Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel is a British multiple Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter and human rights activist who first caught the world’s attention as the lead singer of Genesis – a famous English progressive rock band whose popular songs include Follow You Follow Me and Invisible Touch. Having departed from Genesis in 1975, he went on to establish a very successful solo career with the release of several bestselling albums, including So. The album contained hit singles such as: Don’t Give Up, In Your Eyes, and Red Rain. Some of his other notable songs include Solsbury Hill, Sledgehammer and Mercy Street. In 2010, Gabriel was honored with an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Genesis. In 2014, he was honored with a second induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for his excellent career as a solo artist.
Peter Gabriel was born in Surrey, England to Edith Irene and Ralph Gabriel on February 13th, 1950. In 1971, Gabriel got married for the first time to a woman called Jill Moore, with whom he had two children, Melainie and Anna-Marie. His marriage to Jill ended in a divorce in 1987. Gabriel later got married to Meah Flyn in 2002. The marriage produced two children, Luc and Isaac Ralph.
Peter Gabriel – Photo by Piotr Drabik made available under a CC-BY 2.0 license.
Facts about Peter Gabriel
Here are some of the most interesting facts about Peter Gabriel:
- In 1967, Gabriel, along with Mike Rutherford, Tony Banks, Anthony Philips and Chris Stewart founded Genesis.
- Prior to his career with Genesis, Gabriel was a drummer in a number of rock bands.
- Gabriel was one of the founders of WOMAD (World of Music, Arts and Dance), the renowned international music, arts and dance festival.
- In 1999, Gabriel co-founded On Demand Distribution (OD2) – one of the world’s first online music download services. Gabriel is a member of the Advisory Council of The Elders – founded by former South African president Nelson Mandela. The Elders is an NGO of famous figures from all over the world.
- In 2006, Gabriel was honored with two very important awards: the Man of Peace award by the Nobel Peace Laureates and the Lifetime Achievement Award by Q magazine. The latter award was given to him by American musician Moby.
- During Gabriel’s second induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014, Coldplay’s Chris Martin was given the honor of inducting him into the Hall of Fame.
- A number of factors led to Gabriel leaving Genesis, one of which was his refusal to put the band before his family. The rest of the band members greatly hated him for that. In 1975, Gabriel departed Genesis for good when his band members got so angry with him for refusing to abandon his wife and sick child to record music and tour with the band.
Notable Peter Gabriel Songs
Here are some of the most famous songs by Peter Gabriel:
- Solsbury Hill
- Intruder
- No Self Control
- Family Snapshot
- Games Without Frontiers
- Biko
- I Have the Touch
- Shock the Monkey
- Red Rain
- Sledgehammer
- Don’t Give Up
- In Your Eyes
- Mercy Street
- Big Time
- Gethsemane
- Stigmata
- Blood of Eden
- Digging in the Dirt
- Steam
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[…] band was formed in 1967 by Tony Banks, Chris Stewart, Peter Gabriel, Mike Rutherford and Anthony Phillips. Despite Phil Collins being the most prominent member of the […]
[…] Your Eyes is a song performed by noted English singer and songwriter Peter Gabriel. According to Gabriel himself, the lyrics of In Your Eyes, which are inspired by the African […]