List of King Crimson members

Two lineups of King Crimson performing in 1973 (top) and 2016 (bottom).

King Crimson were an English progressive rock band from London. Formed in November 1968 (officially January 1969), the group originally included bassist and vocalist Greg Lake, guitarist and later keyboardist Robert Fripp, keyboardist and woodwind musician Ian McDonald, lyricist Peter Sinfield, and drummer Michael Giles. After a number of personnel changes, the group disbanded in 1974 but have since reformed on a number of occasions. As of the latest lineup change in 2020, King Crimson consisted of Fripp (the sole constant member of the band), saxophonist and flautist Mel Collins (who first joined in 1970), bassist Tony Levin (who first joined in 1981), drummers Pat Mastelotto (who first joined in 1994) and Gavin Harrison (since 2007), guitarist and vocalist Jakko Jakszyk (since 2013), and drummer and keyboardist Jeremy Stacey (since 2016).

History[edit]

1969–1984[edit]

Greg Lake was the frontman on the first two King Crimson albums.

After some initial rehearsals starting in late November 1968, King Crimson were officially formed on 13 January 1969 with a lineup of Greg Lake on bass and vocals, Robert Fripp on guitar, Ian McDonald on woodwind and keyboards, Peter Sinfield as a lyricist and occasional synthesizer player, and Michael Giles on drums.^[1] After the recording of the band's debut album In the Court of the Crimson King, McDonald and Giles left King Crimson in January 1970 after playing their last show on 16 December 1969.^[2] Fripp, Lake and Sinfield recorded the band's second album In the Wake of Poseidon with a temporary lineup featuring Giles, his brother Peter Giles and Mel Collins. Lake then departed to form Emerson, Lake & Palmer,^[3] while Fripp and Sinfield rebuilt the group after the album's release, finalising the new lineup by August with Collins, Gordon Haskell and Andy McCulloch in place of McDonald, Lake and Giles, respectively.^[1] After recording Lizard, both Haskell and McCulloch departed.^[4]

Ian Wallace replaced McCulloch in December 1970,^[1] and Raymond "Boz" Burrell took over from Haskell the following February. The group released Islands and returned to regular touring over the next year, Burrell, Collins and Wallace all left to join Alexis Korner's new group Snape in April 1972.^[5] Sinfield had left the group in January 1972. After the release of the live album Earthbound, Fripp rebuilt King Crimson again in July 1972 with the additions of former Family bassist and vocalist John Wetton, violinist and keyboardist David Cross, former Yes drummer Bill Bruford, and percussionist Jamie Muir.^[1][6] After the first of two live shows scheduled upon completion of the group's new album Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Muir abruptly left King Crimson to pursue Buddhism.^[7] The remaining four-piece issued Starless and Bible Black in March 1974.^[8]

By the time the group began recording the follow-up Red in July 1974, King Crimson were a trio following Cross's departure at the end of the previous tour.^[9] Later, on 25 September, Fripp announced that King Crimson had officially disbanded,^[1] claiming that the group were "completely over for ever and ever".^[10] After several years of side projects, Fripp formed a group called Discipline in April 1981 with former King Crimson drummer Bruford, as well as vocalist and guitarist Adrian Belew, and bassist and Chapman stick player Tony Levin. By the time the band's debut album Discipline was released in October, they had adopted the King Crimson name.^[11] This lineup remained stable for three years, releasing follow-up albums Beat and Three of a Perfect Pair, before disbanding again upon the conclusion of a promotional touring cycle in July 1984.^[12]

1994 onwards[edit]

After a ten-year break, King Crimson reformed again in 1994, with Fripp, Belew, Levin and Bruford joined by second bassist/Chapman stick player Trey Gunn and second drummer Pat Mastelotto.^[1] This lineup, dubbed the "Double Trio", began rehearsing in April 1994 and released its only studio effort THRAK the following year.^[13] After touring extensively, the group returned to the studio in May 1997 for the recording of their twelfth studio album, but faced difficulties making progress with the sessions.^[14] Instead of disbanding again, Fripp decided to initiate a process of "fraKctalisation", splitting the six band members into four "ProjeKcts" of various lineups.^[15] Each ProjeKct performed several live shows and wrote together, serving as "research and development" units for the full King Crimson incarnation.^[14]

Touch guitarist Trey Gunn was a mainstay of the King Crimson lineup during the 1990s and early 2000s.

