ASIA, one of the greatest and best-loved supergroups to emerge during the 1980s is currently preparing for an extensive 40th Anniversary celebration kicking off in summer 2022. Featuring founding members Carl Palmer (ELP) and Geoff Downes (Yes, The Buggles) the group will also include long time bassist/ vocalist Billy Sherwood (Yes) and newest member, guitarist / lead vocalist Marc Bonilla, (Keith Emerson Band). The band is being booked for a US tour for the summer.
“40 years of ASIA is a real musical milestone for us,” says Geoff Downes. “The success we experienced with our early albums has carried us through and gave us the foundation when we reformed in 2006. ASIA has been together since, although we lost John in 2017 to cancer. Still, we have endured and will carry on now with Marc Bonilla.”
The fans have never left ASIA,” says Carl Palmer. “That first ASIA album with all those radio and MTV hits weaved the fabric of the music scene in the early 1980s. Those great songs like ‘Heat Of The Moment,’ and ‘Only Time Will Tell,’ still hold up today.”
In December ASIA released its most ambitious collection to date: a 10-CD boxset The Official Live Bootlegs Volume 1 on BMG, which followed a previous 5 CD boxset of studio recordings released in April, 2021.
ABOUT ASIA: Geoff Downes (Buggles, Yes, keyboards), Steve Howe (Yes, guitars), Carl Palmer (ELP drums) and John Wetton (King Crimson, bass/vocals), took the world by storm with their debut album, globally the biggest-selling album of 1982. The single Heat Of The Moment was a world-wide monster smash and the album spent an incredible 9 weeks at No.1. A second album, Alpha, was released in 1983, followed by Astra in 1985. The four original members reconvened in 2006 for a world tour, to celebrate the 25th anniversary and went on to release five albums. In 2012 Steve Howe stepped back from ASIA to concentrate on his work with Yes, followed by John Wetton’s treatment for cancer, a fight he sadly lost in 2017.
“We are planning an extensive tour to celebrate our 40th,” adds Downes, “and the music will feature all the hits the fans have embraced. Stay tuned! It will be show you won’t want to miss.”
