129 Facts About Peter Gabriel

Peter Gabriel came to prominence as the original frontman of the rock band Genesis.

Peter Gabriel left the band in 1975 and launched a solo career with "Solsbury Hill" as his first single.

Peter Gabriel has pioneered digital distribution methods for music by co-founding OD2, one of the first online music download services.

Peter Gabriel developed the idea for The Elders, an organisation of public figures noted as peace activists, alongside Nelson Mandela and Richard Branson in 2007.

Peter Gabriel has won three Brit Awards, six Grammy Awards, 13 MTV Video Music Awards, the first Pioneer Award at the BT Digital Music Awards, the Q Lifetime Achievement, the Ivor Novello Award for Lifetime Achievement, and the Polar Music Prize.

Peter Gabriel was named a BMI Icon at the 57th annual BMI London Awards for his "influence on generations of music makers".

Peter Gabriel was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Genesis in 2010, and as a solo artist in 2014.

Peter Brian Gabriel was born in Chobham on 13 February 1950, the son of Edith Irene and Ralph Parton Gabriel.

Peter Gabriel's mother came from a musical family, while his father was an electrical engineer and dairy farm owner from a long-established family of London timber importers and merchants.

Peter Gabriel was raised at Deep Pool Farm, a Victorian manor near Chobham.

Peter Gabriel attended the private primary school Cable House in Woking and St Andrews Preparatory School for Boys in Horsell.

In 1965, while still at Charterhouse, Peter Gabriel formed the band Garden Wall with his schoolmates Tony Banks on piano, Johnny Trapman on trumpet, and Chris Stewart on drums.

At their final concert before they broke up, Peter Gabriel wore a kaftan and beads and showered the audience with petals he had picked from neighbouring gardens.

Peter Gabriel signed the group and suggested that their name be Gabriel's Angels, but this was unpopular with the other members, and they soon settled on his other suggestion of Genesis.

In September 1969, Peter Gabriel, Banks, Rutherford, and Phillips decided to drop their plans and make Genesis a full-time band.

In early 1970, Peter Gabriel played the flute on Mona Bone Jakon by Cat Stevens.

The second studio album by Genesis, Trespass, marked Peter Gabriel expanding his musical output with the flute, accordion, tambourine, and bass drum, and incorporating his soul music influences.

Peter Gabriel explained that he was driven to play these instruments because he was uncomfortable with doing nothing during instrumental sections.

Peter Gabriel began growing in confidence as a frontman; during an encore performance of "The Knife" on 19 June 1971, he took a running jump into the audience and expected them to catch him, only for them to instead move out of the way and leave him to land on the floor and break his ankle.

Peter Gabriel consequently had to perform Genesis' next several shows with a wheelchair and crutches.

Peter Gabriel was the primary writer of "Harold the Barrel", another story song on Nursery Cryme, with Collins helping him on the lyrics.

Peter Gabriel said he consulted the rest of Genesis about the fox costume but grew tired of arguing about it, but the other members all maintained that nothing was said about it beforehand and that when Peter Gabriel came out in costume they initially mistook him for a fan invading the stage.

One of Peter Gabriel's stories was printed on the liner notes of their live album, Genesis Live.

Peter Gabriel continued to fight for involvement with Genesis's keyboards throughout his time with the group, and following a lengthy argument with Banks, he was allowed to play a minor keyboard part on "I Know What I Like ", only for this part to be left out of the mix.

Peter Gabriel devised its story of the spiritual journey of Rael, a Puerto Rican youth living in New York City, and insisted upon writing all the lyrics himself, whereas on previous albums the lyrics had been divided among all the members of Genesis.

The other members complained that Peter Gabriel was showing a lack of commitment to the band.

Peter Gabriel saw this as a "really unsympathetic handling of my dealing with a family crisis" and said it caused a breakdown in his relationships with the rest of Genesis; Rutherford later admitted that they had been overly fixated on their music and were very unhelpful in what must have been a difficult time for Peter Gabriel.

Peter Gabriel was late to deliver the lyrics, but has denied that he was too busy to write much music for the album and relied on contributions from Banks and Rutherford.

The tour ended in May 1975, after which Peter Gabriel wrote a piece for the press on 15 August, entitled "Out, Angels Out", about his departure, his disillusion with the business, and his desire to spend time with his family.

