LOS ANGELES – A coroner’s official says the death of keyboardist Keith Emerson, co-founder of the seminal progressive rock group Emerson, Lake and Palmer, has been ruled a suicide.
Los Angeles coroner’s spokesman Ed Winter said Tuesday the determination was made after an autopsy showed Emerson shot himself in the head. He says there were also signs the 71-year-old man had a heart condition.
Emerson’s body was found early Friday by his longtime partner.
Authorities suspected Emerson shot himself but the determination did not become official until after the autopsy.
Emerson, drummer Carl Palmer and vocalist/guitarist Greg Lake were giants of progressive rock in the 1970s, recording six platinum-selling albums.