Keith Emerson of Emerson, Lake & Palmer dies at 71

Keith Emerson, one-third of the 1970s progressive-rock trio Emerson, Lake and Palmer died Thursday at his home in Santa Monica, Calif., at age 71.

The band's official Facebook page confirmed the keyboard player's death but did not elaborate as to the cause.

“We ask that the family’s privacy and grief be respected,” the post read.

Drummer Carl Palmer issued a statement lamenting the "passing of my good friend and brother-in-music.”

Emerson was born on Nov. 2, 1944 in England. After his first band, The Nice, fell apart, he formed one of rock's first supergroups in 1970 with Palmer (who had exited Atomic Rooster) and Greg Lake (who'd left King Crimson). They made their live debut at that year's Isle of Wight Festival.

ELP, as they became known, became synonymous with prog-rock, which was characterized by instrumentation and longer, album-oriented tracks rather than short, radio-friendly pop singles. Emerson was known for his extensive use of Hammond organs and Moog synthesizers. Their influence can be heard in the works of metal acts like Iron Maiden.

The rock community flocked to Twitter to share how Emerson had influenced them — and to hope for a halt to the constant stream of classic-rock star deaths so far this year.