There are many famous electronic keyboardists in metal, rock, pop and jazz music. A complete list can be found at
List of keyboardists. The use of electronic keyboards grew in popularity throughout the 1960s, with many bands using the Hammond organ,
Mellotron, and electric pianos such as the
Fender Rhodes.
The Doors became the first rock group to use the
Moog synthesizer on a record on 1967's "
Strange Days". Other bands, including
the Moody Blues,
the Rolling Stones and
the Beatles, would go on to add it to their records, both to provide
sound effects and as a musical instrument in its own right. In 1966,
Billy Ritchie became the first keyboard player to take a lead role in a rock band, replacing guitar, and thereby preparing the ground for others such as
Ray Manzarek,
Keith Emerson and
Rick Wakeman. In the late 1960s, French musician
Jean Michel Jarre, a pioneer of modern electronic music, started to experiment with synthesizers and other electronic devices. As synthesizers became more affordable and less unwieldy, many more bands and producers began using them, eventually paving the way for bands that consisted solely of synthesizers and other electronic instruments such as
drum machines by the late 1970s/early 1980s. Some of the first bands that used this set up were
Kraftwerk,
Suicide and
the Human League. Rock groups also began using synthesizers and electronic keyboards alongside the traditional line-up of guitar, bass and drums; particularly in
progressive rock groups such as
Yes,
Genesis,
Emerson, Lake & Palmer and
Pink Floyd.
Fleetwood Mac, who had originated as a blues rock band, moved towards pop and soft rock and became known for synthesizer-infused hits in the 1980s such as "
Everywhere" and "
Little Lies". Keyboardists are often hired in
cover bands and
tribute bands, to replicate the original keyboard parts and other instrumental parts such as
strings or
horn section where it would be logistically difficult or too expensive to hire people to play the actual instruments. ==See also==