Peter Gabriel was educated at Charterhouse School, Surrey, England. He was the lead singer of leading progressive rock band Genesis from its inception until he left in 1975 for a successful solo career as a singer-songwriter, soundtrack composer and innovator in visual presentation of music, music videos and digital methods of recording and distributing music. He also became well-known as an anti-apartheid activist, for his efforts to bring different styles of international music to the attention of the West by establishing the WOMAD (World of Music, Arts and Dance) Festival, his own Real World label and recording studios as well as the addition of world music performers and styles into his own music.
He has also worked extensively for Amnesty International as well as many other humanitarian efforts, such as founding his own human rights organization Witness and co-founding, with 理查德·布兰森 and 纳尔逊·曼德拉, world human rights advocacy group The Elders in July 2007. His dedication to humanitarian causes was recognized with the Nobel Peace Laureates' Man of Peace Award in 2006 and Amnesty International's Ambassador of Conscience honour in 2008. His career in music has been cited as an inspiration by many artists, including U2, R.E.M., 凯特·布什, 莫比, Marillion, Simple Minds, It Bites, Elbow, Darren Hayes (of Savage Garden) and Michael Glabicki (of Rusted Root).
His greatest commercial success came with the "So" album in 1986, which was a worldwide smash and earned him the British Phonographic Industry Award for British Male Solo Artist the following year. His lasting impact on music has been recognized by the Music Industry Trusts' Award in 2004, the Frankfurt Music Prize, the first Pioneer Award at the BT Digital Music Awards, the Q Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006, the Ivor Novello Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007, the BMI (Broadcast Music Inc.) Icon Award in 2007, the MIDEM Personality of the Year in 2008 and the Polar Music Prize in 2009. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Genesis in 2010. In 2014, he became the first and so far only Genesis member to join it as a solo artist when 克里斯·马汀 from Coldplay inducted him.
Gabriel was discovered by the singer, record industry executive and media personality 乔纳森·金 while he was still at school. He was then the frontman of the group Genesis, who became one of the most influential and popular British progressive rock bands. He left the group for a solo career in 1975 after recording albums including "Foxtrot", "Selling England by the Pound" and the concept album "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway".
He lived with the American actress 罗姗娜·阿奎特 for several years following the end of his first marriage.
His own company, Real World, promotes world musicians and their music.
His song "Solsbury Hill" is titled after a small hill on the edge of the city of Bath, England. The hill is the site of an ancient dwelling and is now part the UK National Trust.
He has two daughters: Anna-Marie, born on July 26, 1974, and Melanie, born August 23, 1976.
He is a member and promoter of Amnesty International.
Because of his 1980 song "Biko", written about South African civil rights leader Steve Biko, the apartheid government of South Africa banned all of Gabiel's recordings. The ban was lifted following the end of apartheid.
Some sources state that he suffers from bipolar disorder.
His song "Biko" was covered by Simple Minds on their 1989 album "Street Fighting Years".
Genesis had one hit single during his time as the lead singer, "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)" which reached 21 in 1974. It was later covered by former Marillion singer Fish on his 1993 album "Songs From The Mirror".
In March 2003, his final album with Genesis, "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway", came sixth in Classic Rock Magazine's list of the 30 greatest concept albums of all time.
His song "I Don't Remember" was covered by Marillion frontman Steve Hogarth and the H Band on the album "Live Spirit: Live Body" (released 2002).
On 21 November 2003, he performed for the BBC's annual Children in Need charity event.
On 29 November 2003, he performed at the "46664" AIDS concert.
He can play piano, keyboards, percussion, flute, recorder and harmonica, although, by his own admission, none of them particularly well.
In 1999, he reunited with his former Genesis bandmates 菲尔·柯林斯, Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford and Steve Hackett for a re-recording of the Genesis song "The Carpet Crawlers" (originally from their 1974 album "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway"), which appears on the Genesis compilation "Turn It On Again: The Hits".
He never scored a UK number one single, but "Sledgehammer" topped the US singles chart in 1986. Ironically, it knocked "Invisible Touch" by his former band Genesis off the top spot.
On 1 November 2004, he was presented with the Music Industry Trusts' Award for his outstanding contribution to the British music industry.
