# Career Killers: How Winger, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, and After the Fire Lost Their Momentum

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/professor-of-rock-7272370/career-killers-how-winger-emerson-lake-palmer-and-after-the-fire-lost-their-momentum
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/professor-of-rock-7272370/career-killers-how-winger-emerson-lake-palmer-and-after-the-fire-lost-their-momentum.md
Podcast: [Professor of Rock](https://stenobird.com/podcast/professor-of-rock-7272370)
Published: 2026-05-06T08:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://mgln.ai/e/345/rss.pdrl.fm/eb47a0/pscrb.fm/rss/p/rss.art19.com/episodes/43fe2f0a-3134-4935-ac1d-41ddd274e8d3.mp3?rss_browser=BAhJIg90cmFuc2NyaWJyBjoGRVQ%3D--952c5701c84ad333c69d5faa668f8177091704f0
Audio file: https://mgln.ai/e/345/rss.pdrl.fm/eb47a0/pscrb.fm/rss/p/rss.art19.com/episodes/43fe2f0a-3134-4935-ac1d-41ddd274e8d3.mp3?rss_browser=BAhJIg90cmFuc2NyaWJyBjoGRVQ%3D--952c5701c84ad333c69d5faa668f8177091704f0
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Duration seconds: 1838

## Resource

So in the music business, the climb to the top can take years and years of grueling hard work. But a fall from grace? That can happen in the blink of an eye. Today, we are back with another episode of "Career Killers.” We haven’t done one of these in a while, so it’s time! We’ve got the story of Winger, who had to cancel their upcoming tour and call it quits after their credibility was destroyed by an MTV cartoon and 3 seconds of a rival band’s music video. Then, there’s the legendary prog-rock trio Emerson, Lake and Palmer, who literally spent themselves into bankruptcy by bringing a 70-piece orchestra on the road, only to be forced into a "disco" makeover that finished them off for good. And you won't believe the tale of the British new-wavers After the Fire who broke up their band just weeks before their song exploded into the top 5 in America… turning them into a "ghost band" with no one to take the stage. They lost all the momentum they’d worked years to gain. It’s a wild ride through hubris, heartbreak, and bad timing. Let’s get into it! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

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