Carl Palmer planning "A-List" 50th Anniversary bash for ELP

Carl Palmer, the surviving member of prog legends Emerson, Lake & Palmer, has revealed he's planning on an "A list" 50th anniversary celebration for the band in 2020.

Speaking to Billboard magazine, Palmer states, "We're just now putting it together. "I'm looking right now at putting a show together, probably in America, with some A-listers. I can't tell you who they are, but in principle as a project it looks like it's going to go through."

In the same interview Palmer addresses the current state of play with Asia, who are currently on hiatus following one tour with Billy Sherwood standing in for the late John Wetton.

"There's nothing planned at the moment," Palmer ways, adding that he and keyboardist Geoff Downes "don't want to bury it completely. Depending on how meetings go, Asia might even be touring next summer. I'm going to link it and Carl Palmer's ELP Legacy into the same tour; I'm not sure how it's going to happen yet, but we'll make some proposals and see. I like the idea of doing some double-dipping."

He also raises the possibility of a new ELP documentary. "When we were signed to Sanctuary, ELP released a documentary that was six hours long. That got lost in the wash, so we're going back and re-editing that and putting together another couple hours of documentary stuff that hasn't been seen."

The 2017 Prog God winner at the Progressive Music Awards also reflected on the achievements of himself and his late musical partners Keith Emerson and Greg Lake.

"I wake up every morning and say to myself, 'Thank God I'm here and I'm still playing. The 50 years have gone by very quickly. When you have any form of success at all you don't really live it as it's happening 'cause things are moving so fast. You only appreciate it afterwards. So now I'm appreciating what we did way back then."

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Writer and broadcaster Jerry Ewing is the Editor of Prog Magazine which he founded for Future Publishing in 2009. He grew up in Sydney and began his writing career in London for Metal Forces magazine in 1989. He has since written for Metal Hammer, Maxim, Vox, Stuff and Bizarre magazines, among others. He created and edited Classic Rock Magazine for Dennis Publishing in 1998 and is the author of a variety of books on both music and sport, including Wonderous Stories; A Journey Through The Landscape Of Progressive Rock.