His famous song "Solsbury Hill" talks about why he decided to leave Genesis while the band was growing at a fast rate.
Although he left Genesis in 1975, he reunited with the band twice. Once in the early 1980s for a special charity concert (Steve Hackett wasn't there, except for the two encores) and in 1999 to record a song for a greatest hits collection. Steve Hackett was there for that reunion, making it the first time the original five performed together since 1975.
His bandmate 菲尔·柯林斯 took over vocals from him when he left Genesis in 1975. He sang back-up vocals to Collins on the single "Take Me Home" in 1985. 斯汀 also sang back-up vocals on the same song. In 2016, Gabriel and 斯汀 toured the USA and Canada together.
His song "Don't Give Up" was covered in 2005 by 博诺 and 艾丽西亚·凯斯 for the charity "Keep a Child Alive". 威利·纳尔逊 and 辛妮·欧康纳 also recorded a version of it for Nelson's 1993 album "Across the Borderline". John Legend and Pink recorded a version of it for 赫比·汉考克's album "The Imagine Project", released in 2010.
His song "In Your Eyes" is one of his most famous recordings in the United States and received considerable radio airplay, becoming a Top 30 hit. It was subsequently featured in the film 情到深处 (1989). It was later covered by the Australian singer Darren Hayes of Savage Garden fame. It is not so famous in the UK, where it was never released as a single and is rarely played on radio, although it featured on his best-selling album "So". It was also left off his compilation albums "Shaking the Tree" and "Hit".
His song "Solsbury Hill" was covered by Erasure on their 2003 album "Other People's Songs".
He was the winner of the 1987 British Phonographic Industry Awards for British Male Solo Artist and British Video for his song "Sledgehammer" following the success of his multi-million selling album "So". He also won the 1993 Brit Award for British Producer.
He was awarded the Frankfurt Music Prize in 2006.
On 3rd October 2006, he was the winner of the first Pioneer Award at the BT Digital Music Awards.
He was the winner of the 2006 Q Lifetime Achievement Award, presented to him by 莫比.
He was ranked #53 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Rock & Roll.
His album "So" was included in College Music Journal's list of the "Top 25 College Radio Albums of All Time" and #1 in the "Top 20 Most-Played Albums of 1986", ranked #14 in Rolling Stone's "100 Best Albums of The 80's" survey and #187 in Rolling Stone's "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time".
His song "Shock the Monkey" was covered by Coal Chamber with 奥兹·奥斯朋 on the album "Chamber Music" (released in 1999).
His third and fourth album were also released in German. The third album was titled "Ein Deutsches album", his fourth "Deutsches album".
He was chosen by Time Magazine in 2008 as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Placed in the Heroes & Pioneers category, the tribute to him was written by 戴斯蒙·图图.
His wife Meabh gave birth to their second son, Luc, on July 5th 2008 weighing in at 7 lbs, 2 oz. They also have a son Isaac born in 2002.
In 1982, he was one of the first artists to record an album entirely on digital tape and in 2000 he co-founded the first digital music download platform, OD2.
His father was an electrical engineer and his mother was a musician.
His favorite singer is Otis Redding, whose music he has loved since he was a teenager and who inspired his biggest hit, "Sledgehammer".
He is mentioned in the lyrics of the song "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" by Vampire Weekend.
The title character of the BBC comedy series The Life of Rock with Brian Pern (2014) was mainly based on him.
His video for "Sledgehammer" was voted the second greatest music video of all time for the Channel 4 programme The 100 Greatest Pop Videos (2005). It was beaten to first place by 迈克尔·杰克逊's "Thriller".
In 2019, he supported a controversial (and unsuccessful) petition organized by Pink Floyd's 罗杰·沃特斯 which opposed Israel hosting the Eurovision Song Contest due to the conflict with Palestine. The petition then prompted a rival petition supported by the likes of 斯蒂芬·弗雷, Rachel Riley, 西蒙·卡洛, 珊农·奥斯博内, Gene Simmons, Al Murray and Tracy Ann Oberman, who accused the other petition of attacking the "spirit of togetherness".
He often titles his albums sequentially
His distinctive, deep, raspy voice
He often synthesizes rock instruments with electronics and exotic world music sounds
His elaborate songwriting and lyrics combined with sophisticated, layered musical productions
