Asia is an arena rock/progressive rock group. It was formed in 1981 as a supergroup, with former members of Yes, King Crimson, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Hold The Ladder, Uriah Heep, U.K., and The Buggles.

Asia began with the apparent demise of Yes and Emerson, Lake & Palmer, two of the flagship bands of British progressive rock. After the break-up of King Crimson in 1974, various plans for a supergroup involving bassist John Wetton had been mooted, including the abortive British Bulldog project with Bill Bruford and Rick Wakeman in 1976.

Marking a departure from convention, for the first time a studio release was not titled as a single word starting and ending with the letter A. 2004's Silent Nation (name influenced by the Howard Stern vs. FCC incident) picked up some unexpected exposure on the Internet.

The band now had a more stable line-up of Geoff Downes, John Payne, drummer Chris Slade and guitarist Guthrie Govan. Billy Sherwood and Jay Schellen also assisted with early sessions for the album, although neither appears on the final recording. The album managed to chart better than 1992's Aqua.

There was an acoustic tour featuring only Downes and Payne. In early 2005, the full band toured in Europe and the Americas, playing settings ranging from small clubs to medium-sized arenas. In August 2005, Slade left the group to be replaced by Schellen.

The new band started work on an album, tentatively entitled Architect of Time, for release in 2006.