Emerson, Lake & Palmer are a progressive rock band formed in 1970 in England. The band consists of Keith Emerson (keyboards), Greg Lake (vocals, guitar, bass) and Carl Palmer (drums). The band released seven albums before splitting in 1979. The band reunited in 1991 and released two further albums before disbanding again in 1998. ...show more

Emerson, Lake & Palmer are a progressive rock band formed in 1970 in England. The band consists of Keith Emerson (keyboards), Greg Lake (vocals, guitar, bass) and Carl Palmer (drums). The band released seven albums before splitting in 1979. The band reunited in 1991 and released two further albums before disbanding again in 1998.

On two occasions in 1969, The Nice (with Keith Emerson on keyboards) and King Crimson (with Greg Lake on vocals and bass) shared the same venue, first on 10th August 1969 at the 9th Jazz and Blues Pop Festival in Plumpton, England, and on 17th October 1969 at Fairfield Hall in Croydon, England. After playing at a few of the same concerts, Emerson and Lake tried working together and found their styles to be not only compatible but complementary. Emerson wanted to make the "best damned three-piece band in the world", and thought the line-up of The Nice (keyboard, bass, drums) was the way to go. Before settling on drummer Carl Palmer (formerly Atomic Rooster, The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown), they approached Mitch Mitchell of the Jimi Hendrix Experience; Mitchell was uninterested but passed the idea to Jimi Hendrix.

Hendrix, tired of his band and wanting to try something different, expressed an interest in playing with the group; the British press, after hearing about this, speculated that such a supergroup would have been called "Hendrix, Emerson, Lake & Palmer", or HELP. Due to scheduling conflicts such plans were not immediately realised, but the initial three planned on a jam session with Hendrix after their début at the Isle of Wight Festival, with the possibility of him joining. Hendrix died shortly thereafter, so the three pressed on as Emerson, Lake and Palmer. Their first four years were a creatively fertile period. ...show less