43 Facts About Chris Squire

Christopher Russell Edward Squire was an English musician, singer and songwriter best known as the bassist and backing vocalist of the progressive rock band Yes.

Chris Squire was the longest-serving original member, having remained in the band until his death and appearing on every studio album released from 1969 to 2014.

Chris Squire's name was associated with his trademark instrument, the Rickenbacker 4001.

Chris Squire was born on 4 March 1948 in the north west London suburb of Kingsbury, to Peter and Joanne Chris Squire.

Chris Squire grew up there and in the nearby Queensbury and Wembley areas.

Chris Squire's father was a cab driver and his mother a secretary for an estate agent.

Chris Squire sang in the choir at his next school, Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School, then located in Hampstead.

Chris Squire played the harmonica on his way home from school.

Chris Squire did not consider a music career until the age of sixteen when the emergence of The Beatles and the Beat music boom in the early 1960s inspired him to "be in a group that don't use music stands".

Chris Squire used the staff discount offer to purchase a new bass, a Rickenbacker 4001, in 1965.

Chris Squire was fond of using LSD in the 1960s; a visit to the UFO Club on the drug on Friday which lasted through Saturday, and recovery on Sunday, became a regular event until a 1967 incident where he had a bad trip on a friend's home made LSD.

Chris Squire spent each day practising his bass playing which resulted in his distinct style, citing bassists John Entwistle, Jack Bruce, Larry Graham, and Bill Wyman as early influences.

In September 1967, Chris Squire joined Mabel Greer's Toyshop, a psychedelic group that included Peter Banks, singer Clive Bayley and drummer Bob Hagger.

Chris Squire described his playing on "The Remembering " from Tales from Topographic Oceans as "one of the nicest things I think I've ever played".

Chris Squire was the only member to play on each of their 21 studio albums released from 1969 to 2014.

Chris Squire was seen as one of the main forces behind the band's music, as well as being "perhaps the most enigmatic" group member.

Chris Squire concentrated overwhelmingly on Yes' music over the years, producing little solo work.

Chris Squire played a role in bringing Trevor Rabin into the Cinema band project, which became the 90125 line-up of Yes.

In later years, Chris Squire would join with Yes guitarist Billy Sherwood in a side project called Conspiracy.

Chris Squire worked on two solo projects with other former Syn collaborators Gerard Johnson, Jeremy Stacey and Paul Stacey.

Chris Squire collaborated again with Hackett, formerly of the band Genesis, to make the Squackett album A Life Within a Day, released in 2012.

Chris Squire played primarily with a pick held with the tip very close to his own fingertips, meaning that his thumb would strike the strings right after the pick, causing subtle harmonics.

Chris Squire made frequent use of hammer-ons, pull-offs as well as alternate and tremolo picking.

Chris Squire made notable use of fret buzz, a normally undesirable condition caused by low string action, to create a further, growling edge to his playing.

Chris Squire played with a pick which contributed to the sharp attack as well as using fresh Rotosound Swing Bass strings for every show.

John Deacon of Queen was inspired by Chris Squire, and told Guitar Magazine that Chris Squire was his favourite bass player.

Chris Squire's main instrument was a 1964 Rickenbacker bass which he bought and began playing in 1965.

Yes' 1983 comeback single "Owner of a Lonely Heart" featured a custom green four-string designed by Jim Mouradian, while during the late 1980s Chris Squire played a variety of Tobias four and five-string basses.

Later in his life, Chris Squire added to his armoury of four-string basses with models by Lakland and Yamaha.

Chris Squire's initial choice was a prototype Rickenbacker eight-string, but from the mid-1970s onwards this was superseded by a custom instrument made by Ranney.

Apart from his Rickenbacker, Chris Squire played another iconic bass guitar - a custom triple-neck made by Wal and originally constructed for Roger Newell of the Rick Wakeman band, and which Wakeman subsequently gifted to Chris Squire.

Chris Squire was an enthusiastic user of bass pedals, initially playing Moog Taurus pedals but later replacing them with samples triggered from an E-Mu ESI2000 sampler via a pedal array.

Chris Squire met his first wife Nikki in 1970 at a club in London.

Chris Squire sang on the 1981 Christmas single "Run with the Fox" and the track "Hold Out Your Hand" from Fish Out of Water.

Chris Squire gave birth to their son Cameron in 2000.

Chris Squire played Brittany Norman on The Young and the Restless and later returned to the daytime drama as Agnes Sorensen.

At some point in his life, Chris Squire suffered a heart attack.

The name seems to have mostly been initiated by bandmate Bill Bruford, who has commented on how Chris Squire spent long periods in the bathroom while they shared a house together in Fulham and how, in the early days of Yes' career, he once accidentally flooded a hotel room in Oslo, Norway, while taking a shower.

The nickname is incorporated into several of Chris Squire's works including his solo record, Fish Out of Water, and the solo piece "The Fish " from the 1971 Yes record Fragile.

In 2011, a species of fossil fish was named Tarkus squirei in Chris Squire's honour, referencing his nickname.

On 19 May 2015, Yes announced that Chris Squire had been diagnosed with acute erythroid leukemia, and would take a break from performing while receiving treatment.

Chris Squire died 13 years to the day after an early musical influence, John Entwistle.

In November 2018, the tribute album A Life in Yes: The Chris Squire Tribute was released by Purple Pyramid Records.