LOS ANGELES — Keith Emerson, founder and keyboardist of the progressive-rock band Emerson, Lake and Palmer, has died, his longtime partner announced Friday. He was 71.
Mari Kawaguchi said she found Emerson dead at their condominium in Santa Monica. Emerson had an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, police said.
“Keith was a gentle soul whose love for music and passion for his performance as a keyboard player will remain unmatched for many years to come,” his former bandmate, Carl Palmer, said in a statement. “He was a pioneer and an innovator whose musical genius touched all of us in the worlds of rock, classical and jazz.”
Emerson, Palmer and vocalist-guitarist Greg Lake were giants of progressive rock in the 1970s, recording six platinum-selling albums. They and other hit groups such as Pink Floyd, the Moody Blues and Genesis stepped away from rock’s emphasis on short songs with dance beats, instead creating albums with ornate pieces full of complicated rhythms, intricate chords and time signature changes. The orchestrations drew on classical and jazz styles and sometimes wedded traditional rock instruments with full orchestras.
