26 Facts About Peter Hammill

Peter Joseph Andrew Hammill was born on 5 November 1948 and is an English musician and recording artist.

Peter Hammill was a founder member of the progressive rock band Van der Graaf Generator.

Peter Hammill was born in Ealing, West London, and moved with his family to Derby when he was 12.

Peter Hammill attended Beaumont College and Manchester University, where he studied Liberal Studies in Science.

When Van der Graaf Generator broke up again in August 1972, Peter Hammill resumed his solo career.

Peter Hammill provided vocals on three tracks for Robert Fripp's solo debut Exposure, released in June 1979.

Live concerts by Peter Hammill are characterised by a degree of unpredictability, in terms of the songs played, the arrangements and the players involved.

From September 1981 until September 1985 Peter Hammill played with the K group, playing raw, energetic, new-wave rock.

From October 1994 until August 1996 Hammill played with David Jackson on flutes and saxophones, Stuart Gordon on violin and Manny Elias on drums.

From January 1998 until November 2006 Peter Hammill played with just Stuart Gordon on violin.

From 1969 on, Peter Hammill has performed solo concerts, with just guitar and keyboards.

Peter Hammill parted company with them after pH7, and then released albums on a number of small labels.

In 1991, Peter Hammill released the long-awaited opera The Fall of the House of Usher.

Peter Hammill had written the music and Van der Graaf Generator co-founder Judge Smith the libretto, and the two of them had been working on it since 1973.

Peter Hammill was awarded the Italian Tenco Prize for songwriting at the end of 2004.

In 2005, Peter Hammill announced the reformation of Van der Graaf Generator.

Peter Hammill played his only ever professional "parlour gig" at a private residence in Holland, Michigan.

Peter Hammill released a second album with Isildurs Bane in September of 2021, In Disequilibrium.

Peter Hammill has received recognition as a visionary artist from the progressive music world.

Peter Hammill exerted significant influences on punk rock and new wave music.

Peter Hammill's voice is a very distinctive element of his music.

Peter Hammill has visited a number of recurring themes including love and human relationships, ageing and death, human folly, self-awareness and introspection, politics, and religion.

In 1974 Peter Hammill published a book, Killers, Angels, Refugees, a collection of lyrics, poems and short stories.

Peter Hammill has been married since 1978 to Hilary, who is credited with taking the picture for the cover of In a Foreign Town.

Two of them, Holly and Beatrice Peter Hammill sing soprano vocals on one track of Everyone You Hold and on two tracks of None of the Above.

Peter Hammill survived a heart attack in December 2003, less than 48 hours after having finished the recording of Incoherence.