relayer, Going for the One, Tormato and the Paris sessions
Several musicians were approached to replace Wakeman, including Vangelis Papathanassiou, Eddie Jobson of Roxy Music and former Atlantis/Cat Stevens keyboardist Jean Roussel. Howe says he also asked Keith Emerson, who did not want to leave Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Yes ultimately chose Swiss keyboardist Patrick Moraz of Refugee, who arrived in August 1974 during the recording sessions for Relayer, which took place at Squire's home in Virginia Water, Surrey. Released in November that year, Relayer showcased a jazz fusion-influenced direction the band were pursuing. The album features the 22-minute track titled "The Gates of Delirium", which highlights a battle initially inspired by War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. Its closing section, "Soon", was subsequently released as a single. The album reached No. 4 in the UK and No. 5 in the U.S. Yes embarked on their 1974–1975 tour to support Relayer. The compilation album Yesterdays, released in 1975, contained tracks from Yes's first two albums, the B-side track from their "Sweet Dreams" single from 1970 titled "Dear Father", and the original ten-minute version of their cover of "America".

Between 1975 and 1976, each member of the band released a solo album. Their subsequent 1976 tour of North America with Peter Frampton featured some of the band's most-attended shows. The show of 12 June, also supported by Gary Wright and Pousette-Dart Band at John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, attracted over 100,000 people. Roger Dean's brother Martyn was the main designer behind the tour's "Crab Nebula" stage set, while Roger and fabric designer Felicity Youette provided the backgrounds.

In late 1976, the band travelled to Switzerland and started recording for their album Going for the One at Mountain Studios, Montreux. It was then that Anderson sent early versions of "Going for the One" and "Wonderous Stories" to Wakeman, who felt he could contribute to such material better than the band's past releases. Moraz was let go, after Wakeman was booked on a session musician basis. Upon its release in July 1977, Going for the One topped the UK album charts for two weeks and reached number 8 in the U.S. "Wonderous Stories" and "Going for the One" were released as singles in the UK and reached numbers 7 and 25, respectively. Although the album's cover was designed by Hipgnosis, it still features their Roger Dean "bubble" logotype. The band's 1977 tour spanned across six months.

Tormato was released in September 1978 at the height of punk rock in England, during which the music press criticised Yes as representing the bloated excesses of early-1970s progressive rock. The album saw the band continuing their movement towards shorter songs; no track runs longer than eight minutes. Wakeman replaced his Mellotrons with the Birotron, a tape replay keyboard, and Squire experimented with harmonisers and Mu-tron pedals with his bass. Production was handled collectively by the band and saw disagreements at the mixing stage among the members. With heavy commercial rock-radio airplay, the album reached number 8 in the UK and number 10 in the U.S. charts, and was also certified platinum (1 million copies sold) by the RIAA. Despite internal and external criticisms of the album, the band's 1978–1979 tour was a commercial success. Concerts were performed in the round with a £50,000 revolving stage and a 360-degree sound system fitted above it. Their dates at Madison Square Gardens earned Yes a Golden Ticket Award for grossing over $1 million in box office receipts.

In October 1979, the band convened in Paris with producer Roy Thomas Baker. Their diverse approach was now succumbing to division, as Anderson and Wakeman favoured the more fantastical and delicate approach while the rest preferred a heavier rock sound. Howe, Squire and White liked none of the music Anderson was offering at the time as it was too lightweight and lacking in the heaviness that they were generating in their own writing sessions. The Paris sessions abruptly ended in December after White broke his foot while rollerskating in a roller disco.

When the band, minus Wakeman (who had only committed to recording keyboard overdubs once new material would be ready to record), reconvened in February to resume work on the project, their growing musical differences, combined with internal dissension, obstructed progress. Journalist Chris Welch, after attending a rehearsal, noted that Anderson "was singing without his usual conviction and seemed disinclined to talk". By late March, Howe, Squire and White had begun demoing material as an instrumental trio, increasingly uncertain about Anderson's future involvement. Eventually, a serious band dispute over finance saw Anderson leave Yes, with a dispirited Wakeman departing at around the same time.

1980–1981: Drama and split
In 1980, pop duo The Buggles (singer Trevor Horn and keyboardist Geoff Downes) secured the services of Brian Lane, who had managed Yes since 1970, as their manager. The Buggles were best known for their 1979 hit single "Video Killed the Radio Star" from their album The Age of Plastic. At this point, the departure of Anderson and Wakeman had been kept secret from everyone outside the Yes inner circle. Seeing an option of continuing the band with new creative input and expertise, Squire revealed the situation to Horn and Downes and suggested that they join Yes as full-time members. Horn and Downes accepted the invitation and the reconfigured band recorded the Drama album, which was released in August 1980. The record displayed a heavier, harder sound than the material Yes recorded with Anderson and Wakeman in 1979, opening with the lengthy hard rocker "Machine Messiah". The album received substantial radio airplay in the late summer–fall of 1980, and peaked at number 2 in the UK and number 18 in the U.S., though it was the first Yes album to not be certified Gold by the RIAA since 1971. Their 1980 tour of North America and the UK received a mixed reaction from audiences. They were well received in the United States and were awarded with a commemorative certificate after they performed a record 16 consecutive sold-out concerts at Madison Square Garden since 1974.

After the Drama tour, Yes reconvened in England to decide the band's next step, beginning by dismissing Lane as their manager. Horn was also dismissed, and went on to pursue a career in music production, with White and Squire next to depart. Left as the sole remaining members, Downes and Howe opted not to continue with the group and went their own separate ways in December 1980.

Yesshows, a live album recorded during 1976 to 1978, mixed in mid-1979 and originally intended for release in late 1979, was released in November 1980, peaking at number 22 in the UK charts and number 43 in the US.

An announcement came from the group's management in March 1981 confirming that Yes no longer existed. Downes and Howe soon reunited to form Asia with former King Crimson bassist and vocalist John Wetton, and drummer Carl Palmer from Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Squire and White continued to work together, initially recording sessions with Jimmy Page for a proposed band called XYZ (short for "ex-Yes-and-Zeppelin") in the spring of 1981. Page's former bandmate Robert Plant was also to be involved as the vocalist but he lost enthusiasm, citing his ongoing grieving for recently deceased Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham. The short-lived group produced a few demo tracks, elements of which would appear in Page's band the Firm and on future Yes tracks "Mind Drive" and "Can You Imagine?". In late 1981, Squire and White released "Run with the Fox", a Christmas single with Squire on vocals which received radio airplay through the 1980s and early 1990s during the Christmas periods. A second Yes compilation album, Classic Yes, was released in November 1981.

1982–1988: Reformation, 90125 and Big Generator
At the beginning of 1982, Phil Carson of Atlantic Records introduced Squire and White to guitarist and singer Trevor Rabin, who had initially made his name with the South African supergroup Rabbitt, subsequently releasing three solo albums, working as a record producer and even briefly considered being a member of Asia. The three teamed up in a new band called Cinema, for which Squire also recruited the original Yes keyboard player Tony Kaye. Later in 1982, Cinema entered the studio to record their debut album. Although Rabin and Squire initially shared lead vocals for the project, Trevor Horn was briefly brought into Cinema as a potential singer, but soon opted to become the band's producer instead.

Horn worked well with the band. However, his clashes with Tony Kaye (complicated by the fact that Rabin was playing most of the keyboards during the recording sessions) led to Kaye's departure during the recording, though some of his playing was kept on the final album and he had returned by the time it was released. Meanwhile, Squire encountered Jon Anderson (who, since leaving Yes, had released two solo albums and had success with the Jon and Vangelis project) at a Los Angeles party and, encouraged by Atlantic Records vice president Phil Carson, played Anderson the Cinema demo tracks. Anderson was then invited into the project as lead singer and joined in April 1983 during the last few weeks of the sessions, having comparatively little creative input beyond adding his lead vocals and re-writing some lyrics.

At the suggestion of Carson and other Atlantic executives, Cinema then changed their name to Yes in June 1983. Rabin initially objected to this, as he now found that he had inadvertently joined a reunited band with a history and expectations, rather than help launch a new group. However, with four of the five members having been members of Yes (with three of them being original members, including the distinctive lead singer) it suggested that the name change was sound commercial strategy. The new album marked a significant change in style as the revived Yes had adopted more of a pop rock sound with few moments that recalled their progressive rock past. This incarnation of the band has sometimes been informally referred to as "Yes-West", reflecting the band's new base in Los Angeles rather than London.

