King Crimson
King Crimson held its first official rehearsal on 13 January 1969 and by the end of the year had released In the Court of the Crimson King, the record that defined progressive rock. The first line-up brought together guitarist Robert Fripp, lyricist and lighting man Peter Sinfield, who found the band's name, composer and multi-instrumentalist Ian McDonald, bassist and singer Greg Lake and drummer Michael Giles. Fripp has remained the only constant through half a century of changing bands: the heavy, improvising quartet with John Wetton and Bill Bruford that made Red (1974), the interlocking guitars of Discipline (1981) with Adrian Belew and Tony Levin, and the double and triple drum line-ups of the 2010s, until the final tour in 2021.
King Crimson held its first official rehearsal on 13 January 1969 and by the end of the year had released In the Court of the Crimson King, the record that defined progressive rock. The first line-up brought together guitarist Robert Fripp, lyricist and lighting man Peter Sinfield, who found the band's name, composer and multi-instrumentalist Ian McDonald, bassist and singer Greg Lake and drummer Michael Giles. Fripp has remained the only constant through half a century of changing bands: the heavy, improvising quartet with John Wetton and Bill Bruford that made Red (1974), the interlocking guitars of Discipline (1981) with Adrian Belew and Tony Levin, and the double and triple drum line-ups of the 2010s, until the final tour in 2021.
