Born on August 10: Ian Anderson leads Jethro Tull with a baton—but above all with his flute

Ian Scott Anderson was born in 1947 in Dunfermline, Scotland, and has been at the helm of Jethro Tull since 1967.

Born into an Anglo-Scottish family, he grew up first in Edinburgh before moving to Blackpool. Naturally, he developed a passion for music from childhood onward. Now 78 years old, that passion still burns within him and keeps him on the road, even though he’s adopted a more leisurely pace these days.

He is influenced by jazz, classical music, and the blues. He eagerly rummaged through his father’s vast and eclectic collection. Without preconceptions or blinders, he absorbed the best of every genre he encountered. This largely explains Jethro Tull’s unclassifiable style.

In the 1960s, while playing guitar and harmonica in several rhythm-and-blues bands, he realized he could never compete with the virtuoso guitarists of the time. So he came up with the idea of switching instruments. It was a sense of modesty that led him to choose the flute : “I quickly realized I’d never be as good as Eric Clapton. When I started playing the flute, I had no idea what you could do with that instrument. Of course, I had a few vague references to folk or even classical music. But it really was an unlikely instrument for a rock band. I have to admit that’s exactly what appealed to me!  At first, I couldn’t get a single decent note out of it. So I put my instrument away for six months, until someone explained to me that I wasn’t supposed to blow into it but through it. Suddenly, I managed to produce a sound, then another… Within a week, I could play blues solos.”

The British band’s unmistakable sound was thus born, shaped by circumstance. It would go on to produce memorable albums such as "Aqualung" (1971) and "Thick As A Brick" (1972), as well as a handful of classic tracks such as “Reasons For Waiting,” “Bungle In The Jungle,” and above all “Locomotive Breath” and “Bourée.”

More than ever the sole master on board, Ian Anderson is the only original member still part of the Jethro Tull adventure, since his current bandmates have been with him for just a few years at most…

With some fifty concerts scheduled across Europe, Ian Anderson and Jethro Tull fully intend to showcase their latest and 24th studio album, “Curious Ruminant” (2025), while continuing to dust off the archives at a rapid pace—for example, “Under Wraps,” a five-disc box set featuring, among other things, the album “3Unwrapped” (1984)—Ian’s first solo album—and dozens of rarities. And despite the lung condition he’s been battling for several years, Anderson still has enough breath to perform the band’s classic tracks such as “Bourrée” or “Locomotive Breath” with his magical flute...

Photo: Ian Anderson with Jethro Tull on stage at Forest-National in Brussels (Belgium) in April 1982