Yes released their comeback album 90125 (named after its catalogue serial number on Atco Records) in November 1983. It became their biggest-selling album, certified by the RIAA at triple-platinum (3 million copies) in sales in the U.S., and introduced the band to younger fans. "Owner of a Lonely Heart" topped the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for four weeks and went on to reach the number-one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, the only single from Yes to do so, for two weeks in January 1984. Kaye's short-term replacement on keyboards, Eddie Jobson, appeared briefly in the original video but was edited out as much as possible once Kaye had been persuaded to return to the band.

In 1984, two further singles from the album "Leave It" and "It Can Happen" reached number 24 and 57, respectively. Yes also earned their only Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance in 1985 for the two-minute track "Cinema". They were also nominated for an award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals with "Owner of a Lonely Heart", and a Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal award with 90125. The band's 1984–1985 tour was the most lucrative in their history and spawned the home video release 9012Live, a concert film directed by Steven Soderbergh with added special effects from Charlex that cost $1 million. Issued in 1985, an accompanying live album also appeared that year, 9012Live: The Solos, which earned Yes a nomination for a second Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance for Squire's solo track, a rendition of "Amazing Grace".

Yes began recording for their twelfth album, Big Generator, in 1985, initially with Trevor Horn returning as producer. The sessions underwent many starts and stops due to the use of multiple recording locations in Italy, London and Los Angeles, with interpersonal problems leading to Horn leaving the sessions partway through, all of which kept the album from timely completion (the album was intended for a 1986 release, but by the end of that year it was still incomplete). Eventually Rabin took over final production. The album was released in September 1987, and immediately began receiving heavy radio airplay, with sales reaching number 17 in the UK and number 15 in the U.S. Big Generator earned Yes a nomination for a second Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal in 1988, and was also certified platinum (with 1 million-plus in sales) by the RIAA. The single "Love Will Find a Way" topped the Mainstream Rock chart, while "Rhythm of Love" reached number 2 and "Shoot High Aim Low" number 11. The 1987–1988 tour ended with an appearance at Madison Square Garden on 14 May 1988 as part of the star-studded Atlantic Records 40th anniversary concert.

1988–1995: Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe, Union and Talk
By the end of 1988, Anderson felt creatively sidelined by Rabin and Squire and had grown tired of the musical direction of the "Yes-West" lineup. He took leave of the band, asserting that he would never stay in Yes purely for the money, and started work in Montserrat on a solo project that eventually involved Wakeman, Howe and Bruford. This collaboration led to suggestions that there would be some kind of reformation of the "classic" Yes, although from the start the project had included bass player Tony Levin, whom Bruford had worked with in King Crimson. The project, rather than taking over or otherwise using the Yes name, was called Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe (ABWH).

Their eponymous album, released in June 1989, featured "Brother of Mine", which became an MTV hit and went gold in the United States. It later emerged that the four band members had not all recorded together; Anderson and producer Chris Kimsey slotted their parts into place. Howe has stated publicly that he was unhappy with the mix of his guitars on the album, though a version of "Fist of Fire" with more of Howe's guitars left intact appeared on the In a Word: Yes box set in 2002. ABWH toured in 1989 and 1990 as "An Evening of Yes Music" which featured Levin, keyboardist Julian Colbeck, and guitarist Milton McDonald as support musicians. A live album and home video were recorded and released in 1993, both titled An Evening of Yes Music Plus that featured Jeff Berlin on bass due to Levin suffering from illness. The tour was also dogged by legal battles sparked by Atlantic Records due to the band's references to Yes in promotional materials and the tour title.

Following the tour, the group returned to the recording studio to produce their second album, tentatively called Dialogue. After hearing the tracks, Arista Records refused to release the album as they felt the initial mixes were weak. They encouraged the group to seek outside songwriters, preferably ones who could help them deliver hit singles. Anderson approached Rabin about the situation, and Rabin sent Anderson a demo tape with three songs, indicating that ABWH could have one but had to send the others back. Arista listened to them and wanted all of them, proposing to create a combined album with both Yes factions. The "Yes-West" group were working on a follow-up to Big Generator and had been shopping around for a new singer, auditioning Roger Hodgson of Supertramp, Steve Walsh of Kansas, Robbie Nevil of "C'est la Vie" fame, and Billy Sherwood of World Trade. Walsh only spent one day with them, but Sherwood and the band worked well enough together and continued with writing sessions. Arista suggested that the "Yes-West" group, with Anderson on vocals, record the four songs to add to the new album which would then be released under the Yes name.

Union was released in April 1991 and is the thirteenth studio album from Yes. Each group played their own songs, with Anderson singing on all tracks. Squire sang background vocals on a few of the ABWH tracks, with Tony Levin playing all the bass on those songs. The album does not feature all eight members playing at once. The track "Masquerade" earned Yes a Grammy Award nomination for Best Rock Instrumental Performance in 1992. Howe described the nomination for a track he had recorded solo at home as "pure justice", following the difficulties in making the album. Union sold approximately 1.5 million copies worldwide, and peaked at number 7 in the UK and number 15 in the U.S. charts. Two singles from the album were released. "Lift Me Up" topped the Mainstream Rock charts in May 1991 for six weeks, while "Saving My Heart" peaked at number 9.

Almost the entire band have openly stated their dislike of Union. Bruford has disowned the album entirely, and Wakeman was reportedly unable to recognise any of his keyboard work in the final edit and threw his copy of the album out of his limousine. He has since referred to the album as "Onion" because it makes him cry when he thinks about it. Union co-producer Jonathan Elias later stated publicly in an interview that Anderson, as the associate producer, knew of the session musicians' involvement. He added that he and Anderson had even initiated their contributions, because hostility between some of the band members at the time was preventing work from being accomplished. The 1991–1992 Union tour united all eight members on a revolving circular stage. Following the tour's conclusion in 1992, Bruford chose not to remain involved with Yes and returned to his jazz project Earthworks. Howe also ceased his involvement with the band at this time. In August 1991, while the Union tour was underway, Atlantic released Yesyears, a four-CD box set anthology. Two accompanying home videos, Yesyears and Greatest Video Hits, were also released during 1991.

In 1993, the album Symphonic Music of Yes was released, featuring orchestrated Yes tracks arranged by Dee Palmer. Howe, Bruford and Anderson perform on the record, joined by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the English Chamber Orchestra and the London Community Gospel Choir. Howe and Bruford performed together on television (presented as "Yes") to promote the album, marking Bruford's final performance under the Yes name before retiring from performing.

The next Yes studio album, as with Union, was masterminded by a record company, rather than by the band itself. Victory Music approached Rabin with a proposal to produce an album solely with the 90125 lineup. Rabin initially countered by requesting that Wakeman also be included. Rabin began assembling the album at his home, using the then-pioneering concept of a digital home studio, and used material written by himself and Anderson. The new album was well into production in 1993, but Wakeman's involvement had finally been cancelled, as his refusal to leave his long-serving management created insuperable legal problems.

Talk was released in March 1994 and is the band's fourteenth studio release. Its cover was designed by pop artist Peter Max. The record was largely composed and performed by Rabin, with the other band members following Rabin's tracks for their respective instrumentation. It was digitally recorded and produced by Rabin with engineer Michael Jay, using 3.4 GB of hard disk storage split among four networked Apple Macintosh computers running Digital Performer. The album blended elements of radio-friendly rock with a more structurally ambitious approach taken from the band's progressive blueprint, with the fifteen-minute track "Endless Dream". The album reached number 20 in the UK and number 33 in the U.S. The track "The Calling" reached number 2 on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and "Walls", which Rabin had written with former Supertramp songwriter and co-founder Roger Hodgson, peaked at number 24. It also became Yes's second-last-charting single. Rabin and Hodgson wrote a lot of material together and became close friends. Yes performed "Walls" on Late Show with David Letterman on 20 June 1994.

The 1994 tour (for which the band included side man Billy Sherwood on additional guitar and keyboards) used a sound system developed by Rabin named Concertsonics which allowed the audience located in certain seating areas to tune portable FM radios to a specific frequency, so they could hear the concert with headphones.

In early 1995, following the tour, disagreements and dissatisfactions forced another change in the band. 1990s Yes manager Jon Brewer has stated that Squire had not appreciated the Talk production process: "(he) didn't like that. He didn't think it was what Yes was all about; he was very much against a computerised, digital sound at that time. So Trevor and Chris moved away from one another for quite a while." For his part, Rabin felt that he had achieved his highest ambitions with Talk and lamented its disappointing reception, feeling that this was due to the fact that it "just wasn't what people wanted to hear at the time." Having remarked at the conclusion of the tour "I think I'm done", Rabin quit the band and returned to Los Angeles, where he shifted his focus to composing for films. Kaye also left Yes to pursue other projects.

