King Crimson

King Crimson were an English progressive rock band formed in London in 1968 by Robert Fripp, Michael Giles, Greg Lake, Ian McDonald and Peter Sinfield. Guitarist and leader Fripp remained the only constant member throughout the band's history. The band drew inspiration from a wide variety of music, incorporating elements of classical, jazz, folk, heavy metal, gamelan, blues, industrial, electronic, and experimental music. They also exerted a strong influence on the early 1970s progressive rock movement, including on contemporaries such as Yes and Genesis, and continue to inspire subsequent generations of artists across multiple genres. The band has earned a large cult following, especially in the 21st century.

The band's debut album, In the Court of the Crimson King (1969), remains their most commercially successful and influential release, and is frequently cited as one of the most significant albums of the progressive rock genre. Following the breakdown of the original line-up, the next two albums, In the Wake of Poseidon and Lizard (both 1970), were recorded during a period of instability in the band's personnel, before a settled line-up of Fripp, Sinfield, Mel Collins, Boz Burrell and Ian Wallace recorded Islands in 1971. In mid-1972, Fripp disbanded this line-up, recruited new members Bill Bruford (formerly of Yes), John Wetton (formerly of Family), David Cross and Jamie Muir, and changed the group's musical approach, drawing from European free improvisation and modernist classical music and developing ever more complex compositions. The band released three more albums, Larks' Tongues in Aspic (1973), Starless and Bible Black and Red (both 1974), before Fripp disbanded King Crimson at the end of 1974.