'I'm surprised by the number of young bands who are into prog' … Rick Wakeman in the 1970s. Photograph: Neal Preston/Corbis
Hi, Rick. How are you?
Breathing.
Breathing.
I hear you've been made King Rat (1).
Yes! I'm chuffed to old boots. Past members include Laurel and Hardy and Charlie Chaplin, and we have three royal members: Prince Philip, Prince Charles and Prince Michael of Kent. It's a highly respected order.Danny La Rue was a King Rat, so was Engelbert Humperdinck.
Yes! I'm chuffed to old boots. Past members include Laurel and Hardy and Charlie Chaplin, and we have three royal members: Prince Philip, Prince Charles and Prince Michael of Kent. It's a highly respected order.Danny La Rue was a King Rat, so was Engelbert Humperdinck.
Did you have a grumpy old Christmas, being one of TV's Grumpy Old Men?
Very. There's a fine line between angry and grumpy. Angry isn't nice, but grumpy is funny.
Very. There's a fine line between angry and grumpy. Angry isn't nice, but grumpy is funny.
Have you always been grumpy?
Well, I did once refuse to walk up the church aisle with Mary because I didn't like her. I was a grumpy young Joseph. I was eight.
Well, I did once refuse to walk up the church aisle with Mary because I didn't like her. I was a grumpy young Joseph. I was eight.
When did you last have a good moan?
Yesterday, because of the trains. Adam, my second-eldest son, plays keyboards with Black Sabbath and he came and stayed with me so I took him to the station and there were, as expected, delays. I didn't moan at the staff – it's not their fault. The people to blame are always invisible.
Yesterday, because of the trains. Adam, my second-eldest son, plays keyboards with Black Sabbath and he came and stayed with me so I took him to the station and there were, as expected, delays. I didn't moan at the staff – it's not their fault. The people to blame are always invisible.
Do people try and get you to whinge on tap?
People moan at me! They come up to me on the train. They sit down and go: "I'll tell you something you can moan about." One bloke started complaining about his wife. He said he couldn't take it any more. She didn't do the washing or the cooking – it's hopeless, he said.
People moan at me! They come up to me on the train. They sit down and go: "I'll tell you something you can moan about." One bloke started complaining about his wife. He said he couldn't take it any more. She didn't do the washing or the cooking – it's hopeless, he said.
What was it like joining Yes?
They asked me to join the same day that David Bowie asked me to form the Spiders from Mars with Mick Ronson. It was really weird. I said to Yes that I'd come along to rehearsals, let's see how we all get on. Anyway, I drove Steve Howe to Hampstead on the way back to my house in Harrow, and as I dropped him off he said, "Could you pick us up in the morning?" And I said, "Yeah, will do." It rather appeared that I'd joined.
They asked me to join the same day that David Bowie asked me to form the Spiders from Mars with Mick Ronson. It was really weird. I said to Yes that I'd come along to rehearsals, let's see how we all get on. Anyway, I drove Steve Howe to Hampstead on the way back to my house in Harrow, and as I dropped him off he said, "Could you pick us up in the morning?" And I said, "Yeah, will do." It rather appeared that I'd joined.
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