John Wetton

John Kenneth Wetton (12 June 1949 – 31 January 2017) was an English musician, singer and songwriter.[1] Known for his dexterous bass playing and booming baritone voice, Wetton first began to gain fame in 1971 when he joined Family for a short time before joining King Crimson in 1972.[2]

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John Wetton
Background information
Birth name	John Kenneth Wetton
Born	(1949-06-12)12 June 1949 Willington, Derbyshire, England
Origin	Bournemouth, Dorset, England
Died	31 January 2017(2017-01-31) (aged 67) Bournemouth, Dorset, England
Genres	Progressive rock hard rock pop rock jazz fusion classic rock AOR
Occupation(s)	Musician singer songwriter producer
Instrument(s)	Bass vocals guitar keyboards
Years active	1965–2017
Labels	E.G. Atlantic Records Geffen Universal Records Island Eagle Avalon EMI King Records Frontiers
Formerly of	Mogul Thrash Family King Crimson Roxy Music Uriah Heep U.K. Wishbone Ash Steve Hackett Band Asia Renaissance Qango
Website	Official website

After the breakup of King Crimson at the end of 1974, Wetton spent the next seven years as a member of several other progressive rock and hard rock bands, Roxy Music (1974–1975), Uriah Heep (1975–1976), U.K. (1977–1980) and Wishbone Ash (1980–1981).[1] In 1981, he became the co-founder, singer and principal songwriter of supergroup Asia,[1] which proved to be his biggest commercial success. The debut Asia album sold ten million copies worldwide and was Billboard magazine's number one album of 1982.

He later formed the duo Icon with his Asia bandmate (and songwriting partner) Geoff Downes. From the 1990s he had a successful solo career. Wetton signed his name with his left hand[3] but played bass right handed.