Peter Gabriel's exit resulted in drummer Phil Collins reluctantly taking over on lead vocals after 400 singers were fruitlessly auditioned.

Peter Gabriel described his break from the music business as his "learning period", during which he took piano and music lessons.

Peter Gabriel had recorded demos by the end of 1975, the fruits of a period of writing around 20 songs with his friend Martin Hall.

In 1977, Gabriel released his solo debut, Peter Gabriel, which was recorded in Toronto with Bob Ezrin serving as the album's producer.

All were labelled Peter Gabriel, using the same typeface, with designs by Hipgnosis.

Peter Gabriel developed an interest in African music and drum machines and later hailed the record as his artistic breakthrough.

Peter Gabriel banned the use of cymbals on the album in order to grant more sonic space for instruments like keyboards and synths.

Peter Gabriel recorded it in 1981 and 1982, solely on digital tape, with a mobile studio parked at his home, Ashcombe House, in Somerset.

Peter Gabriel utilized a Fairlight CMI digital sampling synthesizer and incorporated electronic instrumentation with sampling world beat percussion.

The fourth Peter Gabriel, released in September 1982, hit No 6 in the UK and No 28 in the US.

In 1983, Peter Gabriel developed the soundtrack for Alan Parker's drama film Birdy, co-produced with Daniel Lanois.

Peter Gabriel was nominated for four Grammy Awards: Best Male Rock Vocal Performance, Song of the Year, and Record of the Year for "Sledgehammer", and Album of the Year for So.

Peter Gabriel toured worldwide to support So with the This Way Up Tour, from November 1986 to October 1987.

In 1988, Peter Gabriel became involved as composer for Martin Scorsese's film The Last Temptation of Christ.

Peter Gabriel used musicians from WOMAD to perform instrumental pieces with focus on rhythm and African, Middle Eastern and European textures, using the National Sound Archive in London for additional inspiration.

In 1990, Peter Gabriel put out his first compilation album, Shaking the Tree: Sixteen Golden Greats, which sold 2 million copies in the US.

From 1989 to 1992, Peter Gabriel recorded his follow-up to So, titled Us.

Peter Gabriel describes his struggle to get through to his daughter in "Come Talk to Me" directed by Matt Mahurin, which featured backing vocals by Sinead O'Connor.

Peter Gabriel followed the release of the album with the Secret World Tour, first using touring keyboardist Joy Askew to sing O'Connor's part, then O'Connor herself for a few months.

Peter Gabriel employed an innovative approach in the marketing of the Us album.

Peter Gabriel won three more Grammy Awards, all in the Music Video category.

Peter Gabriel won the Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video in 1993 and 1994 for the videos to "Digging in the Dirt" and "Steam", respectively.

Peter Gabriel won the 1996 Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video for his Secret World Live video.

In 1997, Peter Gabriel was invited to participate in the direction and soundtrack of the Millennium Dome Show, a live multimedia performance staged in the Millennium Dome in London throughout 2000.

Peter Gabriel said the team were given free rein, which contributed to the various problems they encountered with it, such as a lack of proper budgeting.

Peter Gabriel felt that management, while succeeding to get the building finished on time, failed to understand the artistic side of the show and its content.

Around that same time, the Genesis greatest hits album, Turn It On Again: The Hits, featured Peter Gabriel sharing vocals with Phil Collins on a new version of "The Carpet Crawlers" entitled "The Carpet Crawlers 1999", produced by Trevor Horn.

Peter Gabriel started work on it in 1995 before production halted three years later to focus time on projects and collaborations.

Work resumed in 2000, by which time Peter Gabriel had 130 potential songs for the album, and spent almost two years on it before management at Virgin Records pushed Peter Gabriel to complete it.

In 2004, Peter Gabriel met with his former Genesis bandmates to discuss the possibility of staging The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway as a reunion tour.

Peter Gabriel ultimately dismissed the idea, paving the way for Banks, Rutherford and Collins to organise the Turn It On Again: The Tour.

Peter Gabriel produced and performed at the Eden Project Live 8 concert in July 2005.

Peter Gabriel joined Cat Stevens on stage to perform "Wild World" during Nelson Mandela's 46664 concert.

At the opening ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Peter Gabriel performed John Lennon's "Imagine".

Peter Gabriel took on a project with the BBC World Service's competition "The Next Big Thing" to find the world's best young band.

