Keith Emerson

To use an old DJ phrase from way back when. . . And the hits just keep on coming.

Of course, the hits in this case aren’t Top Forty singles, but Rock & Roll deaths.  The latest is Emerson, Lake, and Palmer’s Keith Emerson.  While the word is not definitive yet, it is probable that he committed suicide with a gunshot to the head (reinforcing my call to Ban All Guns Now).

While I am about as far from an ELP fan as you can get and still be inhabiting the same universe, all three were talented and technically proficient musicians.  Emerson notably played Moog synthesizers (among other keyboard instruments) with a skill that not many could beat.  But their proficiency did not translate to efficiency, and their extended-soloing Prog Rock always left me a little cold.  My feelings about the music are irrelevant, however; the man’s death is still tragic and sad.  I hope his family and friends can find some comfort in the music he left behind.