William Scott Bruford was born on 17 May 1949 and is an English former drummer and percussionist who first gained prominence as a founding member of the progressive rock band Yes.
62 Facts About Bill Bruford
2.
In 1978, he formed his own group, Bill Bruford, which was active until 1980.
3.
Bill Bruford then played with his former Yes bandmates in Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe, which eventually led to a very brief second stint in Yes.
4.
Bill Bruford played in King Crimson for his third and final tenure from 1994 to 1997, then continued with a new acoustic configuration of Earthworks.
5.
On 1 January 2009, Bill Bruford retired from professional drumming, only briefly returning for a few private gigs.
6.
Bill Bruford has pursued other projects since then, including the operation of his two record labels, Summerfold and Winterfold, releasing an autobiography in 2009, and speaking and writing about music.
7.
In 2016, after four and a half years of study, Bill Bruford received a PhD in Music from the University of Surrey.
8.
That year, Bill Bruford ranked No 16 on Rolling Stone list of the "100 Greatest Drummers of All Time".
9.
In 2017, Bill Bruford was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Yes.
10.
Bill Bruford was born on 17 May 1949 in Sevenoaks, Kent, the third child of Betty and John Bill Bruford, a veterinary surgeon.
11.
Bill Bruford has a brother, John, and a sister, Jane.
12.
Bill Bruford attended New Beacon School in Sevenoaks, followed by Tonbridge School in Tonbridge, a boarding school.
13.
Bill Bruford decided to take up drumming at thirteen after watching American jazz drummers on the BBC2 television series Jazz 625, and practised the instrument in the attic of his house.
14.
Bill Bruford cites Max Roach, Joe Morello, Art Blakey and Ginger Baker as the most influential drummers on him as a young man.
15.
Around this time, Bill Bruford's sister bought him a pair of drum brushes as a birthday present, and Bill Bruford would practise using them on album sleeves after he was told the sound resembled a snare drum while watching Jazz 625.
16.
Bill Bruford later took a few lessons from Lou Pocock, a member of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
17.
Bill Bruford then spotted an ad in a music shop from The Noise, who were looking for a drummer to play with them for a six-week residency at the Piper Club in Rome, Italy.
18.
Bill Bruford remembered the experience as "ghastly", felt his bandmates could not play properly, and had to hitchhike back to London with his kit.
19.
Bill Bruford played on Yes's first five studio albums during his initial tenure: Yes, Time and a Word, The Yes Album, Fragile, and Close to the Edge.
20.
Bill Bruford is featured on Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Starless and Bible Black, Red and the live album USA.
21.
Bill Bruford then chose to wait for an appealing offer while earning money as a session musician.
22.
In 1975, Bill Bruford played drums on Fish Out of Water by Chris Squire, HQ by Roy Harper, and At the Sound of the Bell by Pavlov's Dog.
23.
Bill Bruford then joined National Health for several live performances, but declined an offer to join full-time as there were already many writers in the group, and felt his contributions to the music, the majority of which was already written, would have caused problems.
24.
Bill Bruford wished not to force a band together, so he decided to "watch, wait, observe and absorb".
25.
From March to July 1976, Bill Bruford toured with Genesis on their 1976 tour of North America and Europe, supporting A Trick of the Tail.
26.
Bill Bruford had known Collins for several years and suggested sitting in the drum seat until Genesis found a permanent replacement.
27.
Bill Bruford is featured on the Genesis: In Concert film and the live albums Seconds Out and Three Sides Live.
28.
In late 1976, Bill Bruford became involved in a tentative rock trio with Rick Wakeman and John Wetton, but they soon disbanded.
29.
In 1977, Bill Bruford recorded his debut solo album Feels Good to Me, with Dave Stewart, Jeff Berlin, and Allan Holdsworth.
30.
The four stuck together and became a full-time band named Bill Bruford, which featured Annette Peacock on vocals, Kenny Wheeler on flugelhorn, and John Goodsall on rhythm guitar.
31.
Later in 1978, Bill Bruford reunited with John Wetton and formed the progressive rock group UK After their debut album UK and several tours, Holdsworth and Bill Bruford left the group due to disagreements on the group's musical direction.
32.
