by André Depienne

Emerson, Lake & Palmer, next to Yes and Ekseption, belong to the most popular bands of the 70s that were merging rock and classical music to a sound that has become legendary. In the 1960s keyboarder Keith Emerson, then playing for the band Nice, had recorded a rock version of Leonard Bernstein’s song America from the Westside Story, making him a pioneer when it comes to Classic Rock.

At the age of just 14, Keith was already popular for his piano playing in his hometown of Todmorden. In his late adolescence he went to London, playing in bands such as V.I.P.s and Garry Farr & The T-Bones. During that time he joined his mentor T-Bone Walker on stage at the legendary Marquee Club and on his tour through England, France and Germany.

His musical influences were classical composers such as Béla Bartók, Dmitri Schostakowitsch and Johann Sebastian Bach, but also jazz musicians Dave Brubeck and Oscar Peterson and Fats Waller.

In 1967 Nice was founded. Beside Emerson, the band consisted of singer and bass player Lee Jackson, drummer Brian Davison and guitarist David O'List.

Their successful mix of Blues, Jazz, Rock and classical elements, soon made them known to a wider audience. During that time, Emerson discovered the Hammond organ, which became his favourite instrument. He also started to experiment with the new Moog Synthesizer, which thrilled him so much that he became the first musician to take it on tour.

Equally legendary were his live performances, during which he would maltreat his Hammond organ with Hitler Youth knives given to him by a roadie. That Roadie would later be known as Motörhead's Lemmy Kilmister.

When Nice split up in 1970, Keith and former King Krimson bassist, singer and guitarist Greg Lake and former Atomic Rooster drummer Carl Palmer, formed the Classic Rock trio Emerson, Lake & Palmer, which brought him to stardom during the 70s.

The same year, they had their first live gig at the Isle of Wight Festival where they performed their adaption of Mussorgsky's Pictures Of An Exhibition. A live recording of it was later published as their third album.

Their debut album, simply titled Emerson, Lake & Palmer, was already released in 1970. It includes Lucky Man, which became one of their most popular songs.

Until 1977, Emerson, Lake & Palmer released a number of masterpieces like

Tarkus, Trilogy, Brain Salad Surgery , Works Volume I or the live album Welcome Back My Friends To The Show That Never Ends. Not less than 6 of their albums reaching platin-status.

1977, Emerson, Lake & Palmer toured with an 80-strong symphony orchestra, which turned out to be a financial disaster. The group split up in 1979.

In the 80s, Keith started a solo career and began focusing on film music, writing the soundtrack for Nighthawks starring Sylvester Stallone.

In 1984 the band reunited, however without Carl Palmer, whom was bound by another contractual agreement at that time. Therefore, super drummer Cozy Powell was hired to replace him. After just one album and one tour as Emerson, Lake & Powell, the band split up, again due to differences between Emerson and Lake.

Reuniting, this time again as Emerson, Lake & Palmer in 1992, the band released two albums, before splitting up for good in 1998.

The same year, Keith formed The Keith Emerson Band with which he recorded a number of records.

Suffering from the neurological disease focal dystonia which limited the motoric abilities of his right hand, Keith had to cancel most of his concerts in 2009. Undergoing surgery after a colonoscopy in 2010, he called off his live performances as well.

On the 10th of March 2016, Keith Emerson committed suicide at the age of 71.