R.I.P. Greg Lake of King Crimson and Emerson, Lake and Palmer

Prog rock icon Greg Lake, a founding member of King Crimson and Emerson Lake and Palmer, passed away on December 7th at age 69. Word came early this morning via a note posted on his official Facebook page by manager Stewart Young.

Yesterday, December 7th, I lost my best friend to a long and stubborn battle with cancer. Greg Lake will stay in my heart forever, as he has always been. His family would be grateful for privacy during this time of their grief.

Lake’s bandmate Keith Emerson passed away in March of this year.

In a statement emailed to press, Carl Palmer said this:

It is with great sadness that I must now say goodbye to my friend and fellow band-mate, Greg Lake.  Greg’s soaring voice and skill as a musician will be remembered by all who knew his music and recordings he made with ELP and King Crimson.  I have fond memories of those great years we had in the 1970s and many memorable shows we performed together. Having lost Keith this year as well, has made this particularly hard for all of us.  As Greg sang at the end of Pictures At An Exhibition, “death is life.” His music can now live forever in the hearts of all who loved him.

Lake was born in Dorset, England, on November 10, 1947. At age 21, he met Robert Fripp and was brought into the original lineup of his band King Crimson, playing bass and contributing vocals for its albums In The Court Of The Crimson King and In The Wake Of Poseidon.

In 1970, he co-founded Emerson, Lake & Palmer, a super-group that fused studied, classical orchestrations with explosive prog rock. ELP went on to release 10 albums between 1970 and 1994.

Read an extensive obituary on Lake here, at The BBC, and listen to some music from Lake below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHJ7An2CMB4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPm6CheT6rs