Prog-rock supergroup Asia has announced plans to launch a 40th anniversary tour this summer, while also revealing that the band has welcomed a new member into the lineup.
Joining Asia as its new lead vocalist and guitarist is Marc Bonilla, a former member of late Emerson, Lake & Palmer keyboardist Keith Emerson‘s solo band. Bonilla replaces ex-Guns N’ Roses guitarist Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal, who joined Asia in 2019.
The group currently also features two founding members, drummer Carl Palmer and keyboardist Geoff Downes, as well as bassist Billy Sherwood, who joined the band in 2017 after the death of original lead singer and bassist John Wetton.
Downes and Sherwood both are also part of Yes’ current lineup, while Palmer, of course, is a co-founder of ELP and the famed prog-rock trio’s last surviving member.
Asia’s 40th anniversary tour is expected hit the U.S. leg in late summer.
“40 years of ASIA is a real musical milestone for us,” says 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 ever since, although we lost John in 2017 to cancer. Still, we have endured and will carry on now with Marc Bonilla, who we know will be a great addition to the band.”
Adds Palmer, “The fans have never left ASIA. 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,’ ‘Sole Survivor,’ and ‘Only Time Will Tell,’ still hold up today.”
In December, Asia released a 10-CD box set titled The Official Live Bootlegs Volume 1 that features five full concerts by the band’s original lineup from various years.
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