3 (sometimes referred to as Emerson, Berry & Palmer) were a short-lived

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. I ...

band formed by former

Emerson, Lake & Palmer Emerson, Lake & Palmer (informally known as ELP) were an English progressive rock supergroup formed in London in 1970. The band consisted of Keith Emerson (keyboards), Greg Lake (vocals, bass, guitar, producer) and Carl Palmer (drums, percus ...

members

Keith Emerson Keith Noel Emerson (2 November 1944 – 11 March 2016) was an English keyboardist, songwriter, and record producer. He played keyboards in a number of bands before finding his first commercial success with the Nice in the late 1960s. He becam ...

and

Carl Palmer Carl Frederick Kendall Palmer (born 20 March 1950) is an English drummer best known as founding member and the last surviving member of the progressive rock supergroup Emerson, Lake & Palmer. He was also a founding member of progressive rock s ...

and American multi-instrumentalist Robert Berry in 1988. After one album, '' To the Power of Three'', 3 split up. Emerson & Palmer reunited with

Greg Lake Gregory Stuart Lake (10 November 1947 – 7 December 2016) was an English musician, singer, and songwriter. He gained prominence as a founding member of the progressive rock bands King Crimson and Emerson, Lake & Palmer (ELP). Born and ...

for 1992's ''

Black Moon Black Moon may refer to: * Black moon, one of four astronomical events involving new or dark moons * Black Moon (person) (c. 1821–1893), Lakota (American Indian) headman * Black Moon or Lilith (hypothetical moon), a hypothetical natural satelli ...

'' and Berry would form ''

Alliance An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

''. They performed live, as "Emerson and Palmer" (Berry was onstage but unnamed), at the

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most im ...

40th Anniversary concert in 1988, broadcast on HBO, but only performed a long medley instrumental set including ''

Fanfare for the Common Man ''Fanfare for the Common Man'' is a musical work by the American composer Aaron Copland. It was written in 1942 for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra under conductor Eugene Goossens and was inspired in part by a speech made earlier that year ...

'',

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...

's ''

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

'', and

Dave Brubeck David Warren Brubeck (; December 6, 1920 – December 5, 2012) was an American jazz pianist and composer. Often regarded as a foremost exponent of cool jazz, Brubeck's work is characterized by unusual time signatures and superimposing contrasti ...

's '' Blue Rondo'', which later became an ELP encore in their 1990s concerts. They did not perform any original ELP material without Lake, nor did they perform any ''3'' songs since the band's label was

Geffen Records Geffen Records is an American record label established by David Geffen and owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M Records imprint. Founded in 1980, Geffen Records has been a part of Interscope Geffen A&M since 1999 and h ...

. 3 performed at live venues to support their album, sometime in 1988. The three studio musicians were sometimes augmented by Paul Keller on guitar, Debra Parks and Jennifer Steele on backing vocals. Their setlist mainly consisted of material from their album, including "Runaway" and an extended jam version of the cover song "

Eight Miles High "Eight Miles High" is a song by the American rock band the Byrds, written by Gene Clark, Jim McGuinn (a.k.a. Roger McGuinn), and David Crosby. It was first released as a single on March 14, 1966. Musically influenced by sitar player Ravi Sh ...

". The group did a different arrangement of "Desde La Vida". The band did long instrumental jams based on music ELP covered including " Hoedown" & "

", but did not do any original ELP compositions. A long, elaborate cover of

The Four Tops ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...

' " Standing in the Shadows of Love" was also included in the set. Two live albums were released many years later, both on Rock Beat Records: ''Live Boston 88'' (2015) and ''Live - Rockin' The Ritz'' (2017). In October 2015, Emerson and Berry signed a contract with

Frontiers Records Frontiers Music – formerly Frontiers Records – is an Italian record label, predominantly producing hard rock. It was founded in 1996 by Serafino Perugino and is based in Naples. History In 1996, Serafino Perugino started working in the m ...

to record a follow-up album at last, to be called 3.2. Emerson's death in March of the following year put a halt to that project. However, in July 2018, Berry released (as 3.2) ''The Rules Have Changed,'' built from musical ideas contributed by Emerson, but produced and performed entirely by Berry. A second 3.2 album, ''Third Impression'', was released in 2021.

Band members

- keyboards (1988–1989) * Robert Berry -

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

(1988–1989) *

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

(1988–1989)

Live members

*Paul Keller – guitars (1988–1989) *Debra Parks - backing vocals (1988-1989) *Jennifer Steele –

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are ...

Band members

Live members

Discography

Studio albums

Single

References

See also