New King Crimson book to be published in October

King Crimson in 1969
(Image credit: Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images)

A new King Crimson biography, from musician and author Pete Tomsett will be published later this year.

Fifty Shades Of King Crimson will be published by US publishers Rowman And Littlefield, and is described as the story of the unique, English guitarist, Robert Fripp, and his legendary band, King Crimson, the product of over forty years of fandom, obsessive research and interviews with ex-band members, Bill Bruford, Peter Giles and Gordon Haskell, as well as others associated with the band.

"I’ve loved the music of Fripp and his many bandmates and collaborators since I was a teenager and a wannabee musician myself," says Tomsett. "I took the plunge into writing the book as I felt that Fripp and Crimson’s music just didn’t get the level of on-going coverage that their status deserved, especially compared to some of the other bands who started around the same time. After all, they triggered the immense rise of prog-rock, and genuinely changed the course of music history, and on more than one occasion.

"I had the pleasure of interviewing some ex-Crimson members, Bill Bruford, Gordon Haskell and Peter Giles - along with others associated with the band, most notably, Judy Dyble (also sadly no longer with us). While Fripp and Crimson are the main focus, I set myself quite a broad remit too, looking at many of what you could broadly call the spin-offs, ranging from the massive entities of Asia and Emerson, Lake and Palmer to the lower key, but just as worthy, solo careers ex-Crims such as Gordon Haskell and David Cross."

Fifty Shades Of King Crimson has just come out in the Americas and will be published elsewhere in mid-October.

Get Fifty Shades Of King Crimson.

King Crimson

(Image credit: Rowman & Littlefield)
Jerry Ewing

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.