The ProjeKcts spawned several studio and live recordings, which were issued in 1999 as part of The ProjeKcts box set.^[16] By this time the lineup of King Crimson was a "Double Duo" consisting of Belew, Fripp, Gunn and Mastelotto, following the departures of Bruford and Levin.^[1] The band released two new studio albums, The ConstruKction of Light and The Power to Believe, before Gunn announced in November 2003 that he was leaving to explore new musical opportunities.^[17] Levin returned to take his place.^[1] Rehearsals subsequently began for planned new material, with a string of rehearsal sessions taking place in September 2004,^[18] before the group disbanded for a third time.^[1]

In June 2007, Fripp announced that a new lineup of King Crimson had been finalised for the band's 40th anniversary tour the following year.^[19] In addition to the members of the 2004 incarnation, Gavin Harrison of Porcupine Tree was added as a second drummer.^[20] The tour took place in August 2008,^[21] after which members returned to focus on other projects.^[1] In September 2013, despite claiming the previous year that he was retiring, Fripp announced another reformation of King Crimson.^[22] In addition to Levin, Mastoletto and Harrison, the eighth lineup was confirmed to include returning saxophonist and flautist Mel Collins, new guitarist and vocalist Jakko Jakszyk, and third drummer Bill Rieflin.^[23] In March 2016, Jeremy Stacey replaced Rieflin for the year's touring,^[24] becoming a full member during the winter leg of the tour.^[25] Rieflin switched over to being the band's first full-time keyboardist upon his return in January 2017.^[26]

Rieflin was temporarily replaced again for an autumn 2017 tour by Chris Gibson.^[27] For the band's 50th anniversary tour in 2019, it was announced that Rieflin would once more be temporarily replaced, this time by Theo Travis.^[28] However, after a day of rehearsal, the band opted instead to do the 2019 tour as a seven-piece.^[29] Rieflin's parts were divided among other band members, with Jakszyk and Collins adding keyboards to their on-stage rigs, and Levin once again using the synthesizer he used during the 1980s tours.^[30] Rieflin died of cancer on March 23, 2020, reducing the line-up to a septet.^[31]

On December 8, 2021, the band played the last show of their "Music Is Our Friend" tour, after which Fripp tweeted out that the band had "Moved from sound to silence",^[32] Levin published in his blog “Tonight is the final concert of the tour, and quite possibly the final King Crimson concert.".^[32] No announcements have been heard from the band since December, though Harrison has said that he in unsure whether the band is over.^[33] Though the 2013-2021 line ups are the longest running line-ups in the band's history, they never released any studio material, except "Fripp, Jakszyk & Collins' A Scarcity of Miracles" (featuring Fripp, Jakszyk, Collins, Levin and Harrison) and Jakko Jakszyk's "Secrets & Lies" (also featuring Fripp, Jakszyk, Collins, Levin and Harrison, and which most material was written during King Crimson writing sessions). The band was not musically active in 2022, with Fripp re-stating that the band is unlikely to tour again.^[34]

Members[edit]

Note: Release contributions do not include albums issued as part of the King Crimson Collector's Club, or other limited releases.

Final line-up[edit]

Image	Name	Years active	Instruments	Release contributions
	Robert Fripp	1968–1974 1981–1984 1994–2008 2013–2021	guitar keyboards mellotron electronics, samples and effects	all King Crimson releases
	Mel Collins	1970–1972 2013–2021 (session contributor in 1974)	saxophones flute bass flute mellotron (1971–72) keyboards (2019–2021) backing vocals (1971)	all King Crimson releases from In the Wake of Poseidon (1970) to Earthbound (1972) Red (1974) – one track only Ladies of the Road (2002) all releases from Live at the Orpheum (2015) onwards
	Tony Levin	1981–1984 1994–1999 2003–2008 2013–2021	bass touch bass Chapman stick synthesisers (1981-94, 2019–2021) backing vocals	all King Crimson releases from Discipline (1981) to Three of a Perfect Pair: Live in Japan (1984), Vrooom (1994) Live in Japan (1996) Absent Lovers: Live in Montreal (1998) Live in Mexico City (1999) The ProjeKcts (1999) Vrooom Vrooom (2001) all releases from Live at the Orpheum (2015) onwards
	Pat Mastelotto	1994–2008 2013–2021	electronic and acoustic drums acoustic and electronic percussion	Vrooom (1994) Live in Japan (1996), Live in Mexico City (1999) Vrooom Vrooom (2001), all releases from Happy with What You Have to Be Happy With (2002) onwards
	Gavin Harrison	2007–2008 2013–2021	acoustic and electronic drums electronic and acoustic percussion	all King Crimson releases from Live at the Orpheum (2015) onwards
	Jakko Jakszyk	2013–2021	guitar keyboards (2019–2021) flute lead vocals lyrics
	Jeremy Stacey	2016–2021	drums keyboards backing vocals [35]	all King Crimson releases from Heroes (2017) onwards

