Free Republic

"Works, Volume 1 was a double album with Keith Emerson the focus of the first side, Greg Lake the second, Carl Palmer the third, and the entire band sharing equally on Side 4. "C'est La Vie" was one of the songs Lake wrote for his side with help from lyricist Pete Sinfield, who was his bandmate in King Crimson. Telling the story of the song, Lake said: "I used to live in Paris for a while. A very beautiful city. I sometimes would go out walking in the streets there, and you'd often hear this instrument playing. I don't know...

French rock icon Johnny Hallyday is in a medically induced coma at a U.S. hospital as a result of an operation gone bad in France, according to the singer's handlers.

As many in the world focused on international climate talks and an attack on the Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, France remained transfixed by the news that a beloved and aging French rock star known as the French Elvis was in a medically induced coma in a Los Angeles hospital. Long-awaited news about President Nicolas Sarkozy’s plan to invest in universities and new businesses received far less coverage in most news media than the news about the singer, Johnny Hallyday. Even Le Monde, one of France’s most serious newspapers, weighed in with an editorial bemoaning the rocker’s illness, saying it...