R.I.P.: ELP Co-Founder Greg Lake Dies From Cancer

Greg Lake

Musician Greg Lake, who co-founded King Crimson and Emerson, Lake and Palmer, has died.

He was 69 years-of-age, according to USAToday.

Manager Stewart Young said in a statement that Lake died Wednesday after “a long and stubborn battle with cancer.”

Born in the southern English seaside town of Poole in 1947, Lake founded King Crimson with guitarist Robert Fripp in the late 1960s. The band pioneered the sprawling, ambitious genre that came to be known as progressive rock.

He went on to form ELP with keyboardist Keith Emerson, who died in March, and drummer Carl Palmer. With Lake as vocalist and guitarist, ELP impressed the crowds at the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival, in a lineup that also featured Jimi Hendrix and The Who.

The band released six platinum-selling albums characterized by songs of epic length, classical influence and ornate imagery, and toured with elaborate light shows and theatrical staging.

ELP broke up in 1979, reunited in 1991, later disbanded again and reunited for a 2010 tour.

Emerson died in March from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at his home in Santa Monica, California.

Lake’s songs as a solo artist include I Believe in Father Christmas, an enduring seasonal staple first released in 1975.