Emerson, Lake & Palmer, informally known as ELP, were an English progressive rock supergroup formed in London in 1970. The band consisted of Keith Emerson (keyboards) of the Nice, Greg Lake (vocals, bass, guitars, producer) of King Crimson, and Carl Palmer (drums, percussion) of Atomic Rooster. With nine RIAA-certified gold albums in the United States and an estimated 48 million records sold worldwide, they were one of the most commercially successful progressive rock groups of the 1970s. Their music combined adaptations of classical compositions with jazz and symphonic rock elements, characterised by Emerson’s flamboyant use of the Hammond organ, Moog synthesizer, and piano, alongside acoustic songs written by Lake.
The band gained prominence following their performance at the Isle of Wight Festival in August 1970. In their first year, they signed with E.G. Records, distributed through Island Records in the United Kingdom and Atlantic Records in North America, and released "Emerson, Lake & Palmer" (1970) and "Tarkus" (1971), both reaching the UK top five. Success continued with "Pictures at an Exhibition" (1971), "Trilogy" (1972), and "Brain Salad Surgery" (1973), the latter released on their own Manticore Records label. After a three-year hiatus, they released "Works Volume 1" (1977) and "Works Volume 2" (1977), followed by "Love Beach" (1978) before disbanding in 1979.
In the 1980s, the band partially re-formed as Emerson, Lake & Powell with Cozy Powell replacing Palmer. Robert Berry later replaced Lake while Palmer returned, forming the band 3. The original trio reunited in 1991, releasing "Black Moon" (1992) and "In the Hot Seat" (1994) and touring intermittently until 1998.
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