1995–2000: Keys to Ascension, Open Your Eyes and The Ladder
In November 1995, Anderson, Squire and White resurrected the "classic" 1970s lineup of Yes by inviting Wakeman and Howe back to the band, recording two new lengthy tracks called "Be the One" and "That, That Is". In March 1996 Yes performed three live shows at the Fremont Theater in San Luis Obispo, California which were recorded and released, along with the new studio tracks, that October on CMC International Records as the Keys to Ascension album, which peaked at number 48 in the UK and number 99 in the U.S. A same-titled live video of the shows was also released that year.

Yes continued to record new tracks in the studio, drawing some material written around the time of the XYZ project. At one point the new songs were to be released as a studio album, but commercial considerations meant that the new tracks were eventually packaged with the remainder of the 1996 San Luis Obispo shows in November 1997 on Keys to Ascension 2. The record managed to reach number 62 in the UK, but failed to chart in the U.S. Disgruntled at the way a potential studio album had been sacrificed in favour of the Keys to Ascension releases (as well as the way in which a Yes tour was being arranged without his input or agreement), Wakeman left the group again. (The studio material from both albums would eventually be compiled and re-released without the live tracks onto a single CD, 2001's Keystudio.)

With Yes in disarray again, Squire turned to Billy Sherwood (by now the band's engineer) for help. Both men had been working on a side project called Conspiracy and reworked existing demos and recordings from there to turn them into Yes songs, and also worked on new material with Anderson and White. (Howe's involvement at this stage was minimal, mainly taking place towards the end of the sessions.) Sherwood's integral involvement with the writing, production, and performance of the music led to his finally joining Yes as a full member (taking on the role of harmony singer, keyboardist and second guitarist).

The results of the sessions were released in November 1997 as the seventeenth Yes studio album, Open Your Eyes (on the Beyond Music label, who ensured that the group had greater control in packaging and naming). The music (mainly at Sherwood's urging) attempted to bridge the differing Yes styles of the 1970s and 1980s. (Sherwood: "My goal was to try to break down those partisan walls… For that, I am proud—to have aligned planets for a moment in time." ) However, Open Your Eyes was not a chart success; the record peaked at number 151 on the Billboard 200 but failed to enter the charts in the UK. The title single managed to reach number 33 on the mainstream rock chart.

For the 1997/1998 Open Your Eyes tour, Yes hired Russian keyboard player Igor Khoroshev, who had played on some of the album tracks. Significantly, the tour setlist featured only a few pieces from the new album, and mostly concentrated on earlier material. Anderson and Howe, who had been less involved with the writing and production on Open Your Eyes than they'd wished, would express dissatisfaction about the album later.

By the time the band came to record their eighteenth studio album The Ladder with producer Bruce Fairbairn, Khoroshev had become a full-time member (with Sherwood now concentrating on songwriting, vocal arrangements and second guitar). With Khoroshev's classically influenced keyboard style, and with all members now making more or less equal writing contributions, the band's sound found a balance between its eclectic 1970s progressive rock style and the more polished pop sound sought on the previous album. The Ladder also featured Latin music ingredients and clear world music influences, mostly brought in by Alan White (although Fairbairn's multi-instrumentalist colleague Randy Raine-Reusch made a strong contribution to the album's textures). One of the album tracks, "Homeworld (The Ladder)", was written for Relic Entertainment's Homeworld, a real-time strategy computer game, and was used as the credits and outro theme. Pleased with the result of the album's creation, the band had been in tentative discussions to continue work with Fairbairn on future projects, but he died suddenly during the final mixing sessions of the album.

The Ladder was released in September 1999, peaking at number 36 in the UK and number 99 in the U.S. While on tour in 1999 and early 2000, Yes recorded their performance at the House of Blues in Las Vegas on 31 October 1999, releasing it in September 2000 as a live album and DVD called House of Yes: Live from House of Blues. As Sherwood saw his role in Yes as creating and performing new music, and the rest of the band now wished to concentrate on performing the back catalogue, he amicably resigned from Yes at the end of the tour.

In summer 2000, Yes embarked on the three-month Masterworks tour of the United States, on which they performed only material which had been released between 1970 and 1974 (The Yes Album through to Relayer). While on tour, Khoroshev was involved in a backstage incident of sexual assault with a female security guard at Nissan Pavilion in Bristow, Virginia on 23 July 2000  and parted company with the band at the end of the tour.

2001–2009: Magnification, 35th Anniversary Collection, hiatus and side projects
Following the departures of Sherwood and Khoroshev and the death of Fairbairn, Yes once again set about reinventing themselves, this time choosing to record without a keyboardist, opting instead to include a 60-piece orchestra conducted by Larry Groupé; the first time the band used an orchestra since Time and a Word in 1970. The result was their nineteenth studio album, 2001's Magnification. The record was not a chart success; it peaked at number 71 in the UK and number 186 in the U.S. The Yes Symphonic Tour ran from July to December 2001 and had the band performing on stage with an orchestra and American keyboardist Tom Brislin. Their two shows in Amsterdam, in November, were recorded for their 2002 DVD and 2009 CD release Symphonic Live. The band invited Wakeman to play with them for the filming, but he was on a solo tour at the time.

Following Wakeman's announcement of his return in April 2002, Yes embarked on their Full Circle Tour in 2002–2003 that included their first performances in Australia since 1973. The band's appearance in Montreux on this tour was documented on the album and DVD Live at Montreux 2003, released in 2007. In 2002, Rhino Records issued In a Word: Yes, a five CD box set of classic, rare and unreleased tracks from the band's history, including some from the 1979 Paris sessions, followed a year later by the compilation album The Ultimate Yes: 35th Anniversary Collection, which reached number 10 in the UK charts, their highest-charting album since 1991, and number 131 in the U.S. During 2003 and 2004, Rhino also released remastered editions of all Yes' studio albums up to, and including, 90125, all featuring rare and previously unreleased bonus tracks. These editions would be collected in 2013 as The Studio Albums 1969–1987 box set, with Big Generator also receiving the same treatment.

On 26 January 2004, the film Yesspeak premiered in a number of select theatres, followed by a closed-circuit live acoustic performance of the group. Both Yesspeak and the acoustic performance, titled Yes Acoustic: Guaranteed No Hiss, were released on DVD later that year. A 35th anniversary tour followed in 2004 which was documented on the DVD Songs from Tsongas, released in 2005.

In 2004, Squire, Howe and White reunited for one night only with former members Trevor Horn, Trevor Rabin and Geoff Downes during a show celebrating Horn's career, performing three Yes songs. The show video was released in DVD in 2008 under the name Trevor Horn and Friends: Slaves to the Rhythm. On 18 March 2003, minor planet (7707) Yes was named in honour of the band.

After their 35th Anniversary Tour, Yes described themselves as "on hiatus". Howe recalls this break as very much welcomed by the band due to the heavy touring of the previous year and a half, and in his opinion necessary since the band's performance on the later (European) shows of the Full Circle Tour had started to deteriorate as a result of heavier alcohol consumption by Squire and other members in spite of rules the band had agreed on in 2001 barring drinking prior to or during shows.

During this period, Anderson toured both solo and jointly with Wakeman (for concerts focused largely on Yes material); Squire released his long-awaited second solo album, and White launched his own eponymous band White (subsequently joining fellow Yes-men Tony Kaye and Billy Sherwood in Circa). Wakeman also continued to release solo material, as did Howe, who released three solo albums and also reunited to record, release and tour with once-and-future Yes bandmate Geoff Downes in the reunion of the original Asia lineup.

In May 2008, a fortieth-anniversary Close to the Edge and Back Tour—which was to feature Oliver Wakeman on keyboards—was announced. Anderson has said that they had been preparing four new "lengthy, multi-movement compositions" for the tour, but he had expressed disinterest in producing a new studio album after the low sales of Magnification, suggesting that recording one was not "logical anymore". The tour was abruptly cancelled prior to rehearsals, after Anderson suffered an asthma attack and was diagnosed with acute respiratory failure, and was advised by doctors to avoid touring for six months.

In September 2008, the remaining three members, eager to resume touring regardless of Anderson's availability, announced a tour billed as Steve Howe, Chris Squire and Alan White of Yes, with Oliver Wakeman on keyboards and new lead singer Benoît David, a Canadian musician who'd previously played with Mystery and with Yes tribute band Close to the Edge. Anderson expressed his disappointment that his former bandmates had not waited for his recovery, nor handled the situation "in a more gentlemanly fashion", and while he wished them well, he referred to their ongoing endeavours as "solo work" and emphasised his view that their band "is not Yes". As Anderson was a co-owner of the Yes trademark, the remaining members agreed not to tour with the Yes name. The In the Present Tour started in November 2008, but it was cut short in the following February when Squire required emergency surgery on an aneurysm in his leg. Touring resumed in June 2009, with Asia and Peter Frampton supporting the band at several shows.

