EMERSON, LAKE & PALMER’s Greg Lake Dies Aged 69
December 8th, 2016
|
|
Greg Lake, co-founding singer, guitarist and bass player of English progressive rock supergroup Emerson, Lake & Palmer, passed away on December 7th, 2016 at the age of 69 after a long battle with cancer.
Emerson, Lake & Palmer’s longtime manager Stewart Young issued the following statement: “Yesterday, December 7th, I lost my best friend to a long and stubborn battle with cancer. Greg Lake will stay in my heart forever, as he has always been. His family would be grateful for privacy during this time of their grief.”
Gregory Stuart Lake was born on November 10th, 1947 in Poole, Dorset, and was a member of the first King Crimson line-up, appearing on the progressive rock band’s first two full-length studio albums In The Court Of The Crimson King (October 1969) and In The Wake Of Poseidon (May 1970).
Emerson, Lake & Palmer formed in 1970, consisting of Lake, keyboardist Keith Emerson (formerly of Nice) and drummer Carl Palmer (ex-The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown). Following a performance at the Isle Of Wight festival on August 29th that year, the trio were signed by Ahmet Ertegun of Atlantic Records. A self-titled record arrived in November 1970, three LPs following in quick succession; Tarkus (June 1971), Trilogy (July 1972) and Brain Salad Surgery (November 1973).
The trio embarked on a brief hiatus to pursue solo projects, reuniting to issue Works Volume 1 (March 1977) and Works Volume 2 (November 1977), the pair of LPs being followed by Love Beach (November 1978) soon thereafter.
Emerson, Lake & Palmer disbanded in 1979. In 1985, Emerson, Lake & Powell was formed with former Rainbow and Jeff Beck member Cozy Powell stepping behind the drumkit. A lone, self-titled studio affair emerged in June 1986. Emerson and Palmer would work together once again for the project 3 in 1988, Robert Berry taking Lake’s position of vocalist, guitarist and bassist.
Emerson, Lake & Palmer reunited in 1991, with comeback record Black Moon emerging in June 1992. Ninth and final studio full-length In The Hot Seat surfaced in September 1994. Emerson, Lake & Palmer split yet again in the late 90s, reuniting for one final tour in 2010 which culminated in a swansong performance at London’s High Voltage festival in July 2010.
In addition to working within the Emerson, Lake & Palmer fold, Lake also recorded as a solo artist, and had a major hit single in 1975 with ‘I Believe In Father Christmas’.
