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Uriah Heep are an English rock band formed in London in 1969. Their current lineup consists of guitarist Mick Box, keyboardist Phil Lanzon, lead vocalist Bernie Shaw, drummer Russell Gilbrook, and bassist Dave Rimmer. They have experienced numerous lineup changes throughout their 55-year career, leaving Box as the only remaining original member. Notable former members of the band are vocalists David Byron, John Lawton, John Sloman, and Peter Goalby; bassists Gary Thain, Trevor Bolder, John Wetton, Bob Daisley, Paul Newton, and John Jowitt; drummers Nigel Olsson, Iain Clark, Lee Kerslake, and Chris Slade; and keyboardists Ken Hensley, Gregg Dechert, and John Sinclair. Uriah Heep were part of the early 1970s rock scene and have been referred to as major pioneers of the hard rock, heavy metal and progressive rock genres. The band have sold over 40 million albums worldwide, with over 4 million sales in the US, where their best-known songs include “Gypsy“, “Easy Livin'“, “The Wizard“, “Sweet Lorraine“, and “Stealin'“. They also maintain a significant following and perform at arena-sized venues in the Balkans, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Russia, Finland and Scandinavia. Uriah Heep have released twenty-five studio albums of original material, twenty live albums and forty-one compilation albums (including two greatest hits albums). Thirteen of the band's studio albums have made it to the UK Albums Chart (Return to Fantasy reached No. 7 in 1975), while of the fifteen Billboard 200 Uriah Heep albums, Demons and Wizards was the most successful (No. 23, 1972).[5] In the late 1970s the band had massive success in Germany, where the “Lady in Black“ single was a big hit. New members, Raging Silence and Different World (1986–1993) Bernie Shaw has been the singer of Uriah Heep since 1986. The lineup remained unchanged from 1986 until 2007, with veteran Mick Box at the helm, Trevor Bolder on bass, Lee Kerslake on drums, vocalist Bernie Shaw and Phil Lanzon on keyboards. Their principal tour circuit has been in Germany, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, Japan and Russia. In December 1987 they became the first ever Western rock band to play in the Soviet Union, under Mikhail Gorbachev's policy of glasnost (Western pop acts Boney M, Cliff Richard, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and Elton John had already played shows there in the late 1970s during the pre-Gorbachev era).[36] At Moscow's Olympic Stadium the band played ten consecutive nights to a total of 180,000 people (following a reception that Bernie Shaw remembered as being “something like Beatlemania“), which was represented in the international press as not just an achievement for Uriah Heep but a major breakthrough for Western music in general. The concerts were recorded and issued as the Live in Moscow album, which included three new tracks. Raging Silence, produced by Richard Dodd and released in May 1989, was followed by a return to the Soviet Union, concerts in Poland, East Berlin, six dates in Brazil and another British tour. “The last two years have been the most enjoyable of all my time in Heep“, Trevor Bolder was quoted to say at the time. The band played in the Central TV studios in Nottingham on 29 November 1989 (the film was shown as part of the Independent TV series Bedrock and a few years later it was repeated in the Cue Music series) and celebrated its 20th anniversary with a series of compilations and re-issues. Produced by Trevor Bolder and released early in 1991, Different World got a mixed reception from the press (put down in Kerrang!, hailed in Metal Hammer) and sold poorly. “Yet another technically sound but artistically bland recording from Uriah Heep“ (according to AllMusic)[37] failed to chart and marked the end of the band's contract with Legacy Records. Touring incessantly, the band issued some compilations of which Rarities from the Bronze Age and The Lansdowne Tapes (featuring previously unreleased material from the early 1970s) are considered most noteworthy. Still, the first half of the 1990s is regarded even by the Heep fans as “the wilderness years“ In a July 2020 interview with Sea of Tranquility, guitarist Mick Box and bassist Dave Rimmer confirmed that Uriah Heep were scheduled to begin recording their 25th studio album in early 2021. When asked about a possible release date, Box said: “I think release is all down to the record company, I've gotta be honest. We never get a shout on that. They always seem to have some reason to release it at this time, that time, whatever time.“ In November 2021, Box revealed that the recording sessions of the new album were finished and “over in L.A. now being mixed“. On 27 January 2023, Uriah Heep released its 25th studio album, Chaos & Colour, which was preceded by the two singles “Save Me Tonight“ and “Hurricane“. On a spring 2024 US tour with Saxon, keyboardist Lanzon was called away due to family commitments. Adam Wakeman (son of Rick Wakeman) came in to sub for Lanzon