2009–2015: Lineup changes, Fly from Here, Heaven & Earth and album series tours
In October 2009, Squire declared that the new lineup from the In the Present Tour "is now Yes", and the tour, with the band now billed as Yes, continued through 2010. Their 2010 studio sessions would yield material eventually to be released as From a Page.

In August 2010, it was announced that new material had been written for Fly from Here, Yes's twentieth studio album. Yes then signed a deal with Frontiers Records and began recording in Los Angeles with Trevor Horn serving as producer. Much of the album material was extrapolated from a pair of songs written by Horn and Geoff Downes around the time that they had been Yes members during 1980 and the Drama album. During the recording sessions, the band thought it would be wise to bring Downes back to replace Oliver Wakeman on keyboards, reasoning that he was closer to the material. Asserting that all studio recording was to be carried out by "the lineup that actually ... does the work", Howe dispelled rumours that an invitation to sing on the record had been extended to Anderson, who subsequently announced a new project as an ongoing collaboration with former Yes members Wakeman and Rabin.

Upon completion of recording in March 2011, and post-production a month later, the album was released worldwide that July. Fly from Here peaked at number 30 in the UK and 36 in the U.S.

In March 2011 Yes embarked on their Rite of Spring and Fly from Here tours to support Fly from Here, with Styx and Procol Harum supporting on select dates. 2011 saw the release of the live Yes album and DVD, In the Present – Live from Lyon, taken from the band's previous tour. Trevor Rabin joined the band in playing "Owner of a Lonely Heart" at one show in Los Angeles.

In February 2012, after David contracted a respiratory illness, he was replaced by Glass Hammer singer Jon Davison. Davison was recommended to Squire by their common friend Taylor Hawkins, drummer for the Foo Fighters. Following the announcement Anderson expressed his disappointment that "they had to get yet another singer after the guy who replaced me became ill," stating that he offered to "get back with them" due to his being "healthy again", and expressed his view that "they have let a lot of fans down." Davison would join Yes to complete the band's scheduled dates across the year.

On 7 March 2013, founding guitarist Peter Banks died of heart failure.

From March 2013 to June 2014, Yes completed their Three Album Tour where they performed The Yes Album, Close to the Edge and Going for the One in their entirety. During the tour, they led a progressive-rock themed cruise titled "Cruise to the Edge". A second cruise happened in April 2014, and the band headlined the November 2015 edition. The show on 11 May 2014 in Bristol was released as Like It Is: Yes at the Bristol Hippodrome in 2014, featuring performances of Going for the One and The Yes Album.

Heaven & Earth, the band's twenty-first studio album and first with Davison, was recorded between January and March 2014,  at Neptune Studios in Los Angeles with Roy Thomas Baker as producer and former band member Billy Sherwood as engineer on backing vocals and mixer. Squire enjoyed working with Baker again, describing him as a "force in the studio" (Baker had previously worked with the group in the late 70s on a project that had ultimately been scrapped). Howe reflected that he "tried to slow down" the album production in hopes that "maybe we could refine it ..." and compared it to the success of the band's classic works in which they "arranged the hell out of" the material. He wrote later that Baker behaved erratically and was difficult to work with, and was dissatisfied with the final mixes of the album.

To promote Heaven & Earth, Yes resumed touring between July and November 2014 with a world tour covering North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan, playing Fragile and Close to the Edge in their entirety with select songs from Heaven & Earth and encores. The show in Mesa, Arizona was released in 2015 as Like It Is: Yes at the Mesa Arts Center which features the performances of Close to the Edge and Fragile.

2015–2018: Squire's death, Yes Featuring ARW, and 50th Anniversary Tour
In May 2015, news of Squire's diagnosis with acute erythroid leukaemia was made public. This resulted in former guitarist Billy Sherwood replacing him for their 2015 summer North American tour with Toto between August–September, and their third annual Cruise to the Edge voyage in November, while Squire was receiving treatment. His condition deteriorated soon after, and he died on 27 June at his home in Phoenix, Arizona. Downes first announced Squire's death on Twitter. Squire asked White and Sherwood to continue the legacy of the band, which Sherwood recalled "was paramount in his mind ... so I'm happy to be doing that." Yes performed without Squire, for the first time in their 47-year history, on 7 August 2015 in Mashantucket, Connecticut. In November 2015, they completed their annual Cruise to the Edge voyage.

In January 2016, former Yes members Anderson, Rabin and Wakeman announced their new group, Anderson, Rabin and Wakeman (ARW), something that had been in the works for the previous six years. Wakeman stated that Squire's passing inspired them to go ahead with the band. Anderson said they had begun writing new material. Their first tour, An Evening of Yes Music and More, began in October 2016 and lasted for one year with drummer Lou Molino III and bassist Lee Pomeroy. Following Yes's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the band renamed themselves Yes Featuring Jon Anderson, Trevor Rabin, Rick Wakeman. After a four-month tour in 2018 to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of Yes, the group disbanded.

Meanwhile, Howe & White's ongoing Yes lineup performed Fragile and Drama in their entirety on their April–June, 2016 European tour. Trevor Horn was a guest vocalist for two UK shows, singing "Tempus Fugit". For the subsequent North American tour between July and September of that year, the set was changed to include Drama and sides one and four of Tales from Topographic Oceans. White missed the latter to recover from back surgery; he was replaced by American drummer Jay Schellen. Dylan Howe, Steve's son, had originally been asked to be White's standby, but was prevented from being involved by visa problems. White returned on a part-time basis in November for their 2016 Japanese tour; until the following February, Schellen continued to sit in for White on most shows, with White playing on some songs. The live album Topographic Drama – Live Across America, recorded on the 2016 tour, was released in late 2017 and marks Yes's first not to feature Squire. In February 2017, Yes toured the U.S. which included their headline spot at Cruise to the Edge.

Yes toured the U.S. and Canada with the Yestival Tour from August to September 2017, performing at least one song from each album from Yes to Drama. Dylan Howe joined the band as a second drummer. The tour was cut short following the unexpected death of Howe's son and Dylan's brother Virgil.

In February 2018, Yes headlined Cruise to the Edge involving original keyboardist Tony Kaye as a special guest, marking his first performances with the band since 1994. This was followed by the band's 50th Anniversary Tour with a European leg in March, playing half of Tales from Topographic Oceans and a selection of songs from their history. The two London dates included an anniversary fan convention which coincided with the release of Fly from Here – Return Trip, a new version of the album with new lead vocals and mixes by Horn, who also performed as a special guest singer during a few shows on the leg. A U.S. leg in June and July also included guest performances from Kaye, Horn, Tom Brislin and Patrick Moraz, who had last performed with Yes in 1976. The tour culminated with a Japanese leg in February 2019. Schellen continued to play as a second drummer to support White, who had a bacterial infection in his joints from November 2017. The tour was documented with the live album Yes 50 Live, released in 2019.

2019–present: The Quest, White's death, Mirror to the Sky, and upcoming 24th album
In June and July 2019, Yes headlined the Royal Affair Tour across the U.S. with a lineup featuring Asia, John Lodge and Carl Palmer's ELP Legacy with Arthur Brown. This was followed by previously unreleased music, recorded during the Fly from Here sessions, released as From a Page, a release spearheaded by Oliver Wakeman who wrote most of its material. The CD version includes an expanded edition of In the Present – Live from Lyon. A live album from the Royal Affair Tour, entitled The Royal Affair Tour: Live from Las Vegas, was released in October 2020. Videos of Dean creating the album cover were streamed live on Facebook. Yes had planned to resume touring in 2020, beginning with a short U.S. leg in March and their appearance on Cruise to the Edge, followed by a European tour that continued their Album Series Tour and featured Relayer performed in its entirety. Both tours were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Later in 2020, Davison and Sherwood formed Arc of Life, a new group featuring Schellen and keyboardist Dave Kerzner.

Yes worked on new material for their twenty-second studio album The Quest, from late 2019 through 2021, with Howe as the sole producer. The lockdowns brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in members recording their parts in separate studios and sending them to Howe and engineer Curtis Schwartz in England. In 2021, Howe, Davison and Downes got together and completed the album. The Quest was released on 1 October 2021, being the band's first new album in seven years, and the opening two tracks, "The Ice Bridge" and "Dare to Know", were released as digital singles. The album reached No. 20 in the UK. By the time The Quest was released, Yes had already discussed plans regarding a follow-up album. In May 2022, Sherwood confirmed that the band had started to record new material.

On 22 May 2022, Yes announced that White would sit out of their upcoming tour due to health issues and that Schellen would handle the drums. White died on 26 May. The band kicked off a tour in June 2022 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Close to the Edge. They had originally planned to resume their Album Series Tour with a European leg featuring Relayer performed in its entirety, before the dates were rescheduled for 2023 and the program changed. A tribute concert for White was held in Seattle on 2 October, featuring special guests and former Yes guitarist Trevor Rabin.

