Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Emerson, Lake & Palmer | |
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The band in Toronto, Canada in 1978 | |
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| Also known as | ELP |
| Origin | London, England |
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| Website | emersonlakepalmer |
Emerson, Lake & Palmer (informally known as ELP) were an English progressive rock supergroup formed in London in 1970.[2][3] The band consisted of Keith Emerson (keyboards) of the Nice, Greg Lake (vocals, bass, guitars, producer) of King Crimson, and Carl Palmer (drums, percussion) of Atomic Rooster. With nine RIAA-certified gold record albums in the US,[4] and an estimated 48 million records sold worldwide,[5] they were one of the most popular and commercially successful progressive rock groups of the 1970s,[6][7] with a musical sound including adaptations of classical music with jazz and symphonic rock elements, dominated by Emerson's flamboyant use of the Hammond organ, Moog synthesizer, and piano (although Lake wrote several acoustic songs for the group).[8]
The band came to prominence following their performance at the Isle of Wight Festival in August 1970. In their first year, the group signed with E.G. Records (who distributed the band's records through Island Records in the United Kingdom, and Atlantic Records in North America), and released Emerson, Lake & Palmer (1970) and Tarkus (1971), both of which reached the UK top five. The band's success continued with Pictures at an Exhibition (1971), Trilogy (1972), and Brain Salad Surgery (1973, released on ELP's own Manticore Records label). After a three-year break, Emerson, Lake & Palmer released Works Volume 1 (1977) and Works Volume 2 (1977). After Love Beach (1978), the group disbanded in 1979.
The band re-formed partially in the 1980s as Emerson, Lake & Powell featuring Cozy Powell in place of Palmer, who was, by then, a member of Asia. Robert Berry then replaced Lake while Palmer returned, forming 3. In 1991, the original trio re-formed and released two more albums, Black Moon (1992) and In the Hot Seat (1994), and toured at various times between 1992 and 1998. Their final performance took place in 2010 at the High Voltage Festival in London to commemorate the band's 40th anniversary. Both Emerson and Lake died in 2016,[9][10][11] leaving Palmer as the only surviving member of the band.
Stylistically, the band was known for "[combining] heavy riffs with classical influences." Bruce Eder of AllMusic wrote, "Their flamboyance on record and in the studio echoed the best work of the heavy metal bands of the era, proving that classical rockers could compete for that arena-scale audience."[12]
- ^ Prown, Pete; Newquist, HP (1997). Legends of Rock Guitar: The Essential Reference of Rock's Greatest Guitarists. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 78. ISBN 978-0-7935-4042-6.
...British art rock groups such as the Nice, Yes, Genesis, ELP, King Crimson, the Moody Blues, and Procol Harum...
- ^ Ratliff, Ben (11 March 2016). "Keith Emerson, '70s Rock Showman With a Taste for Spectacle, Dies at 71". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 12 March 2016. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
- ^ Townsend, Martin (11 December 2016). "Greg Lake's last interview: The joy of music and keeping cancer a secret". Sunday Express.
- ^ "RIAA: – Emerson, Lake & Palmer". RIAA. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
- ^ "Greg Lake: King Crimson and ELP star dies aged 69". BBC News. 8 December 2016. Archived from the original on 8 December 2016. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
- ^ Eder, Bruce. "Emerson, Lake & Palmer". AllMusic. Retrieved 9 July 2011.
- ^ "Rolling Stone Readers Poll". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 21 January 2012. Retrieved 9 February 2012.
- ^ "Liner Notes from the DVD-A of Brain Salad Surgery – written by Jerry McCulley". ladiesofthelake.com. Archived from the original on 20 August 2015. Retrieved 28 February 2012.Lake says almost dismissively, "It used to be a thing where as a balance to the record I would write an acoustic song." Lake's ballads, the least typical aspect of ELP's music, often garnered the band their greatest airplay and widest public exposure.
- ^ "Keith Emerson's Death – Gunshot to the Head ... Looks Like Suicide (UPDATE)". 11 March 2016.
- ^ "Keith Emerson's Death Ruled a Suicide". Billboard. Lynne Segall. 11 March 2016. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
- ^ Savage, Mark (8 December 2016). "Greg Lake: King Crimson and ELP star dies aged 69". BBC News. Archived from the original on 8 December 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
- ^ "Emerson, Lake & Palmer Songs, Albums, Reviews,..." AllMusic. Retrieved 27 March 2025.