Former members[edit]

Image	Name	Years active	Instruments	Release contributions
	Peter Sinfield	1968–1972	lyrics light shows synthesizer (1970-72)	all King Crimson releases from In the Court of the Crimson King (1969) to Lizard (1971)
	Michael Giles	1968–1970	drums percussion backing vocals	In the Court of the Crimson King (1969) In the Wake of Poseidon (1970) Epitaph (1997)
	Greg Lake	1968–1970 (died 2016)	bass lead vocals
	Ian McDonald	1968–1970 (session contributor in 1974) (died 2022)	saxophones flute clarinet bass clarinet keyboards mellotron vibraphone backing and occasional lead vocals	In the Court of the Crimson King (1969) Red (1974) – two tracks only Epitaph (1997)
	Peter Giles	1970	bass	In the Wake of Poseidon (1970)
	Gordon Haskell	1970 (session contributor earlier in 1970) (died 2020)	bass lead vocals	In the Wake of Poseidon (1970) – one track only Lizard (1970)
	Andy McCulloch	1970	drums	Lizard (1970)
	Ian Wallace	1970–1972 (died 2007)	drums percussion backing vocals	Islands (1971) Earthbound (1972) Ladies of the Road (2002)
	Raymond "Boz" Burrell	1971–1972 (died 2006)	bass lead vocals
	Bill Bruford	1972–1974 1981–1984 1994–1999	drums percussion	all King Crimson releases from Larks' Tongues in Aspic (1973) to Live in Japan (1996), and from The Night Watch (1997) to The ProjeKcts (1999) Vrooom Vrooom (2001)
	John Wetton	1972–1974 (died 2017)	bass piano lead vocals violin [36]	all King Crimson releases from Larks' Tongues in Aspic (1973) to USA (1975) The Great Deceiver (1992) The Night Watch (1997)
	David Cross	1972–1974	violin viola flute keyboards	all King Crimson releases from Larks' Tongues in Aspic (1973) to USA (1975)
	Jamie Muir	1972–1973	percussion drums	Larks' Tongues in Aspic (1973)
	Adrian Belew	1981–1984 1994–2008	guitar lead vocals occasional drums and percussion lyrics	Discipline (1981) Beat (1982) Three of a Perfect Pair: Live in Japan (1984),Vrooom (1994) Live in Japan (1996), all King Crimson releases from Absent Lovers: Live in Montreal (1998) to Vrooom Vrooom (2001), Happy with What You Have to Be Happy With (2002) Eyes Wide Open (2003)
	Trey Gunn	1994–2003	Warr guitar Chapman stick backing vocals touch bass bass (1999–2003)	Vrooom (1994) Live in Japan (1996), Live in Mexico City (1999) Vrooom Vrooom (2001), Happy with What You Have to Be Happy With (2002) Eyes Wide Open (2003)
	Bill Rieflin	2013–2016 2017–2019 (died 2020)	keyboards, synthesisers mellotron drums, percussion, backing vocals (2013–2016)	Live at the Orpheum (2015) Radical Action to Unseat the Hold of Monkey Mind (2016) Live in Chicago (2017) Meltdown: Live in Mexico City (2018)

Touring musicians[edit]

Image	Name	Years active	Instruments	Details
	Chris Gibson	2017	keyboards synthesisers mellotron	Gibson temporarily replaced Bill Rieflin during an autumn 2017 concert tour.[27] He appears on the second half of the 2017 disc of Audio Diary 2014-2018.

Session contributors[edit]

Image	Name	Years active	Instruments	Release contributions
	Keith Tippett	1970–1971 (died 2020)	electric and acoustic pianos keyboards	In the Wake of Poseidon (1970) Lizard (1970) Islands (1971)
	Robin Miller	1970–1971 1974	oboe english horn	Lizard (1970) Islands (1971) Red (1974)
	Mark Charig		cornet
	Nick Evans	1970	trombone	Lizard (1970)
	Jon Anderson		vocals
	Paulina Lucas	1971		Islands (1971)
	Wilf Gibson	1971 (died 2014)	violin
	Harry Miller	1971 (died 1983)	double bass
	Richard Palmer-James	1973–1974	lyrics	Larks' Tongues in Aspic (1973) Starless and Bible Black (1974) Red (1974)
	Eddie Jobson	1975	violin electric piano	USA (1975) (studio overdubs only)

Timeline[edit]

Line-ups[edit]

King Crimson[edit]

Spin-off bands[edit]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Discipline Global Mobile official website