In January 2023, Yes announced that Warner Music Group had acquired the recorded music rights and associated income streams relating to 12 studio albums from 1969 to 1987, and several live and compilation releases. In February, Schellen joined the band as a permanent member.

In 2023, Yes had planned to continue their Album Series Tour with Relayer performed in its entirety across Europe and the UK, but it was subsequently delayed to 2024 due to insurance incentives related to COVID-19 and acts of war being withdrawn. The non-cancelled UK dates were later rescheduled for The Classic Tales of Yes Tour 2024. Meanwhile, Anderson toured in Spring 2023 & Spring/Summer 2024 under the title "Yes Epics and Classics" with a setlist devoted to early 70s Yes material. About the tour, which features Anderson backed by The Band Geeks, he tells Rolling Stone: "In my mind… I'm still in Yes" and expressed his desire for a reunion.

On 10 March 2023, Yes announced that their new studio album, Mirror to the Sky, was set for release on 19 May 2023. On the same day the opening track, "Cut from the Stars", was released as a digital single, followed by the release of "All Connected" a few weeks later. Band members have said that the formation of this album was based on continuing the creative process from The Quest, further developing "song sketches, structures, and ideas that were demanding attention". In January 2024, Billy Sherwood stated in an interview with Rolling Stone that the band have already started working on their follow-up album to Mirror to the Sky.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Yes were eligible to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. In August 2013, the fan campaign Voices for Yes was launched to get the band inducted. The campaign was headed by two U.S. political operators: John Brabender, senior strategist for Republican Rick Santorum's 2012 U.S. presidential campaign, and Tad Devine, who worked on Democrat John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign and Al Gore's 2000 campaign. Also involved were former NBC president Steve Capus and former White House Political Director Sara Taylor. On 16 October 2013, Yes failed to be inducted. In November 2013, Anderson expressed a wish to return to Yes in the future for a "tour everybody dreams of", and cited Yes's nomination for inclusion into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a motive for a possible reunion.

On 7 April 2017, Yes were inducted into the 2017 class by Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson of Rush in a ceremony held in New York City. The musicians inducted were Anderson, Howe, Rabin, Squire, Wakeman, Kaye, Bruford, and White, the same lineup featured on Union and its tour. Having failed to pass the nomination stage twice previously, the announcement of their forthcoming induction was made on 20 December 2016. In the ceremony, Anderson, Howe, Rabin, Wakeman, and White performed "Roundabout" with Lee on bass, followed by "Owner of a Lonely Heart" with Howe on bass. Bruford attended the ceremony but did not perform, while Kaye did not attend. Dylan Howe (Steve's son) described how at the ceremony the two groups—Yes and ARW—were seated at adjacent tables but ignored each other.

Current members

 * Steve Howe – guitars, backing vocals (1970–1981, 1990–1992, 1995–2004, 2008–present)
 * Geoff Downes – keyboards, backing vocals (1980–1981, 2011–present)
 * Billy Sherwood – bass (2015–present), backing vocals (1997–2000, 2015–present), guitars (1997–2000), keyboards (1997–1998); touring member 1994
 * Jon Davison – lead vocals, acoustic guitar, percussion, occasional keyboards (2012–present)
 * Jay Schellen – drums, percussion (2023–present); touring member 2016–2017, 2018–2023

Former members

 * Chris Squire – bass, backing and lead vocals (1968–1981, 1983–2004, 2008–2015; his death)
 * Jon Anderson – lead and backing vocals, guitars, percussion, occasional keyboards (1968–1980, 1983–1988, 1990–2004, 2008)
 * Bill Bruford – drums, percussion (1968–1972, 1990–1992)
 * Tony Kaye – organ, piano, keyboards (1968–1971, 1983–1995; touring guest 2018–2019)
 * Peter Banks – guitars, backing vocals (1968–1970; died 2013)
 * Tony O'Reilly – drums (1968)
 * Rick Wakeman – keyboards (1971–1974, 1976–1980, 1990–1992, 1995–1997, 2002–2004)
 * Alan White – drums, percussion, piano, backing vocals (1972–1981, 1983–2004, 2008–2022; his death)
 * Patrick Moraz – keyboards (1974–1976; guest 2018)
 * Trevor Horn – lead vocals, bass (1980–1981, 2016, 2017, 2018; guest 2016, 2018)
 * Trevor Rabin – guitars, lead and backing vocals, keyboards (1983–1995)
 * Eddie Jobson – keyboards (1983)
 * Igor Khoroshev – keyboards, backing vocals (1997–2000)
 * Benoît David – lead vocals, acoustic guitar (2008–2012)
 * Oliver Wakeman – keyboards (2008–2011)

Former live musicians

 * Ian Wallace – drums (1968)
 * Casey Young – keyboards (1984–1985)
 * Tom Brislin – keyboards, backing vocals, percussion (2001; guest 2018)
 * Dylan Howe – drums (2017)

Discography
Studio albums

 * Yes (1969)
 * Time and a Word (1970)
 * The Yes Album (1971)
 * Fragile (1971)
 * Close to the Edge (1972)
 * Tales from Topographic Oceans (1973)
 * Relayer (1974)
 * Going for the One (1977)
 * Tormato (1978)
 * Drama (1980)
 * 90125 (1983)
 * Big Generator (1987)
 * Union (1991)
 * Talk (1994)
 * Keys to Ascension (1996)
 * Keys to Ascension 2 (1997)
 * Open Your Eyes (1997)
 * The Ladder (1999)
 * Magnification (2001)
 * Fly from Here (2011)
 * Heaven & Earth (2014)
 * The Quest (2021)
 * Mirror to the Sky (2023)

Songbooks

 * Yes Complete Vol. One − 1976 Warner Bros. Publications Inc.
 * Yes Complete Vol. Two – 1977 Warner Bros. Publications Inc.
 * Yes Complete – Deluxe Edition, 1 October 1981
 * Yes: Back from the Edge, Mike Mettler, Guitar School 3, no. 5, September 1991
 * Classic Yes – Selections from Yesyears, April 1993

title: Yes (band)


text:
Military history of Poland during World War II

In World War II, the Polish armed forces were the fourth largest Allied forces in Europe, after those of the Soviet Union, United States, and Britain. Poles made substantial contributions to the Allied effort throughout the war, fighting on land, sea, and in the air.

Polish forces in the east, fighting alongside the Red army and under Soviet high command, took part in the Soviet offensives across Belarus and Ukraine into Poland and across the Vistula and Oder Rivers to the Battle of Berlin.

In the west, Polish paratroopers from the 1st Independent Polish Parachute Brigade fought in the Battle of Arnhem / Operation Market Garden; while ground troops were present in the North Africa Campaign (siege of Tobruk); the Italian campaign (including the capture of the monastery hill at the Battle of Monte Cassino); and in battles following the invasion of France (the battle of the Falaise pocket; and an armored division in the Western Allied invasion of Germany).

Particularly well-documented was the service of 145 Polish pilots flying British planes under British Command during the Battle of Britain, 79 in mixed squadrons under the RAF after July 1940, 32 in wholly Polish Squadron 303 after 31 August 1940 and 34 in entirely Polish Squadron 302. Other instances of service flying French planes in the Polish Air Force took place during the Battle of Britain at the same time, and from 1944 the Polish Air Force (also with British planes) was established in Britain.

Some Polish contributions were less visible, notably the prewar and wartime decrypting of German Enigma-machine ciphers by cryptologists Marian Rejewski, Henryk Zygalski, and Jerzy Różycki. An extensive Polish intelligence network also proved of great value to Allied intelligence.

The European Theatre of World War II opened with the German invasion of Poland on Friday September 1, 1939, followed by the Soviet invasion of Poland on September 17, 1939. On 6 October, following the Polish defeat at the Battle of Kock, German and Soviet forces gained full control over Poland. The success of the invasion marked the end of the Second Polish Republic, though Poland never formally surrendered. A Polish Underground State with a government-in-exile that would eventually set up headquarters in London resumed the struggle against the occupying powers. The Polish forces in the West, as well as in the East and an intelligence service were established outside of Poland, and contributed to the Allied effort throughout the war.

Invasion of Poland
The invasion of Polish Second Republic by the military forces of Nazi Germany marked the beginning of World War II in Europe. The Soviets invaded Poland on September 17 German-allied Slovakia invaded also

In keeping with the terms of the Secret Additional Protocol of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact Germany informed the Soviet Union that its forces were nearing the Soviet interest zone in Poland and so urged the Soviet Union to move into its zone. The Soviets had been taken by surprise by the speed of the German advance as they had expected to have several weeks to prepare for an invasion rather than merely a few days. They did promise to move as quickly as possible. On September 17 the Soviets invaded eastern Poland, forcing the Polish government and military to abandon their plans for a long-term defense in the Romanian bridgehead area. The last remaining Polish Army units capitulated in early October.

