Keith Emerson
(CNN)Keyboardist Keith Emerson, a founding member of influential progressive rock group Emerson, Lake & Palmer, has died, according to the band's official Facebook page.
Emerson died Thursday night in his home in Santa Monica, California, at age 71, the statement said.
"Keith Emerson's death is currently being investigated as a suicide," said Sgt. Erika Aklufi of the Santa Monica Police Department.
ELP drummer Carl Palmer confirmed the death of his longtime band mate.
"Keith was a gentle soul whose love for music and passion for his performance as a keyboard player will remain unmatched for many years to come. He was a pioneer and an innovator whose musical genius touched all of us in the worlds of rock, classical and jazz," Palmer said in a statement on social media.
"I will always remember his warm smile, good sense of humor, compelling showmanship, and dedication to his musical craft. I am very lucky to have known him and to have made the music we did, together. Rest in peace, Keith."
Emerson, Lake & Palmer was progressive rock's first supergroup, according to Billboard. They achieved critical and commercial success with their instrumental prowess and thrilled live audiences with stage antics that often included pyrotechnics.
Emerson was widely considered one of the greatest keyboardists of his generation, fusing rock music with classical and jazz influences, first as a member of The Nice and then with ELP. He was one of the first musicians to experiment with the Moog synthesizer; his showmanship on the Moog, Hammond organ and piano became an integral component of the trio's performances.
Born on November 1, 1944, in the English town of Todmorden, Emerson was classically trained on the piano as a child and started his career playing R&B. He moved to London in his late teens and joined the band V.I.P.'s. He played with Gary Farr and the T-Bones, backing T-Bone Walker before forming The Nice, which got its big break backing soul singer P.P. Arnold.
Emerson started talking to Greg Lake, a founding member of King Crimson, about playing together in late 1969 when their bands shared a bill at the Fillmore West, according to Billboard. The two joined forces in 1970, becoming Emerson, Lake & Palmer after recruiting Palmer, a veteran of the Crazy World of Arthur Brown and Atomic Rooster.
ELP released nine albums, the first five of which reached the Billboard 200's top 10. Their 1970 self-titled debut included the hit single "Lucky Man" and became an instant classic.
The follow-up, 1971's Tarkus, "solidified their popularity and distinctive sound -- instrumentally complicated yet sonically cohesive prog-rock mixing classical structures, improvisational jazz and electronics," according to Billboard.
After ELP broke up in 1979, Emerson and Lake continued with a new drummer as Emerson, Lake & Powell. The original trio reunited in the early 1990s to release two more albums.
In addition to his time with ELP, Emerson's career included solo albums and film scores, such as Dario Argento's 1980 horror film "Inferno" and the 1981 Sylvester Stallone thriller "Nighthawks."
The news of Keith's death was an incredible shock to me. Keith, Greg and Carl were all childhood heroes of mine. I had the pleasure meeting Carl a couple of times, and Keith, once, on his tour bus, outside a small club on Long Island, while on our with the band 3. Though ELP often got trashed by music critics as snobbish and pretentious, I found both Keith and Carl to be incredibly cool, speaking with us for awhile after the show. God Bless you, Keith, and I hope you are now jamming somewhere up there in Heaven with the likes of Ginastera, Janacek, and Copeland.
Man, what a bummer.
In an attempt to bring some levity to a matter that still saddens me to no end, I'd like to tell you about some of my encounters with Carl and Keith. Like I said, I saw the band 3 at a really small club out in Suffolk county, on Long Island. The album To The Power of Three was so so, but a chance to see these rocks gods wasn't to be missed. In a scene that reminded me of when Pete Townshend first smashed a guitar (it was in a small club, with low ceiling, and he flipped his guitar in the air, and the neck got stuck in the ceiling. He felt foolish in front of the crowd, and pulled it out of the ceiling and smashed it on the ground to make it appear as if he meant to do it), Carl was in the middle of one of his epic solos, flipping his sticks behind his back, and then catching them, the stick hit the low ceiling, so he laughed, and started playing off the ceiling. It was an embarrassing moment (because ELP use to play places like the Garden & Montreal's Olympic Stadium), but Carl played the moment perfectly, and he got more applause.
After the show, me and my brother gave the drum roadie $20 for a pair of Carl's sticks. We then went outside, and there was a small crowd outside their tourbus, so we went over, and actually got to speak to Keith & Carl. Like I said, they were incredibly cool to us, even as they were tired and still covered with sweat. I asked Carl to sign the sticks, and he asked me where I got them from. I told him about the $20 bucks, and I swear, you could see a lightbulb go on over his head. Not long after, I saw that he was selling signed sticks on his website. :lol:
I also had a chance to meet Palmer at a couple of his drum clinics here on LI. Rather than being the snob all the critics led me to believe he might be, Carl was the eternal showman, and took time out to speak to everyone that waited to speak with him. I nearly peed my pants when it was my chance. To those that don't understand, to a drummer like myself, meeting Carl Palmer is like meeting a god. My brother's girlfriend, who loved the band Asia, and Carl, as well - but for his looks - took a picture with him, and as she leaned over, her double ds spilled out perfectly, and in the photo, right next to a seated Palmer's head, there on display were some sweet 'taters. The next time we got to meet Carl was at another drum clinic, so she showed Carl the picture, and she thought he was going to be happy to see the picture, but I think he was embarrassed that such a picture existed. I'd post the pic, but I lost it in a HD crash. :eyebulge: I actually won a beautiful Paiste cymbal (via a raffle at the clinic), signed by both Carl and Danny Cary, the very excellent drummer from the band Tool. The guitarist in my band thought he was doing me a favor when he used industrial strength cleaner on all my cymbals, and I almost killed him when I found out. Thankfully, the signatures are still there.:crazy:
For the younger generation here at the NCF, you may not realize that, at one time, bands could actually really play their instruments. I read somewhere that Emerson, Lake & Palmer were the impetus for the creation of punk rock music, because they were symbolic of the bombastic and grandiose 70s. Wellll, let me tell you, each of these guys had more talent in their pinkies than anyone in the punk scene, and I suspect there were more people at this show (at the height of the punk scene) than all the punk shows of that time combined. ELP actually lost millions on this tour (something the guys wanted to kill Keith over later on), because of the cost of traveling with a full orchestra. But, man, thank God they attempted it!
You will always be a source of much inspiration to this wanna be musician, Keith - God Bless. Your music will live on in eternity.
