The world of rock and roll has seen its share of sad events, like the untimely deaths of famous names like Kurt Cobain, Amy Winehouse, Chester Bennington, and many more. There have also been big disasters, such as the plane crash of Lynyrd Skynyrd and the fire that killed 100 people during a performance of Great White.
Yes’ guitarist Steve Howe also endured the greatest personal tragedy of his life when he lost his son, Virgil, in September 2017 due to a heart attack. Virgil was only 41 when he passed away. When asked about his son’s death in a 2020 conversation with Classic Rock, Howe said:
“He was 41 and had a heart attack of some kind, and we don’t really know anymore. It’s our biggest tragedy, of our personal lives in our family, to lose Virgil, since we loved him so much. We’d just formed a musical partnership as well.”
The musician continued, detailing their collaborative musical efforts:
“We’d just recorded ‘Nexus,’ and we brought it out even though it was a couple of months after he passed away. He was really proud of the record. It was really his music and my collaboration. So it’s a record that has a sadness about it. If he hadn’t passed away, we would have immersed ourselves in it and enjoyed it so much more.”
The late rocker had worked with his father for the first time in Steve’s 1993 solo album, ‘The Grand Scheme of Things.’ Virgil contributed to the keyboard and piano parts. Ten years later, he again played keyboards and sang vocals on Howe’s thirteenth solo record, ‘Elements.’
Virgil’s last collaboration with the guitarist was the 2017 instrumental album, ‘Nexus,’ which was released after his sudden death. Yes decided to suspend their Yestival tour and had to cancel the seven remaining dates following Virgil’s passing.