In accordance with their treaty obligations, the United Kingdom and France declared war on Germany on September 3. Hitler had gambled, incorrectly, that France and Britain would allow him to annex parts of Poland without military reaction. The campaign began on September 1, 1939, one week after the signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact containing a secret protocol for the division of Northern and Central Europe into German and Soviet spheres of influence. It ended on October 6, 1939, with Germany and the Soviet Union occupying the entirety of Poland.

German losses included approximately 16,000 killed in action, 28,000 wounded, 3,500 missing, over 200 aircraft, and 30% of their armored vehicles. The Polish casualties were around 66,000 dead and 694,000 captured.

German losses during the Polish campaign amounted to 50% of all casualties they would suffer until their invasion of USSR in 1941; and the campaign that lasted about a month consumed eight months worth of supplies.

Aid to Jews

There was a substantial group of Poles who risked their lives during the German occupation to save Jews. German-occupied Poland was the only European territory where the Germans punished any kind of help to Jews with death for the helper and his entire family. Even so, Poland was also the only German-occupied country to establish an organization specifically to aid Jews. Known by the cryptonym Żegota, it provided food, shelter, medical care, money, and false documents to Jews. Most of Żegota's funds came directly from the Polish Government-in-Exile in Great Britain.

Most Jews who survived the German occupation of Poland were saved by Poles unconnected with Żegota. Estimates of Jewish survivors in Poland range from 40,000 to 50,000 to 100,000–120,000. Scholars estimate that it took the work of ten people to save the life of one Polish Jew. Of the individuals awarded medals of Righteous among the Nations (given by the State of Israel to non-Jews who saved Jews from extermination during the Holocaust) those who were Polish citizens number the greatest. There are 6,339 Polish men and women recognized as "Righteous" to this day, amounting to over 25 percent of the total number of 22,765 honorary titles awarded already.

Polish resistance
The main resistance force in German-occupied Poland was the Armia Krajowa ("Home Army"; abbreviated "AK"), which numbered some 400,000 fighters at its peak as well as many more sympathizers. Throughout most of the war, AK was one of the three largest resistance movements in the war. The AK coordinated its operations with the exiled Polish Government in London and its activity concentrated on sabotage, diversion and intelligence gathering. Its combat activity was low until 1943 as the army was avoiding suicidal warfare and preserved its very limited resources for later conflicts that sharply increased when the Nazi war machine started to crumble in the wake of the successes of the Red Army in the Eastern Front. Then the AK started a nationwide uprising (Operation Tempest) against Nazi forces. Before that, AK units carried out thousands of raids, intelligence operations, bombed hundreds of railway shipments, participated in many clashes and battles with the German police and Wehrmacht units and conducted tens of thousands of acts of sabotage against German industry The AK also conducted "punitive" operations to assassinate Gestapo officials responsible for Nazi terror. Following the 1941 German attack on the USSR, the AK assisted the Soviet Union's war effort by sabotaging the German advance into Soviet territory and provided intelligence on the deployment and movement of German forces. After 1943, its direct combat activity increased sharply. German losses to the Polish partisans averaged 850–1,700 per month in early 1944 compared to about 250–320 per month in 1942.

In addition to the Home Army, there was an underground ultra-nationalist resistance force called Narodowe Siły Zbrojne (NSZ or "National Armed Forces"), with a fiercely anti-communist stance. It participated in fighting German units, winning many skirmishes. From 1943 onwards, some units took part in battling the Gwardia Ludowa and the Polish People's Army PAL, both communist resistance movement. From 1944, the advancing Red Army was also seen as a foreign occupation force, prompting skirmishes with the Soviets as well as Soviet-backed partisans. In the later part of the war, when Soviet partisans started attacking Polish partisans, sympathizers and civilians, all non-communist Polish formations were (to an increasing extent) becoming involved in actions against the Soviets.

The Armia Ludowa, a Soviet proxy fighting force was another resistance group that was unrelated to the Polish Government in Exile, allied instead to the Soviet Union. As of July, 1944 it incorporated a similar organization, the Gwardia Ludowa and the Polish People's Army PAL, and numbered about 6,000 soldiers (although estimates vary).

There were separate resistance groups organized by Polish Jews: the right-wing Żydowski Związek Walki ("Jewish Fighting Union") (ŻZW) and the more Soviet-leaning Żydowska Organizacja Bojowa ("Jewish Combat Organization") (ŻOB). These organisations cooperated little with each other and their relationship with the Polish resistance varied between occasional cooperation (mainly between ZZW and AK) to armed confrontations (mostly between ŻOB and NZS).

Other notable Polish resistance organizations included the Bataliony Chłopskie (BCh), a mostly peasant-based organization allied to the AK. At its height the BCh included 115,543 members (1944; with additional LSB and PKB-AK Guard, for the estimated total of 150,250 men, not confirmed).

Throughout the war the German state was forced to divert a substantial part of its military forces to keep control over Poland:

Intelligence

Polish intelligence supplied valuable intelligence to the Allies; 48% of all reports received by the British secret services from continental Europe in between 1939 and 1945 came from Polish sources. The total number of those reports is estimated at 80,000, and 85% of them were deemed high or better quality. Despite Poland becoming occupied, the Polish intelligence network not only survived but grew rapidly, and near the end of the war had over 1,600 registered agents (Another estimate gave around 3500).

Western Allies had limited intelligence assets in Central and Eastern Europe, and extensive Polish intelligence network in place proved to be a major asset, even described as "the only allied intelligence assets on the Continent" following the French capitulation. According to Marek Ney-Krwawicz, for the Western Allies, the intelligence provided by the Home Army was considered to be the best source of information on the Eastern Front.

During a period of over six and a half years, from late December 1932 to the outbreak of World War II, three mathematician-cryptologists (Marian Rejewski, Henryk Zygalski and Jerzy Różycki) at the Polish General Staff's Cipher Bureau in Warsaw had developed a number of techniques and devices— including the "grill" method, Różycki's "clock", Rejewski's "cyclometer" and "card catalog", Zygalski's "perforated sheets", and Rejewski's "cryptologic bomb" (in Polish, "bomba, precursor to the later British "Bombe", named after its Polish predecessor)— to facilitate decryption of messages produced on the German "Enigma" cipher machine. Just five weeks before the outbreak of World War II, on July 25, 1939, near Pyry in the Kabaty Woods south of Warsaw, Poland disclosed her achievements to France and the United Kingdom, which had, up to that time, failed in all their own efforts to crack the German military Enigma cipher. Had Poland not shared her Enigma-decryption results at Pyry, the United Kingdom might have been unable to read Enigma ciphers. In the event, intelligence gained from this source, codenamed Ultra, was extremely valuable to the Allied prosecution of the war. While ULTRA's precise influence on its course remains a subject of debate, ULTRA undoubtedly altered the course of the war.

As early as 1940, Polish agents (including Witold Pilecki) penetrated German concentration camps, including Auschwitz, and informed the world about Nazi atrocities. Jan Karski is another important Polish resistance fighter who reported to the Polish government in exile and the Western Allies on the situation in German-occupied Poland, especially the destruction of the Warsaw Ghetto, and the secretive German-Nazi extermination camps.

Polish Home Army (Armia Krajowa, AK) intelligence was vital to locating and destroying (18 August 1943) the German rocket facility at Peenemünde and to gathering information about Germany's V-1 flying bomb and V-2 rocket. The Home Army delivered to the United Kingdom key V-2 parts after a rocket, fired on 30 May 1944, crashed near a German test facility at Sarnaki on the Bug River and was recovered by the Home Army. On the night of 25–26 July 1944 the crucial parts were flown from occupied Poland to the United Kingdom in an RAF plane, along with detailed drawings of parts too large to fit in the plane (see Home Army and V1 and V2). Analysis of the German rocket became vital to improving Allied anti-V-2 defenses (see Operation Most III).

Operations of the II Bureau, the intelligence service of the Polish government in exile, extended beyond Poland and even beyond Europe. Polish agents provided reports on German war production, morale and troop movements, including information on German submarine operations. The II Bureau is reported to have had two agents in the upper levels of the German high command. Polish intelligence monitored the French fleet at Toulon. Mieczysław Zygfryd Słowikowski has been described as "the only allied agent with a network in North Africa". In July 1941 Mieczysław Słowikowski (codenamed "Rygor—Polish for "Rigor") set up "Agency Africa", one of World War II's most successful intelligence organizations. His Polish allies in these endeavors included Lt. Col. Gwido Langer and Major Maksymilian Ciężki (prewar heads, respectively, of Poland's Biuro Szyfrów, Cipher Bureau, and of its German section, B.S.-4, which broke Germany's Enigma ciphers). The information gathered by the Agency was used by the Americans and British in planning the amphibious November 1942 Operation Torch  landings in North Africa.  These were the first large-scale Allied landings of the war, and their success in turn paved the way for the Allies' Italian campaign.

