21 Facts About Anthony Phillips

Anthony Edwin Phillips was born on 23 December 1951 and is an English musician, songwriter, producer and singer who gained prominence as the original lead guitarist of the rock band Genesis, from 1967 to 1970.

Anthony Phillips left in July 1970 and learned to play more instruments, before he began a solo career.

Anthony Phillips continues to release solo material, including further solo albums, television and film music, collaborations with several artists, and compilation albums of his recordings.

Anthony Phillips was born on 23 December 1951 in Chiswick, England.

Anthony Phillips attended a preparatory school, during which he formed a group and took part in a performance of "My Old Man's a Dustman" in the school hut as the singer, but forgot the words during it and was kicked out.

Anthony Phillips learned enough to perform lead guitar to a rendition of "Foot Tapper" by the Shadows in the school lounge.

At thirteen Anthony Phillips acquired a Stratocaster and wrote his first song, "Patricia", an instrumental about the first girl he had a crush on.

Anthony Phillips was not entirely a self-taught guitar player; he received some tuition in rudimentary chords from classical guitarist David Channon, who became a big source of inspiration for Phillips, and used sheet music to songs by the Beatles that his mother would send him.

Anthony Phillips then picked up more chord knowledge, and learned to copy "reasonably well".

Anthony Phillips was a member of another band during 1966, Spoken Word, which included David Thomas, Ronnie Gunn, Jeremy Ensor, David Chadwick, and Peter Gabriel.

Anthony Phillips named the group Genesis, and suggested they record a studio album, which became From Genesis to Revelation.

Anthony Phillips was particularly angry when King added string arrangements to their songs without their knowledge, since the limitations of the recording technology meant that everything else on the album had to be reduced to mono as a consequence.

Anthony Phillips said he had little role in Genesis's songwriting during this period, and that most of the songs on From Genesis to Revelation were written by Gabriel and Banks.

In September 1969, the 17-year-old Anthony Phillips chose not to pursue a university degree and instead reunite with Gabriel, Banks and Rutherford after they had decided to become a full-time band.

In June 1970, Anthony Phillips had recovered enough to reunite with his bandmates and record their second album, Trespass.

Anthony Phillips recalled listening to Jean Sibelius around the time of his departure and recognised his musical ability was "terribly limited", which encouraged him to become a more proficient musician.

Anthony Phillips began writing material with Andrew Latimer of Camel in 1981, and was a featured performer on that band's album, The Single Factor.

Anthony Phillips released a mainstream pop album entitled Invisible Men in 1983.

Anthony Phillips later claimed that this project went "horribly wrong" as a result of commercial pressures, and would subsequently eschew mainstream success in favour of more specialised material.

Anthony Phillips co-wrote "Tears on the Ballroom Floor" for I Hear Talk by Bucks Fizz.

Since leaving Genesis, Anthony Phillips has remained involved in a variety of musical projects, including soundtrack work in England, often for the label Atmosphere, part of the Universal Music Group.