In April 2017, following the three members being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of Yes,[2] the band announced their new name,[3] which they had already been using in European touring.

The first announcement of activity between the three came on the 6 February 2010 episode of Wakeman's radio show on Planet Rock, when he mentioned a recent discussion among himself, Rabin, "and a couple of other ex-members of Yes who will remain nameless" about the idea of recording a new album.

Rumours that former Yes drummer Bill Bruford was to be a participant caught some momentum after they were reported in rock music magazines.

[11][12] After several weeks of speculation about the rumour, Bruford wrote a blog entry on his website in May 2010 stressing his retirement from performance in 2009, and denied any involvement in such plans with the claim that he was not invited by either member.

[14][15] In October 2010, Rabin said that the group had yet to formally begin work on the project, but noted Anderson and himself were "really itching" to proceed.

[30] The An Evening of Yes Music and More tour began in October 2016 and finished one year later, covering North America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

[32][31][33] On 9 April 2017, the band issued a press release which announced their name change to Yes Featuring Jon Anderson, Trevor Rabin, Rick Wakeman,[3] a name that had been used on the prior European leg of touring.

[43] Anderson described their new songs as "unique";[20] Wakeman said they sound "Very fresh, full of life, energy and melody".

[18] Development on the material halted in March 2012 when Rabin needed time with his family and his career in film scoring, and Wakeman had become too busy with other commitments.

In June 2016, Rabin said that the group had assembled just "bits and pieces of song ideas", and that offers had been made by record labels, but all were declined so the trio could maintain control over the album's musical direction.

[23] Three months later, they decided not to play their new music on their debut tour because of the likelihood that audience recordings of the new songs would surface online while they were still being worked on.

[49] In July 2018, the first original song by the band, "Fragile", had its debut broadcast on Steve Jones' radio show Jonesy's Jukebox on KLOS-FM in Los Angeles.

[4][57] In a 2023 interview with Innerviews, Rabin cast new light on the band's relatively short lifespan and why it had never released any recorded material, affectionately describing Yes as "a whale.

In the end, I felt no band has the right to impose its problems and nonsense on the people who just want to hear the music... there have been a number of times where I thought the politics of Yes were too much.