Some Poles also served in other Allied intelligence services, including the celebrated Krystyna Skarbek ("Christine Granville") in the United Kingdom's Special Operations Executive.

The researchers who produced the first Polish-British in-depth monograph on Home Army intelligence (Intelligence Co-operation Between Poland and Great Britain During World War II: Report of the Anglo-Polish Historical Committee of 2005) and who described contributions of Polish intelligence to Allied victory as "disproportionally large" have also argued that "the work performed by Home Army intelligence undoubtedly supported the Allied armed effort much more effectively than subversive and guerilla activities."

Army
After the country's defeat in the 1939 campaign, the Polish government in exile quickly organized in France a new army of about 75,000 men. In 1940 a Polish Highland Brigade took part in the Battle of Narvik (Norway), and two Polish divisions (First Grenadier Division, and Second Infantry Fusiliers Division) took part in the defense of France, while a Polish motorized brigade and two infantry divisions were in process of forming. A Polish Independent Carpathian Brigade was formed in French Mandate Syria, to which many Polish troops had escaped from Romania. The Polish Air Force in France had 86 aircraft with one and a half of the squadrons fully operational, and the remaining two and a half in various stages of training.

By the fall of France, numerous Polish personnel had died in the fighting (some 6,000) or had been interned in Switzerland (some 13,000). Nevertheless, about 19,000 Polish—about 25% of which were aircrew—were evacuated from France, most alongside other troops transported from western France to the United Kingdom. In 1941, following an agreement between the Polish government in exile and Joseph Stalin, the Soviets released Polish citizens, from whom a 75,000-strong army was formed in the USSR under General Władysław Anders. Without any support from the Soviets to train, equip and maintain this army, the Polish government in exile followed Anders' advice for a transfer of some 80,000 (and around 20,000 civilians), in March and August 1942, across the Caspian Sea to Iran permitting Soviet divisions in occupation there to be released for action. In the Middle East, this "Anders' Army" joined the British Eighth Army, where it formed Polish II Corps.

The Polish Armed Forces in the West fought under British command and numbered 195,000 in March 1944 and 165,000 at the end of that year, including about 20,000 personnel in the Polish Air Force and 3,000 in the Polish Navy. At the end of World War II, the Polish Armed Forces in the west numbered 195,000 and by July 1945 had increased to 228,000, most of the newcomers being released prisoners of war and ex-labor camp inmates.

Air force
The Polish Air Force first fought in the 1939 Invasion of Poland. Significantly outnumbered and with its fighters outmatched by more advanced German fighters, remained active up to the second week of the campaign, inflicting significant damage on the Luftwaffe. The Luftwaffe lost, to all operational causes, 285 aircraft, with 279 more damaged, while the Poles lost 333 aircraft.

After the fall of Poland many Polish pilots escaped via Hungary to France. The Polish Air Force fought in the Battle of France as one fighter squadron GC 1/145, several small units detached to French squadrons, and numerous flights of industry defence (in total, 133 pilots, who achieved 53–57 victories for a loss of 8 men in combat, what was 7.93% of allied victories).

Later, Polish pilots fought in the Battle of Britain, where the Polish 303 Fighter Squadron claimed the highest number of kills of any Allied squadron. From the very beginning of the war, the Royal Air Force (RAF) had welcomed foreign pilots to supplement the dwindling pool of British pilots. On 11 June 1940, the Polish Government in Exile signed an agreement with the British Government to form a Polish Army and Polish Air Force in the United Kingdom. The first two (of an eventual ten) Polish fighter squadrons went into action in August 1940. Four Polish squadrons eventually took part in the Battle of Britain (300 and 301 Bomber Squadrons; 302 and 303 Fighter Squadrons), with 89 Polish pilots. Together with more than 50 Poles fighting in British squadrons, a total of 145 Polish pilots defended British skies. Polish pilots were among the most experienced in the battle, most of them having already fought in the 1939 September Campaign in Poland and the 1940 Battle of France. Additionally, prewar Poland had set a very high standard of pilot training. The 303 Squadron, named after the Polish–American hero, General Tadeusz Kościuszko, claimed the highest number of kills (126) of all fighter squadrons engaged in the Battle of Britain, even though it only joined the combat on August 30, 1940 These Polish pilots, constituting 5% of the pilots active during the Battle of Britain, were responsible for 12% of total victories in the Battle.

The Polish Air Force also fought in 1943 in Tunisia—the Polish Fighting Team (nicknamed "Skalski's Circus")—and in raids on Germany (1940–45). In the second half of 1941 and early 1942, Polish bomber squadrons formed a sixth of the forces available to RAF Bomber Command but later they suffered heavy losses, with little replenishment possibilities. Polish aircrew losses serving with Bomber Command from 1940 to 1945 were 929 killed. Ultimately eight Polish fighter squadrons were formed within the RAF and had claimed 629 Axis aircraft destroyed by May 1945. By the end of the war, around 19,400 Poles were serving in the RAF.

Polish squadrons in the United Kingdom:
 * No. 300 "Masovia" Polish Bomber Squadron (Ziemi Mazowieckiej)
 * No. 301 "Pomerania" Polish Bomber Squadron (Ziemi Pomorskiej)
 * No. 302 "City of Poznań" Polish Fighter Squadron (Poznański)
 * No. 303 "Kościuszko" Polish Fighter Squadron (Warszawski imienia Tadeusza Kościuszki)
 * No. 304 "Silesia" Polish Bomber Squadron (Ziemi Śląskiej imienia Ksiecia Józefa Poniatowskiego)
 * No. 305 "Greater Poland" Polish Bomber Squadron (Ziemi Wielkopolskiej imienia Marszałka Józefa Piłsudskiego)
 * No. 306 "City of Toruń" Polish Fighter Squadron (Toruński)
 * No. 307 "City of Lwów" Polish Fighter Squadron (Lwowskich Puchaczy)
 * No. 308 "City of Kraków" Polish Fighter Squadron (Krakowski)
 * No. 309 "Czerwien" Polish Fighter-Reconnaissance Squadron (Ziemi Czerwieńskiej)
 * No. 315 "City of Dęblin" Polish Fighter Squadron (Dębliński)
 * No. 316 "City of Warsaw" Polish Fighter Squadron (Warszawski)
 * No. 317 "City of Wilno" Polish Fighter Squadron (Wileński)
 * No. 318 "City of Gdansk" Polish Fighter-Reconnaissance Squadron (Gdański)
 * No. 663 Polish Artillery Observation Squadron – flying in support of Polish artillery units
 * Polish Fighting Team (Skalski's Circus) – attached to No. 145 Squadron RAF
 * No. 138 Special Duty Squadron Polish Flight "C"
 * No. 1586 Polish Special Duty Flight

Navy
Just on the eve of war, three destroyers—representing most of the major Polish Navy ships—had been sent for safety to the United Kingdom (Operation Peking). There they fought alongside the Royal Navy. At various stages of the war, the Polish Navy comprised two cruisers and a large number of smaller ships. The Polish navy was given a number of British ships and submarines which would otherwise have been unused due to the lack of trained British crews. The Polish Navy fought with great distinction alongside the other Allied navies in many important and successful operations, including those conducted against the GERMAN BATTLESHIP Bismarck. During the war the Polish Navy, which comprised a total of 27 ships (2 cruisers, 9 destroyers, 5 submarines and 11 torpedo boats), sailed a total of 1.2 million nautical miles, escorted 787 convoys, conducted 1,162 patrols and combat operations, sank 12 enemy ships (including 5 submarines) and 41 merchant vessels, damaged 24 more (including 8 submarines) and shot down 20 aircraft. 450 seamen out of the over 4,000 who served with the Navy lost their lives in action.
 * Cruisers:
 * ORP Dragon Dragoon – (British Danae-class cruiser)
 * ORP Conrad (British Danae class)
 * Destroyers:
 * ORP Wicher (1928) – Gale (Wicher-class destroyer) sunk September 1939
 * ORP Burza – Storm (Wicher class)
 * ORP Grom (1936) – Thunder (Grom-class destroyer) sunk 1940
 * ORP Błyskawica – Lightning (Grom class)
 * ORP Garland (British G class)
 * ORP Orkan – Windstorm (British M-class destroyer Myrmidion) sunk 1943
 * ORP Ouragan, sometimes called Huragan– Hurricane (French Bourrasque-class destroyer)
 * ORP Piorun (G65) – Thunderbolt (British N class)
 * Escort destroyers:
 * ORP Krakowiak (L115) – Cracovian (British Hunt-class destroyer) 1941–1946
 * ORP Kujawiak (L72) – Kujawian (British Hunt class)
 * ORP Ślązak (L26) – Silesian (British Hunt class)
 * Submarines:
 * ORP Orzeł (1938) – Eagle (Orzeł-class submarine) lost 1940
 * ORP Sęp (1938) – Vulture (Orzeł class) interned Sweden
 * ORP Jastrząb – Hawk (USN S class)
 * ORP Wilk (1929) – Wolf (Wilk-class submarine) to reserve 1942
 * ORP Ryś – Lynx (Wilk class) interned Sweden
 * ORP Żbik – Wildcat (Wilk class) interned Sweden
 * ORP Dzik (P52) – Boar (British U class) 1942–1946
 * ORP Sokół (1940) – Falcon (British U class) 1941–1945
 * Heavy minelayers:
 * ORP Gryf (1936) – Griffin sunk 1939
 * Light minelayers ("ptaszki"– "Birds"):
 * ORP Jaskółka – Swallow, sunk 1939
 * ORP Mewa – Seagull
 * ORP Rybitwa – Tern
 * ORP Czajka – Lapwing
 * ORP Żuraw – Crane
 * ORP Czapla – Heron
 * Polish River Fleet

