Emerson, Lake & Powell

Although the ELP abbreviation carried over unchanged, Emerson, Lake and Powell proved unable to recapture either the artistic spark or the marketplace impact generated by the prior progressive rock supergroup, whose lineup had included Carl Palmer on drums rather than Cozy Powell. Once the original ELP configuration dissolved in 1979, keyboardist Keith Emerson turned to scoring motion pictures, and bassist Greg Lake launched individual projects; nevertheless, following the strong resurgence mounted by longtime prog-rock competitors Yes, Emerson and Lake decided to reconvene, even as Palmer—who had joined Asia—turned down the invitation. Veteran session player Powell, whose résumé already encompassed Rainbow, Whitesnake, and Black Sabbath, stepped in for the absent drummer, enabling the new trio to release a self-titled LP in 1986 that reached the upper half of the Billboard 200 thanks in part to the modest success of “Touch and Go.” Yet the characteristically unpredictable Powell exited the revamped ELP before the calendar year closed, bringing the Emerson–Lake partnership to an abrupt standstill that would persist until Palmer rejoined the fold in 1991.