How awful is this....?
ELP star Keith Emerson 'shot himself because he could no longer perform perfectly for his fans'
'Keith wasn't feeling well on Thursday night. He had bronchitis so I tucked him up in bed,' said (girlfriend Mari) Kawaguchi, 52.
'He was sleeping when I left and I thought he was sleeping when I got back, but then I realized what had happened. He was gone. I am still in total shock.
'His right hand and arm had given him problems for years. He had an operation a few years ago to take out a bad muscle but the pain and nerve issues in his right hand were getting worse.
'He had concerts coming up in Japan and even though they hired a back-up keyboard player to support him, Keith was worried.
'He read all the criticism online and was a sensitive soul. Last year he played concerts and people posted mean comments such as, 'I wish he would stop playing.'
'He was tormented with worry that he wouldn't be good enough. He was planning to retire after Japan.
'He didn't want to let down his fans. He was a perfectionist and the thought he wouldn't play perfectly made him depressed, nervous and anxious.'
Greg Lake says he feared for ELP star Keith.
“I have to be honest and say that his death didn’t come as a shock to me,” he said.
"The situation with Keith didn’t happen suddenly, it had been developing from as far back as the Works Vol 1 album (1977). At that point, I began to see things happening with Keith which didn’t look or feel right.”
Lake did his best to help his friend – “when you’re close you always hope tomorrow will be better” – but eventually he became “impossible” to work with.
“I think its a very difficult thing to actually describe what depression is,” he said. “We all know what it looks like, people’s moods become very black. But it’s more complicated than that. It changes someone’s personality.
“Also, Keith got into substance abuse, which made it worse and the whole thing just spiralled. He lived, in the end, this very lonely existence of someone who was deeply troubled, He loved music – that was his main purpose in life. But the music he made after ELP never bore fruit in the same way as it did in the early days.”
Lake is proud of the work he and Keith did in Emerson, Lake & Palmer, particularly the trio of 1970s albums (Tarkus, Trilogy and Brain Salad Surgery) which catapulted them to multi-million selling international success.
“I was always searching for those early days, I was always looking for that spark of effervescence that we had during the making of all those great records.”
The pair last worked together two years ago when they played a festival in London. But by that point Emerson was also beginning to suffer from an affliction which made it hard for him to play the keyboards.
“Part of Keith’s problem was that, especially in later years, he’d begun to develop a degenerative disease that affected his hands. He lost control of some of his fingers.”
Lake is reluctant to link this illness too firmly to his death.
“I’m sure it was a component. But I have to say to you that a lot of people are given bad news like that and you don’t take your life because of it. I’m not a doctor but I saw someone who became increasingly confused, desperate and depressed. It happens to people. All I would say is that if anyone does have feelings like that, of being so desperate that they think it’s better off not to wake up tomorrow, then please, go and talk to somebody - the doctor, your friend, anybody. Talk to them and tell them what state you’re in. If Keith had taken that path he might still be here today,” he said.
GREG LAKE IN "DEEP SADNESS" OVER LOSS OF ELP BANDMATE - "I WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER KEITH EMERSON AS A REMARKABLE MUSICIAN, COMPOSER AND HIS GIFT AND PASSION TO ENTERTAIN"
"To all ELP friends and fans all over the world, I would like to express my deep sadness upon hearing this tragic news. As you know Keith and I spent many of the best years of our lives together and to witness his life coming to an end in the way that it has is painful, both to myself and to all who knew him.
As sad and tragic as Keith’s death is, I would not want this to be the lasting memory people take away with them. What I will always remember about Keith Emerson was his remarkable talent as a musician and composer and his gift and passion to entertain. Music was his life and despite some of the difficulties he encountered I am sure that the music he created will live on forever.
My deepest condolences go to Keith’s family.
May he now be at peace."
