Asia before John Payne Asia are a
supergroup formed in 1981 by
John Wetton (formerly of
King Crimson,
Uriah Heep and
U.K.),
Steve Howe (formerly of
Yes),
Carl Palmer (formerly of
Atomic Rooster,
Emerson, Lake & Palmer) and
Geoff Downes (formerly of Yes and
the Buggles). The group had a successful career with their
eponymous debut album, released in March 1982, receiving considerable commercial success, spending nine weeks at number one in the U.S. album chart and selling over 4 million copies in the U.S. alone. Wetton and Downes became the core songwriters in the band. Howe had left before the band released their third album, while Wetton left the band in 1991.
John Payne in Asia in 2001 (L-R:
Geoff Downes,
John Payne,
Chris Slade and
Guthrie Govan). In 1991, Downes invited John Payne to join a new lineup of the band, and together they enlisted new musicians. The first album with this lineup was
Aqua, released in 1992. In addition to Downes and Payne, the album featured guest appearances by Palmer and a returning Howe. Palmer, committed to an Emerson, Lake & Palmer reunion, was able to play on just three songs and left the band before touring. The live shows also featured Howe (whose presence was heavily promoted) who took the stage after the fifth song. Howe did not continue with the band after Aqua. Downes and Payne continued as Asia, releasing multiple albums, but they struggled to maintain a stable lineup around them. 2001's
Aura featured multiple guitarists, including another guest appearance from Howe and a new player
Guthrie Govan. Among the drummers on the album was
Chris Slade, who had briefly worked with the band in 1999. A stable touring lineup now emerged of Payne, Downes, Govan and Slade. This lineup went on to release
Silent Nation in 2004. In August 2005, Slade left the group to be replaced by
Jay Schellen (who had helped on some writing sessions for
Silent Nation). After a short period of further touring, the new band started work on an album, tentatively entitled
Architect of Time, which was originally planned for release in 2006.
The split In early 2006, the partnership between Downes and Payne was dissolved when Downes left for a reunion of the original band lineup under the Asia name, a breakup that Payne described as "painful". The existing lineup minus Downes,
i.e. Payne, Govan and Schellen, continued working together. They recruited
Ryo Okumoto on keyboards to form new band
GPS, using some of the material planned for
Architect of Time on their debut album,
Window to the Soul (2006). On May 9, 2006, Geoff Downes, John Wetton, Carl Palmer and Steve Howe contractually allowed John Payne to continue as "Asia Featuring John Payne,". Payne regrouped ex-members of Asia and formed the new band Asia Featuring John Payne in May 2007 with Payne on vocals/bass, Guthrie Govan on guitar and Jay Schellen on drums. Later that year,
Erik Norlander was announced on keyboards.
Touring and studio work Asia Featuring John Payne toured the US through 2008. In 2009, the band released an EP entitled
Military Man. The band has continued to tour the US since 2008, performing songs from the entire history of Asia, both before and during Payne's time in the band. In 2009 Govan was replaced by Mitch Perry, a session musician with experience touring with major acts including
Cher,
Michael Schenker and
Edgar Winter. A studio album, originally called
Architect of Time (the name ultimately used for a Payne side project instead) and then
Americana, was underway and expected for release late in 2012, but was delayed. A digital single and video "Seasons Will Change" was released in late 2012. In August 2011, the band played summer tour dates in the US with a new guitarist,
Bruce Bouillet. In 2012, the band announced that Bouillet had left to pursue solo work, replacing him with a dual guitar lineup of Moni Scaria and Jeff Kollman. Also in 2012, the group released a live album "Risen Sun" on Sony Japan, which was the third release of
Extended Versions with a different title. On April 15, 2014 the group released an album of covers called
Recollections: A Tribute to British Prog. In 2014, Norlander was replaced by
Ryo Okumoto from
GPS. Schellen stopped working with the band in 2016, and started filling in for
Alan White in
Yes alongside Geoff Downes. Asia featuring John Payne (without Norlander) has continued as a live act. In 2019, AFJP toured on a bill with former
Foreigner singer
Lou Gramm, also acting as his back-up band. In 2022, Payne announced a new Asia Featuring John Payne album titled
Aviana is in the works, and stated the album cover had already been done by
Rodney Matthews.
New line-up (2025) On January 31, 2025, Asia Featuring John Payne performed a show in
Uncasville,
Connecticut (at Wolf Den @ Mohegan Sun) with a new line-up made of John Payne on vocals, bass and guitar, Mark Cole on guitar and bass, Walter Ino on keyboards and Aaron Olson on drums. A new line-up was then announced for dates in August 2025 and beyond with Payne, Olson, Ryo Okumoto returning on keys and
Francis Dunnery on guitar. However, Dunnery left after one show. ==Personnel==