The Six Wives Of Henry VIII

The Six Wives of Henry VIII is the title of a 1973 concept album by progressive rock keyboard player Rick Wakeman. It was his first solo album released in the US, though several other members of the band Yes, to which Wakeman belonged at the time, appeared on various tracks.

The compositions are Wakeman’s impression, in music, in the European Classical tradition, of each of Henry VIII’s six wives. The album performed respectably on the charts, and is viewed as one of Wakeman’s strongest solo works.

An updated (2009) version titled “The Six Wives of Henry VII - Live at Hampton Court Palace” has the additional tracks “Tudorture”, “Defender of the Faith” (based on Henry VIII) and “Tudorock”, and different and expanded arrangements of the tracks original to the 1973 album.