He became famous with the band Genesis. He left the band to explore other literary and experimental interests outside of music. His self-titled debut album, Peter Gabriel, released in 1977, received critical acclaim. Thus, he took the first step towards the beginning of a successful solo career that continues to this day.
Born on 13 February 1950, he is a Grammy Award-winning British singer, songwriter, and musician.
He was born in the town of Chobham, Surrey, England. He rose to fame as the lead vocalist, flutist, and percussionist in the Progressive Rock band Genesis, and later continued his career on his own.
Recently, he has supported local music both as a producer and on a personal level and has taken part in many international humanitarian aid efforts.
Genesis years
He founded Genesis in 1967 with names such as Tony Banks and Anthony Phillips. Some of his favorite names as a Soul music fan in his early years were; Nina Simone, Gary Brooker, and Cat Stevens. The group soon became known in countries such as Italy and Belgium, first in England.
His use of flashy stage dresses during his performance, the short, imaginative stories he told before his songs, and the lighting effects he used played an important role in his rise to fame. He pioneered the movement by performing a similar movement in which the vocalist jumps into the audience, in his song The Knife, which would be used by many rock and metal bands much later. The reason for leaving Genesis was again based on his ostentatious attitudes and his prominence within the group. His desire to take care of his sick daughter Anna put an end to his association with the group.
Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English singer, songwriter and human rights activist. He was the original lead singer of the progressive rock band Genesis. After leaving the band in 1975, he launched a solo career with "Solsbury Hill" as his first single. His fifth studio album, So (1986), is his best-selling release and is certified triple platinum in the UK and five times platinum in the US. The album's most successful single, "Sledgehammer", won a record nine MTV Awards at the 1987 MTV Video Music Awards and, according to a report in 2011, it was MTV's most played music video of all time.
Real Name: Peter Brian Gabriel
Birthplace: Surrey, England
Date of Birth: February 13, 1950
About:
- His professional music career started in 1967 with the band Genesis.
- His first solo album, "Peter Gabriel 1 or 'Car'", was released in 1977.
- The albums "Peter Gabriel 3 or 'Melt'" and "So" were number one on the music charts.
- He achieved great success with the songs "Sledgehammer", "Don't Give Up" and "Steam".
- He was awarded the Grammy, Brit, Ivor Novello, Polar Music, and MTV Video Music Awards.
First Album: Peter Gabriel 1 or 'Car'
First Single: Solsbury Hill
Solo career
Gabriel refused to name his first solo albums, only giving his own name and using different themes on the covers. He worked with producer Bob Ezrin on his debut album, and his first solo success came with the track Solsbury Hill. The musician, who adopted an introverted lifestyle at that time, reflected this in his lyrics. He released his first long player with guitarist Robert Fripp in 1978. The experimental and obscure work did not achieve significant success.
The work with Steve Lillywhite in 1980 brought with it hit songs such as "Games Without Frontiers" and "Biko". Gabriel used extraordinary recording techniques and sound effects in these works. "Intruder" was also recorded with a brand new drum recording technique, with the contribution of Phil Collins; Cymbals, which have become traditional in the drum kit, was not used either.
In his album IV, he brought together sampled and rearranged sounds with familiar instruments. "Shock the Monkey" made a splash both on its own and as a video clip. He brought visual richness and fiction to the fore in his stage performances.
Peak years: So, Passion, Us and Up
Although he had made significant strides before, Gabriel gained his peak popularity with his album So, released in 1986. Sledgehammer, Big Time, which reached number one on the charts, and Don't Give Up, a duet with Kate Bush, are some of the songs on the album. Sledgehammer was awarded in several categories by the MTV Music Video Awards in 1987. In 1988, the worldwide Human Rights Now! gave significant support to their tours.
In 1989, he prepared the album Passion for Martin Scorsese's film The Last Temptation of Christ. This album was followed by Us, released in 1992. During the recording of Us, he was going through difficult crises such as the end of his first marriage and estrangement from his daughter. In the song Come Talk To Me, he expressed his efforts to get closer to his daughter, and Sinead O'Connor accompanied him on vocals.
With Up, released in September 2002, he returned to the dark atmosphere that dominated him in the late 70s. He released this album, which was not very commercially successful, with his own means.
Real World
He is the founder of Real World Studios. The aim of the studio is to support certain local artists and introduce their music to Western culture. Yungchen Lhamo, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, and Youssou N'dour are some of these artists.
In recent years, the artist has been working with companies such as Cyan Worlds and Ubisoft, which produce video games and support them in the sound designs of their games.
Despite being the son of a farmer, Gabriel grew up with the values of the British middle class and after becoming a world star, he turned his musicianship into a businessman by founding RealWorld Holding. Besides, he was a productive project person, but he was stingy when it came to making albums for himself. One of the things he was stingy about was the names he gave to his albums; Enough to enter the Guinness Book of Records for album names consisting of two letters: "So", "Us", "Up"...
Gabriel chose the album “I/Q” from a pool of approximately 150 songs. Among them, he preferred those written about birth and death. This was due to the fact that he started working on this album in 2019, after taking a break from music for a few years to care for his sick wife. Even though the epidemic slowed him down a bit, he was determined to finish it. He had enough time to consider everything meticulously. His desires and voice were in place, as were his determination and time.
Gabriel will release the 12 songs in his new album called "I/Q" as a single on every full moon throughout 2023; and what's more, he released each of them in two separate mixes (one called "Bright", the other called "Dark") and then went on tour. While the songs were released one by one, to tell the truth, they did not receive the expected attention, but this still did not stop their followers from being curious, and the published songs enabled them to focus on the next album. When the album was completed and released, it received the attention that the individual songs could not receive.