This does not include a number of minor ships, transports, merchant-marine auxiliary vessels, and patrol boats. Polish Merchant Navy contributed about 137,000 BRT to Allied shipping; losing 18 ships (with capacity of 76,000 BRT) and over 200 sailors during the war.

Polish Forces (East)
After the Polish government-in-exile organized the Anders Army in 1941 in the Soviet Union in the aftermath of the Operation Barbarossa and evacuated it to the West, Polish communists sought to create a new army, under communist control, out of the many ethnic Poles that remained in the Soviet Union. These were primarily citizens of the prewar Second Polish Republic that had been deported and often imprisoned by the Soviets following the Soviet annexation of Poland's eastern territories, as per the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. The Soviet Union created the Union of Polish Patriots (ZPP) in 1943, a communist Polish organization intended to represent the interest of Poles on Soviet soil and organize this new army. The relocated Poles, along with numbers of Byelorussians, Ukrainians, and Polish Jews, were organized into a division, the nucleus of a force known as the Polish People's Army (Ludowe Wojsko Polskie, LWP) but colloquially known as the Berling Army after its first commander, Zygmunt Berling. The division made its combat debut in October 1943 at the Battle of Lenino. Afterwards, it was rapidly expanded into the 1st Polish Corps, which in turn grew by 1944 into the 1st Polish Army. In 1945, 2nd Polish Army was added to the LWP. By the end of the war, the LWP numbered about 200,000 front-line soldiers. The Polish communist guerilla force, the Armia Ludowa, was integrated with the Polish People's Army in January 1944.

The Polish First Army was integrated in the 1st Belorussian Front with which it entered Poland from Soviet territory in 1944. During the 1944 Warsaw Uprising it liberated the suburb of Praga, but otherwise sat out most of the battle, aside from a series of unsuccessful crossings of the Vistula in mid-September. It took part in battles for Bydgoszcz (Bromberg), Kolobrzeg (Kolberg), Gdańsk (Danzig) and Gdynia, losing about 17,500 killed in action over the course of the war. In April–May 1945 the 1st Army fought in the final capture of Berlin. The Polish Second Army fought as part of the Soviet 1st Ukrainian Front and took part in the Prague Offensive. In the final operations of the war the casualties of the two armies of the LWP amounted to approximately 67,000.

Poles in the German Armed Forces
Hundreds of thousands of former Polish citizens, particularly residents of parts of Poland annexed to Germany, were conscripted into the German Armed Forces. Also, a number of former Polish citizens, especially members of the prewar German minority in Poland (see Volksliste), volunteered for service in the German Armed Forces. These were mostly members of the German minority in Poland who were considered by the Nazi authorities to be ethnically German (Volksdeutsche). In 1939 during the Invasion of Poland they created the paramilitary organisation Volksdeutscher Selbstschutz, and actively supported German forces in occupied Poland.

On the Western Front, German military personnel of Polish ethnicity, held in prisoner-of-war camps, became a substantial source of manpower for the Polish Armed Forces in the West. Nearly 90,000 former German military personnel were eventually recruited into the Polish Armed Forces in the West. By Victory Day (9 May) in 1945, a third of Polish service members in the West were former members of the German Armed Forces.

Battles

Major battles and campaigns in which Polish regular forces took part:

Technology

 * Józef Kosacki invented the Polish mine detector, which would be used by the Allies from 1942.
 * The Vickers Tank Periscope MK.IV was invented by engineer Rudolf Gundlach and patented in 1936 as the Gundlach Peryskop obrotowy. Initially it was mounted in Polish tanks such as the 7TP and TKS. Subsequently, the design patent was sold to the British for a nominal sum and used in most tanks of World War II, including the Soviet T-34, the British Crusader, Churchill, Valentine and Cromwell tanks, and the American M4 Sherman. The main advantage of the periscope was that the tank commander no longer had to turn his head in order to look backwards. The design was also later used extensively by the Germans.
 * pistolet wz. 35 Vis, often simply called the "Radom" in English sources, is a 9 mm caliber, single-action, semi-automatic pistol. It was adopted in 1935 as the standard handgun of the Polish Army. The design was appropriated by the Germans and from 1939 to 1945, 312,000–380,000 VIS pistols were produced and used by the German paratroopers and police as the 9 mm Pistole 35(p).
 * PZL.37 Łoś was a Polish twin-engine medium bomber designed in the mid-1930s at the PZL factory in Warsaw by Jerzy Dąbrowski, and used operationally in the Invasion of Poland in 1939. Thanks to the laminar-flow wing it was one of the most modern bombers in the world before World War II.
 * Swiatecki bomb slip, a bomb-release system was invented by Władysław Świątecki in 1925 and patented in the 1926 in Poland and abroad. Some components was used in the pre-war Polish PZL.37 Łoś (Elk) bomber. In 1940 Świątecki's invention was taken over by the British, who used it in the Avro Lancaster bomber. In 1943, an updated version was created by Jerzy Rudlicki for the American B-17 Flying Fortress.
 * Wz. 35 anti-tank rifle, 7.92 mm anti-tank rifle developed in secret and used by the Polish Army during the invasion of Poland invented by Józef Maroszek (engineer). The rifle was a development of the Mauser rifle with its own special 7.92 mm cartridge with a muzzle velocity of over 1,000 meters per second. With a range of 300 metres it was very effective against all German tanks of the period (the Panzer I, II and III, as well as the Czech-made LT-35 and LT-38 tanks in German service) at 100 meters.
 * In World War II, there was an important need to take bearings on the high frequency radio transmissions used by the German Kriegsmarine. The engineering of such high frequency direction finding systems for operation on ships presented severe technical problems, mainly due to the effects of the superstructure on the wavefront of arriving radio signals. However, solutions to these problems were proposed by the Polish engineer Waclaw Struszynski, who also led the team which developed the first practical system at the Admiralty Signal Establishment, England. These systems were installed on convoy escort ships, and were very effective against the U-boats in the Battle of the Atlantic.  The father of Wacław Struszyński was Professor Marceli Struszyński, a member of the Polish resistance, who analysed the fuel used in the V2 rocket, the formula being subsequently sent to England.
 * Henryk Magnuski, a Polish engineer working for Motorola, co-designed the SCR-300 radio in 1940. It was the first small radio receiver/transmitter to have manually set frequencies. It was used extensively by the American Army and was nicknamed the "walkie-talkie".

Weapons
Polish engineers who escaped German-occupied Poland contributed to weapon developments during the war. A Polish/Czech/British team brought the 20 mm Polsten to fruition as a simpler and cheaper to produce but as effective derivative of the Oerlikon 20 mm cannon.

The Polish Home Army was probably the only World War II resistance movement to manufacture large quantities of weaponry and munitions. In addition to production of pre-war designs they developed and produced during the war the Błyskawica submachine gun, Bechowiec, KIS and Polski Sten (from the British Sten) machine pistols as well as the filipinka and sidolówka hand grenades. During the Warsaw Uprising Polish engineers built several armoured cars, such as the Kubuś, which also took part in the fighting. The KIS was designed and made in the Jan Piwnik's "Ponury" ("Grim") guerrilla unit that was operating in Holy Cross Mountains region. It was probably the only kind of modern firearm that could be manufactured in the forest without the need for sophisticated tools and factory equipment during the Second World War.

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