King Crimson consists of Adrian Belew (guitar, vocals), Pat Mastelotto (drums, percussion), Robert Fripp (guitar), Trey Gunn (bass, guitar).
For the Stephen King character, see Crimson King.
King Crimson is a British musical group founded by guitarist Robert Fripp and drummer Michael Giles in 1969.
Their musical style has typically been categorised as rock and roll, progressive rock and math rock. Though its membership has fluctuated considerably during its lifetime, the band continues to perform and record music. The name King Crimson was coined by Peter Sinfield as a synonym for Beelzebub, prince of demons; according to Fripp, Beelzebub would be an anglicised form of the Arabic phrase "B'il Sabab", meaning "the man with an aim". , although it is widely accepted that the word is from Hebrew Ba'al-z'bub meaning "lord of the flies" .
A considerable amount of King Crimson's history consists of the various personnel changes that have occurred within the group. Throughout its history, Robert Fripp has been the only consistent member, although he has stated that he does not necessarily consider himself the band's leader. To him King Crimson "is a way of doing things" , and the musical consistency that has persisted throughout the band's history, despite frequent rotation of its members, reflects this point of view.
King Crimson has found little success in the way of radio or music video presence, but they have a vast discography, tour frequently, and have one of the most devoted followings of any contemporary musical group.
Robert Fripp and Michael Giles began discussing the formation of King Crimson in November of 1968, soon before the breakup of the short-lived and unsuccessful band Giles, Giles, and Fripp. The first musician to be added to the lineup was multi-instrumentalist Ian McDonald. Lyricist Peter Sinfield and Singer-guitarist Greg Lake, who was to play bass and sing, were soon recruited afterward; thus the first incarnation of King Crimson was born.
