 |
| Keith Emerson |
Keith Emerson, founder and keyboardist of the progressive-rock band Emerson, Lake and
Palmer, has died. He was 71.
Emerson
had an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, and authorities are
investigating his death as a possible suicide. Kawaguchi told police that
Emerson could have died anywhere between Thursday evening and Friday morning.
Emerson,
drummer Carl Palmer and vocalist/guitarist Greg Lake were giants of progressive
rock in the 1970s, recording six platinum-selling albums. They and other hit
groups such as Pink Floyd, the Moody Blues and Genesis stepped away from rock's
emphasis on short songs with dance beats, instead creating albums with ornate
pieces full of complicated rhythms, intricate chords and time signature changes.
The orchestrations drew on classical and jazz styles and sometimes wedded
traditional rock instruments with full orchestras.
Emerson,
Lake and Palmer's 1973 album "Brain Salad Surgery'' included a nearly
30-minute composition called "Karn Evil 9'' that featured a Moog
synthesizer and the eerie, carnival-like lyric: "Welcome back my friends,
to the show that never ends.''
A musical
prodigy, Emerson was born in Todmorden, Yorkshire in England. By his late
teens, he was playing in blues and jazz clubs in London. He helped form one of
the first progressive rock groups, the Nice, before hooking up with Lake and
Palmer in 1970 and debuting with them at the Isle of Wight Festival, shows that
also featured Jimi Hendrix and the Who.
Although
it filled stadiums, ELP also was ridiculed as the embodiment of the pomposity
and self-indulgence that rock supposedly stood against. When the punk movement
took off in the mid-'70s, the band was a special target, openly loathed by the
Sex Pistols' Johnny Rotten among others.
See more pictures of Keith Emerson
No comments:
Post a Comment