Carl Palmer, the percussive powerhouse behind both Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Asia, has faced unimaginable loss in recent years. Between 2016 and 2017, Palmer endured the deaths of all his closest collaborators: Keith Emerson by suicide, Greg Lake from pancreatic cancer, and Asia frontman John Wetton from colorectal cancer. With the emotional weight of being the last man standing, Palmer could have stepped away. Instead, he chose to keep the music alive.
This April, he returns to the stage with the latest leg of his tour, “An Evening with Emerson, Lake & Palmer.” It’s a unique multimedia experience where Palmer plays drums live alongside archival video of Emerson and Lake performing in 1992. He describes the process of assembling the footage as emotionally grueling at first, but ultimately comforting. “They wouldn’t want holograms,” he says. “They’d want the real thing.”
Palmer’s journey began in Birmingham, England, immersed in the jazz stylings of American legends and enamored by the rock revolution happening just down the road. His early gigs with soul singer Chris Farlowe and time in Atomic Rooster taught him the ropes of the music industry before he co-founded ELP in 1970. The trio pioneered a genre-bending fusion of classical complexity and rock aggression, capturing audiences on both sides of the Atlantic with pieces like “Karn Evil 9” and “Fanfare for the Common Man.”
Despite their success, ELP’s trajectory was anything but smooth. The advent of punk challenged their elaborate approach, and later albums like “Love Beach” drew heavy criticism. Palmer admits the group wasn’t built to weather cultural upheaval, saying, “We couldn’t take a knock as a group. We took it very personally, and we shouldn’t have.”
The 1980s brought a second wind when Palmer joined forces with Wetton, Steve Howe, and Geoff Downes to form Asia. With hits like “Heat of the Moment,” the band adapted to the polished demands of MTV-era rock, a shift Palmer embraced despite initial skepticism. But creative differences and changing tastes meant later Asia efforts didn’t resonate as strongly with him. “It got a bit too weak for me,” he says of the later albums.
Palmer has remained musically active, often performing with his own ELP Legacy group. He plans to take things further in a few years with a “Celebration Tour,” combining Asia and ELP songs, archival video, and special guests. “I want people to see, in my lifetime, what I’ve done,” he explains.
Though the stage looks different now, Palmer’s drive remains the same. As long as he has his health, he plans to keep playing—not as a nostalgic act, but as a living tribute to the legacy he helped build and the friends he’s lost along the way.