The poignant memoir of the late Greg Lake, former frontman of progressive rock supergroup Emerson, Lake and Palmer.

'More honest, self-reflective and engaging than any number of tomes by his contemporaries' Choice

Completed just before his untimely death in December 2016, Lucky Man is Greg Lake's long-waited memoir of a life lived through music.

Brought up as a working-class boy in the shadow of the gasworks in Poole, Greg Lake never thought he would be an international superstar, playing to over 350,000 fans at California Jam, two decades later.

Lake first won acclaim as lead vocalist, bass guitarist and producer when, together with Robert Fripp, he formed King Crimson. In 1970, during a North American tour, he met Keith Emerson, who would change the course of his career. The two shared a common bond: European musical influences and a desire to reinterpret classical works while creating a new musical genre. Together with Carl Palmer, they formed the first progressive supergroup Emerson, Lake & Palmer.

For a decade, ELP dominated the charts and the field of progressive rock with platinum-selling albums, such as Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Tarkus, Pictures at an Exhibition, Trilogy, Brain Salad Surgery, Works Vol. 1 and 2. In 1977, ELP went on a US tour that became legendary. The trio created a unique live theatrical performance which featured Emerson attacking his keyboards with knives, Palmer playing a 2.5 ton stainless steel kit and Lake performing on a £6,000 Persian rug which had its own roadie. But it was the band's 100-piece orchestra that nearly bankrupted ELP. By the end of the 1970s, the stresses between the trio began to tell and the band split.

Lucky Man is a poignant and searching memoir of the man who was the voice of a generation and fronted one of the greatest rock supergroups of all time but never held with the 'progressive' tag that attached itself to both the music and the excess. This memoir not only charts the highs and lows of a career in rock music but also reflects on the death of Keith Emerson and living with terminal cancer and the end of life.

Greg Lake first won acclaim as lead vocalist, bass guitarist and producer when, together with Robert Fripp, he formed King Crimson. Their first album, the landmark In the Court of the Crimson King, co-produced by Greg, featured the iconic song '21st Century Schizoid Man'. King Crimson pioneered progressive rock and paved the way for many famous bands that followed, from Yes and Genesis to the Red Hot Chilli Peppers.

In 1970 Greg met fellow legend Keith Emerson during a North American tour; the two shared common bonds: European musical influences and a desire to reinterpret classical works while creating a new musical genre. After being introduced to drummer Carl Palmer, they formed the first progressive rock supergroup Emerson, Lake and Palmer.

To date ELP has sold over 50 million records. Lake produced Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Tarkus, Pictures at an Exhibition, Trilogy, Brain Salad Surgery, Works Vol. 1 and 2, and two different live albums. All went platinum and featured a series of hit singles, most written and all sung by Lake. The three created a unique live theatrical performance which featured Emerson attacking his keyboards with knives, Palmer playing a 2.5 ton stainless steel kit and Lake performing on a £6,000 Persian rug which had its own roadie. One of their very first performances was at the historic Isle of Wight Festival in 1970 and they went on to headline California Jam, one of the biggest concerts of the 1970s, attended by 350,000 people.

Probably the voice of his generation, Greg fronted the greatest rock supergroup of the 1970s but never held with the 'progressive' tag that attached itself to both the music and the excess. Lucky Man not only charts the highs and lows of a career in rock music but also reflects on the death of Keith Emerson last year, living with terminal cancer and the end of life. Greg can best be summed up by his now-famous line: 'Material wealth is a very fleeting pleasure ... when you can buy anything you want and do anything you want, you soon discover that you actually don't want any of it.'