Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Lucky Man Emerson, Lake & Palmer were an English
progressive rock supergroup formed in London in 1970. The band consisted of keyboardist
Keith Emerson, singer, bassist, and producer
Greg Lake, and drummer and percussionist
Carl Palmer. They were one of the most popular and commercially successful progressive rock bands in the 1970s
[1][2] 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).
[3]After forming in early 1970, 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
Atlantic Records and released
Emerson, Lake & Palmer (1970) and
Tarkus (1971), both of which reached the United Kingdom top five. The band's success continued with
Pictures at an Exhibition (1971),
Trilogy (1972), and
Brain Salad Surgery (1973). After a three-year break, Emerson, Lake & Palmer released
Works Volume 1 (1977) and
Works Volume 2 (1977) which began their decline in popularity. After
Love Beach (1978), the group disbanded in 1979.
The band reformed partially in the 1980s with
Emerson, Lake & Powell featuring
Cozy Powell in place of Palmer, and
3, with
Robert Berry in place of Lake. In 1991, the original trio reformed 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 fortieth anniversary, before Emerson's death in 2016 marked the end of the group.
[4][5]