PETER GABRIEL
G'day folks,
Welcome to some details on a very famous singer and songwriter. Once a
member of the band Genesis, Peter Gabriel is a British singer and songwriter
who had such hits as "Games Without Frontiers,"
"Sledgehammer" and "In Your Eyes."
Synopsis
British
musician Peter Gabriel started the progressive rock group Genesis in the 1960s.
After breaking from the band in 1975, he has gone on to enjoy tremendous
success as a solo artist. His 1986 album So featured such hits as
“Sledgehammer, “Big Time” and “In Your Eyes.” Gabriel later released Us
(1992) and Up (2002). He is also one of the founders of the WOMAD
Foundation and Real World Records.
Early Life
Born on
February 13, 1950, in Woking, England, musician and singer Peter Gabriel has
created such hits as “Shock the Monkey,” “Sledgehammer,” “Big Time” and “In
Your Eyes.” He grew up on a farm in Coxhill near Chobham. His father Ralph was
an electric engineer and avid inventor. His mother Edith passed down her love
of music to her son. After attending local schools, Gabriel went to
Charterhouse, a boarding school, at the age of 13.
At
Charterhouse, Gabriel explored his interest in music. There he and friend Tony
Banks perform together in a band called the Garden Wall and met fellow
musicians Anthony Phillips and Mike Rutherford. The four eventually join forces
to form the future progressive rock act Genesis.
The Genesis Years
Gabriel
released his first single with Genesis in 1968, and the band released its first
album From Genesis to Revelation in 1969. This record failed to attract
much notice, but the group finally began to catch on with listeners by 1971’s Nursery
Cryme. This album broke into the UK’s top 40 album chart. Their next
effort, 1972’s Foxtrot, climbed higher, reaching the number 12 spot. The band
was probably best known, however, for its live shows.
Gabriel gave intriguing
performances on stage, often involving costumes and props.
Genesis continued
to thrive professionally over the next few years, but tensions began to emerge
within the band. Gabriel took time away from the group to work on a project
with director William Friedkin in 1974. "Genesis, at that time, were not
into anyone having extracurricular activities," Gabriel told Rolling
Stone. And there was also a certain jealousy, because as frontman I was
being credited as sole creative source of the band, which was really unfair,”
he added. Gabriel’s last album with Genesis was 1974’s The Lamb Lies Down on
Broadway.
Successful Solo Artist
After
leaving Genesis, Gabriel soon embarked on a solo career. He put his first
self-titled album in 1977, which featured the song “Solsbury Hill.” Quickly
following up this initial effort, Gabriel released his second self-titled
record the following year. One of the album’s best known tracks was “D.I.Y.”
With 1980’s Peter Gabriel, he experienced his first major success on the
music charts. The song, “Games Without Frontiers,” was a top 5 hit in Britain
and made the top 40 in the United States. Another track from the record “Biko,”
written about slain anti-Apartheid activist Steve Biko, “became a very
important song for me,” Gabriel wrote on his website. “I’d not written an
overtly political song before and was wondering if it would be accepted.”
Interested in many of types of creative expression, he helped found the World
of Music, Arts and Dance Foundation, better known as WOMAD, around this time.
The organization held its first festival two years later. Gabriel also branched
out into different music genres, composing the score for the 1984 film Birdy.
Gabriel reached even
greater heights with So,
his fifth studio album, in 1986. The energetic, catchy song “Sledgehammer”
became a big hit for him, propelled in part by the accompanying creative video.
“Big Time” was another popular, rhythmically driven track from the album.
Gabriel also demonstrated his gift for slower, more dramatic songs such as “In
Your Eyes” and “Don’t Give Up.” "In Your Eyes" drew a cult following
after it was featured in the soundtrack of Cameron Crowe's
iconic 1989 teen romance film Say
Anything.
Nearly a decade after Us, Gabriel released Up (2002), which failed to match the success of his earlier efforts. Still songs such as “Signal to Noise” and “The Barry Williams Show” received positive notice. More recently, Gabriel worked on a pair of themed albums. First came Scratch My Back in 2010, which offered listeners Gabriel’s take on the music of other artists. Many of these artists returned the favor by covering some of Gabriel’s classic songs on And I’ll Scratch Yours (2013). In 2016, he announced that he will be touring with Sting that summer.
Personal Life
Gabriel
is married to Meabh Flynn. The couple has two sons, Isaac and Luc, together.
Gabriel also has two daughters, Anna and Melanie, from his first marriage to
Jill Moore.
Clancy's comment: Good for him.
I'm ...
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