King Crimson and Emerson Lake & Palmer veteran Greg Lake lost his battle with cancer on this day in 2016.  Born Gregory Stuart Lake in Dorset, England, the bassist/guitarist was one of the youngest songwriters to pen a song that would become one of the best known songs of an impressive career when he wrote Lucky Man at the age of 12.  Robert Fripp recruited him to join King Crimson when he was just 17.  He made the jump to ELP in 1970 and played a major role in crafting the musical direction of the trio.  After launching a solo career in the mid 70's, Lake would continue to perform with ELP off and on.

 

Other Noteworthy Classic Rock events on December 7 include...

 

1942 Harry Chapin is born.

1949 Tom Waits is born.

1962 Bill Wyman auditions to become bass player for the Rolling Stones.

1964 Brian Wilson suffers a breakdown during a flight from Los Angeles to Houston.

1967 Beatles open the Apple Boutique in London.

1968 Eric Burdon announces the Animals last concert as a band will be a December 22 show.

1971 Paul McCartney releases Wild Life.

1973 A former Fleetwood Mac manager claims he owns the name and assembles a different lineup to tour under it.  The ploy fails.

1984 Foreigner releases Agent Provocateur.

1992 The short-lived SONY Minidisc debuts.

2005 MBE medal John Lennon returned is found in a storage vault at St. James Palace.

2008 Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey receive Kennedy Center Honors.

2015 Neil Peart of Rush announces he's retiring.

2015 David Bowie's last public performance is on stage in a production of Lazarus in New York City.

2014 Sting receives Kennedy Center honor in Washington, DC.

2018 Burglar breaks into Paul McCartney's London home while the former Beatle is on tour.

2023 A Fender Precision bass guitar ZZ Top's Dusty Hill bought at a Dallas pawn shop for $70 dollars early in his career sells at an auction for $393,700.