Greg Lake of Emerson, Lake & Palmer Dead at 69
Emerson, Lake & Palmer singer, bassist and guitarist Greg Lake died yesterday (Dec. 7) after what the band’s Facebook page describes as “a long and stubborn battle with cancer.”
Lake, who came to fame as the singer on King Crimson‘s first two albums, formed ELP in 1970 with drummer Carl Palmer and keyboardist Keith Emerson of the Nice. The group went on to become one of the most popular progressive rock bands of the ’70s on the strength of their jazz and classical music-influenced compositions.
This is the second loss Emerson, Lake and Palmer has suffered in less than a year. Emerson died this March after battling depression and a degenerative nerve issue.
We will have more on this breaking story shortly.
Gregory Stuart “Greg” Lake (10 November 1947 – 6 December 2016),[1] was an English singer, musician, songwriter and producer. He was a singer and bassist for King Crimsonbefore becoming the bassist, guitarist, singer and lyricist for Emerson, Lake & Palmer. He also recorded as a solo artist, scoring a major hit single in 1975 with “I Believe in Father Christmas“.
Greg Lake was born in Bournemouth, Dorset, and first learned to play guitar aged 12.[2] He formed a friendship at school with Robert Fripp, who solicited him as a member of the first King Crimson line-up which had formed out of Giles, Giles and Fripp. Lake was primarily a guitarist, but agreed to switch to bass at Fripp’s request.[3] He had some involvement in writing the lyrics for King Crimson’s debut album, In the Court of the Crimson King, although Peter Sinfield was the primary lyricist. Lake also ended up producing the album after their contracted producer,Tony Clarke, walked away from the project.
In The Court of the Crimson King, released in 1969 was an immediate commercial and critical success for King Crimson. Lake stayed with King Crimson for only about a year; the group’s first US tour featured shows with The Nice, during which Lake struck up a friendship with the Nice’s keyboardist Keith Emerson. Lake and Emerson realised they had similar musical tastes and would benefit working together, so brought in the drummer from the Crazy World of Arthur Brown and Atomic Rooster, Carl Palmer—forming the progressive rock ‘supergroup’ Emerson Lake & Palmer(ELP). As well as bass, Lake contributed acoustic and electric guitar work to ELP, and his voice had a wider and more diverse range than anything The Nice had recorded.[4]
Despite this, at Fripp’s request, Lake sang on King Crimson’s second album, In the Wake of Poseidon,[1] and appeared as well with a pick-up version of King Crimson on the British TV show Top of the Pops.
ELP conflicted between Emerson’s interest in complex, classically-influenced music and Lake’s more straightforward rock tastes. Lake initially rejected the title track of 1971’sTarkus, before being persuaded to record it and add his own song, “Battlefield”, into the suite.[5] ELP lasted throughout the 1970s, before splitting at the end of the decade. The group reformed for a number of years in the mid-1990s before permanently disbanding.[6]
Greg Lake, with Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Toronto, Canada 3 February 1978
Solo work
In 1975, Lake achieved solo chart success when his single, “I Believe in Father Christmas“, reached number two on the UK singles chart. It has become a Yuletideperennial.[7]
Lake subsequently joined Asia, briefly replacing fellow King Crimson alumnus John Wetton, and then co-formed Emerson, Lake & Powell.[6]
In 2005, Lake toured Germany and the United Kingdom with his “Greg Lake Band” which included David Arch, Florian Opahle, Trevor Barry on bass, and Brett Morgan.[8]
Lake performed “Karn Evil 9” with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra at several shows.[9] At the album Night Castle (2009) he was a special guest and played guitar on “Nutrocker“.
In 2010, he toured with Keith Emerson, from which came the live album Live from Manticore Hall. In 2012, Greg Lake toured England, The United States and Italy with the “Songs Of A Lifetime” show. He played a career retrospective, along with select covers, for small audiences.
On 25 July 2010, Lake joined Keith Emersonand Carl Palmer for what was to be the final live concert by Emerson, Lake and Palmer, at the High Voltage rock festival, in Victoria Park, London.
In late June 2013 Lake was invited to star at Genoa’s Poetry Festival where he performed a reading of “Pirates”, a drama piece in music he wrote with Peter Sinfield, then performed some of his classic songs.
On 9 January 2016 he was awarded by the very first Honorary Degree in Music and lyrics composition by Conservatorio Nicolini in Piacenza, Italy. This was the first time ever a Conservatorio gave a Honoris Causa award
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