Artist · chart history · #245 in indie & aaa artist polls
Emerson, Lake, and Palmer
Band Bournemouth United Kingdom Active 1970–2011
Emerson, Lake, and Palmer formed in 1970 in Bournemouth, United Kingdom and was active until 2011. Emerson, Lake, and Palmer has 91 chart appearances on 57 radio countdowns from 22 stations on RockLists, spanning 1982–2026. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Lucky Man”, which appears on 32 lists with a best position of #56. The station that charted Emerson, Lake, and Palmer most often is 100.7 WZLX (Boston, MA), with 17 appearances.
Emerson, Lake & Palmer were the prog supergroup that took the classics to the arena and cranked them up. Keith Emerson came over from the Nice, Greg Lake from King Crimson, and Carl Palmer from Atomic Rooster, and from 1970 on they set about turning classical music, jazz and symphonic rock into something closer to heavy metal, with Emerson assaulting his Hammond organ, Moog synthesizer and piano while Lake sang, played bass and guitar and produced, and Palmer drummed like a man possessed.
The Isle of Wight Festival in August 1970 made their name, and the albums piled up fast: the self-titled debut with "Lucky Man", Tarkus, Pictures at an Exhibition, Trilogy with "From The Beginning", and Brain Salad Surgery on their own Manticore label, home to "Still You Turn Me On"; the sprawling "Karn Evil 9" is the one rock radio still reaches for. Works Volume 1 and Works Volume 2 followed after a break, and Love Beach wrapped things up before they disbanded in 1979.
They never quite stayed apart. Cozy Powell stood in for Palmer as Emerson, Lake & Powell, Robert Berry replaced Lake in a band called 3, and the original trio re-formed in 1991 for Black Moon and In the Hot Seat. Their last show came in 2010, at London's High Voltage Festival, for their 40th anniversary. Emerson and Lake both died in 2016.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by Emerson, Lake, and Palmer on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lucky Man | 32 | #56 | – | – | |
| 2 | Karn Evil #9 | 31 | #82 | – | – | |
| 3 | Karn Evil 9: 1st Impression, Pt. 2 | 5 | #115 | – | – | |
| 4 | From The Beginning | 10 | #34 | – | – | |
| 5 | Still You Turn Me On | 4 | #93 | – | – | |
| 6 | Karn Evil 9 (First …Part II) | 4 | #219 | – | – | |
| 7 | Nutrocker | 3 | #727 | – | – | |
| 8 | Karn Evil 9 (1st Imp. Part 2) | 1 | #295 | – | – |
Albums with charting songs
Where each song was first released, from MusicBrainz.
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