Peter Gabriel judged the final six young artists with William Orbit, Geoff Travis and Angelique Kidjo.

In June 2008, Peter Gabriel released Big Blue Ball, an album of various artists collaborating with each other at his Real World Studios across three summers in the 1990s.

Peter Gabriel appeared on a nationwide tour for the album in 2009.

Peter Gabriel was a judge for the 6th and 8th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists.

Peter Gabriel contributed to the Pixar film WALL-E soundtrack in 2008 with Thomas Newman, including the film's closing song, "Down to Earth", for which they received the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media.

In February 2009, Peter Gabriel announced that he would not be performing on the 2008 Academy Awards telecast because producers of the show were limiting his performance of "Down to Earth" from WALL-E to 90 seconds.

In 2009, Peter Gabriel recorded Scratch My Back, an album of cover songs by various artists including David Bowie, Lou Reed, Arcade Fire, Radiohead, Regina Spektor and Neil Young.

The original concept was for Peter Gabriel to cover an artists' song if they, in turn, covered one of his for an album simultaneously released as I'll Scratch Yours, but several participants later declined or were late to deliver and it was placed on hold.

Peter Gabriel avoided using drums and guitar in favour of orchestral arrangements, and altered his usual songwriting method by finishing the vocals first and then the song, for which he collaborated with John Metcalfe.

Peter Gabriel toured worldwide with the New Blood Tour from March 2010 to July 2012 with a 54-piece orchestra and his daughter Melanie and Norwegian singer-songwriter Ane Brun on backing vocals.

In September 2012, Peter Gabriel kicked off his Back to Front Tour which featured So performed in its entirety with the original musicians who played on the album, to mark its 25th anniversary.

In 2014, Peter Gabriel was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist by Coldplay frontman Chris Martin.

Peter Gabriel performed "Heroes" by David Bowie with an orchestra at a concert in Berlin to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 2014.

Peter Gabriel re-emerged in 2019 with the release of Rated PG, a compilation of songs that were created for film soundtracks throughout his career.

Later that same year, Peter Gabriel issued another digital release on 13 September titled Flotsam and Jetsam, a collection of B-sides, remixes and rarities that span Peter Gabriel's entire solo career from 1976 to 2016, including his first solo recording, a cover of the Beatles' song "Strawberry Fields Forever".

Peter Gabriel did an interview with Rolling Stone in 2005 stating that he had 150 songs in various stages.

Peter Gabriel posted multiple photos to his Facebook and Instagram of these sessions.

Additionally, Peter Gabriel stated in his November 2023 Full Moon update video that the track "What Lies Ahead" will be on "the next record".

Stylistically, Peter Gabriel's music has been alternately described by music writers as progressive rock, art rock, art pop, worldbeat, post-progressive and progressive soul.

Peter Gabriel has worked with a relatively stable crew of musicians and recording engineers throughout his solo career.

Peter Gabriel sang on "Everywhere I Go", from the Call's 1986 studio album, Reconciled.

On Toni Childs' 1994 studio album, The Woman's Boat, Peter Gabriel sang on the track, "I Met a Man".

In 1998, Peter Gabriel appeared on the soundtrack of Babe: Pig in the City as the lead vocalist of the song "That'll Do", written by Randy Newman.

In 1987, Peter Gabriel appeared on Robbie Robertson's self-titled solo studio album, singing on "Fallen Angel"; co-wrote two Tom Robinson singles; and appeared on Joni Mitchell's 1988 studio album Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm, on the opening track "My Secret Place".

In 2001, Peter Gabriel contributed lead vocals to the song "When You're Falling" on Afro Celt Sound System's Volume 3: Further in Time.

Peter Gabriel collaborated on tracks with electronic musician BT, who worked on the OVO soundtrack with him.

Peter Gabriel sang the lyrics for Deep Forest on their theme song for the movie Strange Days.

Peter Gabriel has recorded a cover of the Vampire Weekend single "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" with Hot Chip, where his name is mentioned several times in the chorus.

Peter Gabriel collaborated with Arcade Fire on their 2022 studio album, We.

Peter Gabriel sang backing vocals on the track "Unconditional II ".

Peter Gabriel set a radio template: majestic, with flourishes meant to read as 'exotic,' and lyrics meant to change lives.

