The Nice were a groundbreaking English progressive rock band active from 1967 to 1970, known for fusing rock, jazz, and classical music into theatrical, genre-defying performances. Originally formed as the backing band for soul singer P.P. Arnold, they quickly broke out on their own, led by keyboard virtuoso Keith Emerson. Emerson’s flamboyant stage antics—like stabbing his Hammond organ with knives—became legendary, and the band’s radical rearrangements of classical pieces (like Bernstein’s “America”) stirred controversy and acclaim. Their debut album The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack helped define proto-prog, and later works like Ars Longa Vita Brevis and Five Bridges pushed boundaries even further. After Emerson left to form Emerson, Lake & Palmer, The Nice dissolved, but their influence on progressive rock and art-rock remains profound.