Bill Bruford resumed activity in his own group to release One of a Kind.
33.
In 1981, Bill Bruford returned to King Crimson in a new formation with Fripp, Tony Levin, and Adrian Belew.
34.
Bill Bruford embraced the Simmons drums for the next fifteen years as it allowed him to play programmed chords, samples, tuned pitches, and sound effects, which expanded his musical palette.
35.
In 1984, Fripp disbanded the group; Bill Bruford picked the live album Absent Lovers: Live in Montreal as one of the best rock albums he played on.
36.
In 1983, Bill Bruford formed a duo with Swiss keyboardist and former Yes member Patrick Moraz after he learned that Moraz was living close to him in Surrey.
37.
The project had Bill Bruford develop a "real taste for improvising".
38.
Also in 1985, Bill Bruford was approached by Jimmy Page to be the drummer for his new band with Paul Rodgers and Pino Palladino named The Firm.
39.
In 1986, Bill Bruford formed his jazz group Earthworks with Django Bates, Iain Ballamy and Mick Hutton, with initial assistance from Dave Stewart.
40.
Bill Bruford put Earthworks on hold in late 1988, after Jon Anderson invited him to play on a new album that featured past Yes members Rick Wakeman and Steve Howe.
41.
Bill Bruford was under the impression that he was performing on an Anderson solo album, but the four went on to become a group and named themselves Anderson Bill Bruford Wakeman Howe.
42.
Bill Bruford later remarked that while ABWH could have been an interesting group had they been given time to develop instead of being pushed immediately into a recording studio, for him it was primarily a business-motivated arrangement which he took on so that he could pay for Earthworks.
43.
Bill Bruford was attracted to the idea of recording on Montserrat, and convinced Anderson to have Tony Levin on bass.
44.
Union, featuring tracks from both groups, was criticised by almost the entire band; Bill Bruford called it "the worst record I've ever been on".
45.
Bill Bruford took part in the subsequent Union Tour in 1991 and 1992, and though he enjoyed the enthusiastic audiences in large venues and performing with former bandmates, he found the experience "pretty horrible".
46.
Bill Bruford resumed with Earthworks in January 1991, and the group released a studio and live album.
47.
Bill Bruford then left the group, and King Crimson altogether, mainly due to his frustration with rehearsals, which he felt came to nothing.
48.
In 2003, Bill Bruford established two record labels: Winterfold Records, which cover his early releases including his guitar and rock-oriented music, and Summerfold Records, focusing on his jazz output, mostly from post-1987.
49.
In January 2009, at age 59, Bill Bruford announced that he was retiring from performing and recording, after 41 years in music, effective 1 January.
50.
Bill Bruford had kept a diary of his gigs throughout his career, and logged 2,885 gigs.
51.
Not long into his retirement, Bill Bruford had a brief, low key stint in Ann Bailey's Soul House, a nine-piece band performing Motown and soul covers in Ewhurst, Surrey.
52.
In February 2016, after four and a half years of study, Bill Bruford received a PhD degree in Music from the University of Surrey.
53.
Bill Bruford had wanted to do something related to music following his retirement, and considered his missed opportunity in pursuing higher education in the late 1960s as a factor in his decision to enter academia.
54.
Bill Bruford's thesis, "Making it work: Creative music performance and the Western kit drummer", was posted online in May 2016.
55.
Bill Bruford has since written various journal articles, book chapters and liner notes, and presented guest lectures at universities and music institutions in Europe and North America.
56.
Bill Bruford attended the ceremony, but did not perform or deliver an acceptance speech.
57.
In March 2018, Bill Bruford introduced Yes at their two London shows during their 50th Anniversary Tour.
58.
Later that year, Bill Bruford published his second book, Uncharted: Creativity and the Expert Drummer.
59.
In October 2020, Bill Bruford put much of his personal collection of instruments, microphones, tour cases and other equipment from his career up for sale, totalling 258 separate listings.
60.
In January 2022, Bill Bruford launched his own YouTube channel to share videos from his career with additional "thoughts and anecdotes".
61.
Bill Bruford married his wife Carolyn in March 1973; they live in Surrey.
62.
When interviewed in 1982, Bill Bruford commented on his ability to compose for King Crimson.