Peter Gabriel created the Real World Studios and record label to facilitate the creation and distribution of such music by various artists, and he has worked to educate Western culture about such musicians as Yungchen Lhamo, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Youssou N'dour.

Peter Gabriel has a longstanding interest in human rights and launched Witness, a charity that trains human rights activists to use video and online technologies to expose human rights abuses.

In 1990, Peter Gabriel lent his backing vocals to Ugandan political exile Geoffrey Oryema's "Land of Anaka", appearing on Oryema's first studio album Exile, released on Peter Gabriel's Real World label.

In 1994, Peter Gabriel starred in Breck Eisner's short film Recon as a detective who enters the minds of murder victims to find their killer's identity.

Peter Gabriel helped pioneer a new realm of musical interaction in 2001, visiting Georgia State University's Language Research Center to participate in keyboard jam sessions with bonobo apes from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Peter Gabriel was one of the founders of on Demand Distribution, one of the first online music download services.

Peter Gabriel is co-founder of a musicians union called Mudda, short for "magnificent union of digitally downloading artists".

In 2000, Peter Gabriel collaborated with Zucchero, Anggun and others in a charity for kids with AIDS.

In 2003, Peter Gabriel contributed a song for the video game Uru: Ages Beyond Myst.

In 2004, Peter Gabriel contributed another song and contributed voice work on another game in the Myst franchise, Myst IV: Revelation.

Peter Gabriel is one of the founding supporters of the annual global event Asteroid Day.

Peter Gabriel performed in Amnesty's Secret Policeman's Ball benefit shows in collaboration with other artists and friends such as Lou Reed, David Gilmour of Pink Floyd and Youssou N'Dour; Gabriel closed those concerts performing his anti-apartheid anthem "Biko".

Peter Gabriel spoke of his support for Amnesty on NBC's Today Show in 1986.

In September 2008, Peter Gabriel was named as the recipient of Amnesty International's 2008 Ambassador of Conscience Award.

In 2010, Peter Gabriel lent his support to the campaign to release Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, an Iranian Azeri woman who was sentenced to death by stoning after being convicted of committing adultery.

In December 2013, Peter Gabriel posted a video message in tribute to the deceased former South African president and anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela.

Peter Gabriel has criticised Air France for their continued transport of monkeys to laboratories.

In March 2015, Peter Gabriel was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of South Australia in recognition of his commitment to creativity and its transformational power in building peace and understanding.

Peter Gabriel composed the song "The Veil" for Oliver Stone's film Snowden.

Peter Gabriel has been described as one of rock's most political musicians by AllMusic.

Peter Gabriel subsequently distanced himself from the Labour government following Blair's support for George W Bush and Britain's involvement in the Iraq War, which he strongly opposed.

At the 2005 general election, Peter Gabriel gave a Green Party of England and Wales candidate special permission to record a cover of his song "Don't Give Up" for his campaign.

In 2012, Peter Gabriel condemned the use of his music by the American conservative talk radio personality Rush Limbaugh during a controversial segment in which Limbaugh vilified Georgetown University law student Sandra Fluke.

Peter Gabriel has asked his representatives to make sure his music is withdrawn and especially from these unfair, aggressive and ignorant comments.

In 2016, Peter Gabriel supported the UK's continued membership of the European Union in the referendum on the issue.

In 2023, Peter Gabriel signed the Artists4Ceasefire open letter to President Joe Biden calling for a ceasefire during the Israeli bombardment of Gaza.

Peter Gabriel has been in support of the Armenian genocide recognition.

Peter Gabriel's music featured prominently on the popular 1980s television show Miami Vice.

Peter Gabriel's cover of David Bowie's "Heroes" was featured in the fourth season finale of Big Love, as well as the first season and the ending scene of Stranger Things season 3 and the ending credits of Lone Survivor.

Peter Gabriel's marriage became increasingly strained, culminating in Moore's affair with David Lord, the co-producer of Peter Gabriel's fourth studio album.

Peter Gabriel ended the relationship because of her frustration with his lack of commitment, which inspired her single "Thank You for Hearing Me".

Peter Gabriel married Meabh Flynn in 2002, with whom he has two sons.

Peter Gabriel has resided in Wiltshire for many years and runs Real World Studios from Box, Wiltshire.

Peter Gabriel previously lived in the Woolley Valley near Bath, Somerset.