John Payne

John Timothy Payne (born 29 September 1958 in Luton, England) is an English musician, best known as the lead singer and bassist of Asia from 1991 to 2006, then from June 2007, with Asia featuring John Payne. He also is now in Dukes of the Orient but continues to tour with The Rock Pack and also Asia Featuring John Payne. John Payne became the frontman of Asia in 1991 at the invitation of founder member Geoff Downes, replacing vocalist/bassist John Wetton. During Payne's tenure, Asia released eight studio albums, several live albums and toured internationally. He is a founding and current member of modern progressive rock band GPS. He is also a guitarist, photographer, composer, recording engineer and record producer. Until recently, Payne was co-creator and part of the Las Vegas production Raiding the Rock Vault at the Las Vegas Hotel. Biography His first band were called Moonstone. They toured the UK in the late seventies, opening for well-known groups such as Argent. In 1986, he recorded a silver selling record with the band CCCP in Scandinavia. CCCP was a group that featured John on lead vocals with Johnny Cash's stepdaughter Carlene Carter sharing vocal duties.