The 80's were a time of continued solo work and contributions for fellow musicians including collaborations with Rare Birds Steve Gould and a lengthy tour with John Mayall and Stones guitarist Mick Taylor filling out his band.

The band did reunite in 1988 for a European tour and to cut the album 'It's About Time' in 1989. But they split again for good following that album. In 2001, Ric Lee was preparing the back catalogue for release when he came across the 'Live At The Filmore East 1970' tapes. He approached Lee about reuniting to support the disc, Lee declined. The rest of the band thought otherwise and together with guitarist Joe Gooch, hit the road as 'Ten Years After'. They have been touring since and released a new disc called 'Now' in 2004 and a new live disc, 'Roadworks' in 2005.

Lee himself is not thrilled with this arrangement and quotes like "They have decided to tour under the name of Ten Years After which I don't think is very cool. To be honest, they have had to do that as it's the only way they can get any work," show that there is still a certain amount of resentment with his former band mates. But Lee, still considered a formidable guitar player keeps himself busy recording and touring as a solo act.

So from a young idealistic band that truly believed that they could change the world to superstars in rock and roll and back, Ten Years After survives, albeit in somewhat different forms. If you spend some time reading the back pages of the music history books and sniffing around the dusty discount bins at your local CD shop, you might be amazed at what you can find.