A new petition has been launched by the Emerson Lake & Palmer Appreciation Group on Facebook, calling on the BBC "to recognise and celebrate the enduring musical and compositional legacy of Keith Emerson through significantly increased programming, performance, documentary coverage, and inclusion within the 2027/2028 BBC Proms seasons."
The band will be very much part of the upcoming and inaugural prog prom, Prog Rock: A Fanfare for the Common Man, which takes place at the Royal Albert Hall on July 18, with Carl Palmer, the sole survivor from the band's line-up appearing alongside Van der Graaf Generator's Peter Hammill, Elbow frontman Guy Garvey, Jane Weaver and Gruff Rhys from Welsh psych exponents Super Furry Animals for the event, which is hosted by BBC Radio 6 Music’s champion of progressive music, Stuart Maconie, host of the Freak Zone.
The new petition centres solely on Emerson, who, according to the petition, "aspired not merely to popularity, but to be remembered as a serious twentieth-century composer whose complex and multi-layered works would stand the test of time."
2027 will be the 50th Anniversary of Emerson's Concerto Number 1, which was composed and recorded in 1976, and released on ELP's Works Volume 1 a year later.
The petition specifically calls upon the BBC (and others) to:
* Increase the broadcast presence of Keith Emerson’s compositions and solo works on BBC Radio 3.
* Commission and broadcast new BBC Four documentaries and retrospective programmes exploring Emerson’s role in twentieth-century musical innovation.
* Include the music and compositions of Keith Emerson within the BBC Proms 2027/2028 seasons, particularly through orchestral, symphonic or contemporary interpretations that properly reflect the scale, breadth, and ambition of his work.
* Recognise progressive rock and crossover composition as an important and legitimate part of Britain’s modern musical heritage, which has now begun with the inclusion of Prog Rock: A Fanfare for the Common Man in 2026.
You can sign the petition here.
