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FORGOTTEN HISTORY: 3 | History Defined

“With deference to everybody in Beat, my function is to amuse myself and hopefully you. I can’t do music from 45 years ago”: Why Bill Bruford demoted himself from the King Crimson, Yes and Genesis league

Bill Bruford retired in 2009 and later sold most of his equipment to Tool’s Danny Carey. Then he found he wasn’t finished on stage – and he’s come back re-energised

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Toyah and Robert Fripp return to action with spirited cover of Tina Turner's evergreen sporting anthem The Best

Better than all the rest, etc

Louder

“The concept of cool and uncool is completely gone, which is good and bad… people are unashamedly listening to Rick Astley. You’ve got to draw a line somewhere!” Mogwai and the making of prog-curious album The Bad Fire

Stuart Braithwaite found himself unexpectedly inspired by King Crimson on his band’s 11th record – and the influence of Pink Floyd could appear on their next

Louder

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“Every record was a battle… I was listening, like, ‘This is amazing!’ but Robert Fripp was reliving the pain and trying to find his way through that”: What Steven Wilson learned from remixing King Crimson

Admitting that arrogance played a role in accepting the challenge, Wilson was left with an even greater appreciation of Fripp’s achievements

Louder

“An album misinterpreted by lesser talents”: What do Syd Barrett, Kevin Ayers, Peter Hammill and Robert Fripp have to do with Britpop? See Blur’s Modern Life Is Rubbish for details

Okay, it’s not all-out prog – but the band’s second record contains the spirit of the genre, with its English eccentricities, non-linear approach to playing and rule-breaking flair

Louder

“I don’t think he ever got over being fired from King Crimson… but he went on to bigger, more financially successful things”: Peter Sinfield, the prog poet who gave voices to ELP, Roxy Music and many others

Lyricist, art director, producer and all-round creative who aimed to enlighten, provoke or stir died in November 2024 without being fully aware of what he’d achieved

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Jamie Muir obituary

Percussionist best known for his work with King Crimson and his delight in exploring the boundaries of improvisation

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Watch Toyah Willcox run her fingers seductively through Robert Fripp's hair as they perform Blondie's One Way Or Another

Warning: Includes bonus footage

Louder

"He was such an interesting man. A funny combination of intensity and craziness." King Crimson's Jamie Muir remembered...

King Crimson biographer and Prog writer Sid Smith pays tribute to percussionist Jamie Muir, who died this weekend, aged 821

Louder

King Crimson percussionist Jamie Muir has died aged 82

Jamie Muir, who featured on King Crimson's Lark's Tongues In Aspic before leaving to become a Buddhist monk, has died

Louder

“Jesus, that was hard! But I got it. I welcome the challenges”: Guitar hero Steve Vai reveals the difficulties of playing King Crimson music - and how he gets by with a little help from Robert Fripp

“I’m a fan and want to play the exact notes,” Vai says

MusicRadar

“Things come more difficult to him than to anyone I’ve ever met…he doesn’t con himself into thinking he knows what he’s doing”: Peter Gabriel, in the words of his collaborators and admirers

Robert Fripp, Ian Anderson, Steven Wilson, Martin Scorsese, Mike Portnoy, Tom Morello, Trevor Rabin and many others share their thoughts on the Progfather

Louder

“It was so close to happening. Then Jeff bailed at the last moment”: Joe Satriani was days away from signing Jeff Beck for G3 – before the Yardbird dropped out and suggested Prince as a replacement

Satriani discusses how Beck may have overlooked him due to their generational differences as guitarists

Guitar World

“It’s ludicrous a song like that would go on an album at the height of our fame, but it got the most notice because it was so bizarre”: The Police’s Andy Summers on success, psychedelia and working with difficult people

The multi-faceted guitarist looks back on a career including stints with Robert Fripp, John Cale, Kevin Ayers and others

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Andy Summers and Robert Fripp's Complete Works 1981-1984 to be released in March

The four-disc Andy Summers and Robert Fripp's Complete Works 1981-1984 features previously unreleased material and new mixes

Guitar World

“Throughout the Beat tour, my left hand kept going numb and burning like fire”: Adrian Belew recovering after undergoing carpal tunnel surgery

The “world-renowned” surgeon who took charge of the surgery is a King Crimson fan

Louder

At last! Toyah Willcox and Robert Fripp have unleashed their inner punk

Watch all the action unfold in Worcestershire's rowdiest kitchen

Louder

“Our producer chopped down the songs to four minutes… the originals were much longer and stretched out”: King Crimson fan and Saxon vocalist Biff Byford narrowly missed out on being a prog musician

Twists of fate prevented him from following his original ambitions – but his band still use Robert Fripp’s music at sound checks

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Guitar World

“We get past our second show and I get an email from Robert. At the end, he said, ‘Can I make a suggestion?’” How Robert Fripp helped Steve Vai tailor his King Crimson playing on the BEAT tour with one piece of advice

After watching clips of one of the early BEAT shows, the King Crimson guitarist had some words of wisdom for his stand-in regarding an especially tricky track

MusicRadar

“A lot of the guitar parts were totally within my ability, but there were a couple that I just couldn’t navigate”: Steve Vai reveals the King Crimson riff that had him beat and the tip from Robert Fripp that helped him nail it

Celebrating the ‘80s material of prog trailblazers King Crimson, the BEAT Tour gave Vai a welcome fix of “high-information music” but some of Fripp’s material pushed him to the limit

MusicRadar

“He was a great guitar player. He’s not looking at what he’s playing, so obviously he really knows the instrument”: Which grunge icon could Joe Satriani be talking about?

Plus, he highlights the “only problem” with Yngwie Malmsteen

Guitar World

“This is a guy who worked for Frank Zappa. Frank said to him, ‘Whatever you do, don’t learn how to read music.’ He's all-creative –he's a miracle, really”: Steve Vai on BEAT, being a virtuoso in his 60s – and the Fripp riff he just couldn’t master

He reflects on how Frank Zappa helped him and Adrian Belew, the value of learning from rather than competing with other players and changing rig for his tour with Joe Satriani. But who’s going to be in the SatchVai band?

Louder

“He was a great guitar player. He’s not looking at what he’s playing, he really knows the instrument”: Joe Satriani says Kurt Cobain was an underrated guitar hero

Joe Satriani knows a thing or two about great guitarists –and he says the Nirvana frontman was one of them

Guitar World

“He’s not used to not being the focus of the show. I’d say, ‘When Steve’s soloing, don’t throw your guitar up in the air right next to him’”: Joe Satriani on the unique challenges of having Yngwie Malmsteen on the G3 tour

Satch has no notes for the Swedish maestro’s playing, but found other aspects of his performances a little distracting during their G3 time together

Guitar World

“My stock answer was, ‘No.’ Most people who approach me to do something like that are looking to relive the glory days of ’80s rock”: Why Steve Vai dropped his anti-supergroup stance to help revive some of King Crimson’s most celebrated work

BEAT has been celebrating King Crimson’s 1980s albums, with Adrian Belew and Steve Vai’s new guitar partnership at its core

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