Greg Lake, a founding member of King Crimson and Emerson, Lake and Palmer, has died at the age of 69 after a “long and stubborn battle with cancer”.
The news was announced via a Facebook post (below) from his manager Stewart Young. “Yesterday, December 7th, I lost my best friend to a long and stubborn battle with cancer,” says Young. “Greg Lake will stay in my heart forever, as he has always been.”
Considered one of the founders of prog rock, Lake began playing guitar at the age of 12. He formed King Crimson with his childhood friend Robert Fripp in 1969.
After the demise of King Crimson, Lake formed a new band with Keith Emerson, and they brought Carl Palmer on board on drums to form prog rock supergroup Emerson, Lake and Palmer (ELP).
Emerson committed suicide nine months ago, and following Lake’s death, their former bandmate Palmer has spoken about Lake’s passing in a statement, saying, “It is with great sadness that I must now say goodbye to my friend and fellow bandmate, 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’s family have asked for privacy during their time of grief.
Watch: Emerson, Lake and Palmer – ‘Lucky Man’
