Richard Christopher Wakeman (born May 18, 1949) is the keyboard player of Yes. He has joined and quit the group many times, and was last featured in the studio tracks of Keys To Ascension and Keys To Ascension 2. Wakeman was born in the suburb of Perivale, West London, and attended Drayton Manor Grammar School. He initially studied piano, clarinet, orchestration and modern music at the Royal College of Music, but he was expelled due to neglect of his studies in favour of work as a session musician.