Peter Gabriel

Peter Gabriel

Peter Gabriel is a legendary musician and human rights activist. He was born in Chobham, Surrey in England in 1950. Now he is 62 years old and married to Meabh Flynn. With her he has two sons, Isaac Ralph and Luc. With his previous wife, Jill Moore, he had two daughters, Anna-Marie, who is now a filmmaker, and Melanie, who sings backup for her father.

Peter Gabriel's career in music started in 1967, when he formed the band Genesis with Anthony Phillips. Genesis was moderately popular during Gabriel's time there. They had one hit single, I Know What I Like, in 1973. He left in 1975 and went on to a successful solo career. He refused to name his debut solo album so it was called Peter Gabriel 1, or Car. The key track in this album was Solsbury Hill, a song about a spiritual experience atop a hill in England. Gabriel also refused to name his second solo album, so it was Peter Gabriel 2, or Scratch. Peter Gabriel 4, or Security, was very popular. It was released in 1982 and contained the songs Shock the Monkey and Games Without Frontiers. The album So, released in 1986, was a major hit. It reached number 1 on the UK Album Chart and number 2 on the Billboard 200. It contained the track Sledgehammer, which peaked at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. This song also received a record 9 MTV muic video awards. The album also contained Don't Give Up, which featured Kate Bush, and the tracks Red Rain and In Your Eyes. Another key album, Us, had the songs Secret World, Digging in the Dirt, Steam, Blood of Eden, Kiss That Frog, and Come Talk to Me. Many of the songs in this album focused on recent personal problems, such as his failed first marriage, his relationship with Rosanna Arquette, and the growing distance between him and his daughter. Two more key Peter Gabriel albums were Scratch My Back and New Blood. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a Genesis member in 2010.

Peter Gabriel is also an activist. In 1992 he co-founded the human rights group Witness, a website that uses video to raise awareness of human rights violations. He is also a strong supporter of Amnesty International. He has participated in or played at all 28 of Amnesty's human rights concerts. Gabriel is also one of the many founding members of the Global Elders, a small, dedicated group of leaders who work to solve global conflicts. He is also known as an anti-apartheid activist for his song Biko, from the album Peter Gabriel 3 or Melt. He also has worked to promote musicians around the world, and has a company called Real World for this purpose. He played at 46664, a series of AIDS charity concerts in honor of Nelson Mandela.

Gabriel has been cited as an inspiration for many musicians, including U2, REM, Kate Bush, Moby, Marillion, Simple Minds, It Bites, and Elbow. He has always been passionate about music, not simply the money that comes out of being a music artist, which is something I think must be inspiring to all artists. That brings us to a great quote of his: "One thing that really appeals to me is this idea of music being a living thing that has an evolution that, in a way, enables the artist to sell a process rather than a piece of product."