Keith Emerson at a piano concert in Frankfurt am Main (archive) © Frank Rumpenhorst / dpa

the British keyboard legend Keith Emerson is dead. the co-founder of the band Emerson, Lake & Palmer died at his home in the Californian city Santa Monica. This was announced by the band on their Facebook page. His management confirmed the death, as the television channel Sky reported. Emerson was 71 years old. For death there was initially no information.

Emerson came in 1944 in the northern English town of Todmorden in Leeds born and grew up on the southern English coast. As a teenager, Emerson moved to London. Piano he played as a child and was always influenced by classical composers in his work. The rock band founded in 1970, Emerson, Lake & Palmer (ELP) published numerous platinum albums. “Lucky Man” is one of their best known hits. After the dissolution of the band in 1978, the musicians had reunited in the 1990s. Since 2004, Emerson had his own group, the Keith Emerson band. He started as a solo artist on the synthesizer and with several piano works and film music a name.

bandmate Carl Palmer described Emerson on its website as “a tender heart whose love will remain unmatched for many years to music and passion for performance as a keyboard player.” Emerson was a “pioneer and trailblazer” been in rock, classical and jazz. “Keith Emerson, rest in peace,” tweeted Sean Ono Lennon, the son of former Beatle John Lennon and Yoko Ono.