Born on February 13: Peter Gabriel, the archangel of Genesis, is still innovating

The elusive artist was born in Surrey, England, in 1950, and boasts a career as protean as it is prolific.

Coincidentally, he shares the same year of birth as guitarist Steve Hackett (whose birthday was yesterday). Peter Gabriel may have left Genesis a few months before Hackett, but together they wrote some of the finest (and sometimes pompous) pages of English progressive rock, with albums such as “Foxtrot”, “Selling England By The Pound” and “The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway”. While his former colleague continued to navigate the same waters, with a certain brio, ex-archangel Gabriel preferred to push back the frontiers of pop and rock.

Between 1977 and 1982, the artist launched his solo career by releasing four albums in a row, each bearing only his first and last names as titles. A brilliant yet incongruous idea that the marketing department of his label Charisma (the same as Genesis) certainly fought against with all their might. While allowing himself to wander into more perilous melodic territory, Peter Gabriel always manages to pull a handful of masterpieces out of his bag. The upbeat “Solsbury Hill” and the moving “Here Comes The Flood” in 1977. The almost industrial “D.I.Y.” and the stripped-down “Mother Of Violence” in 1978. The anti-apartheid “Biko” and the sumptuous duet with Kate Bush “Games Withour Frontiers” in 1980. And of course “Shock The Monkey” in 1982. 

After this flying start, immortalized by “Plays Live” (1983), one of the best live recordings in rock history, he adopted a less frantic pace and, as usual, took a few side roads. He began with film music, notably with “Birdy”, followed by Martin Scorsese's controversial “The Last Temptation Of Christ” (1988). More than ever, the artist asserted his status as a free spirit. 

He then set up his own label, Real World, with which he continues his exploration of world music. He takes up his pilgrim's staff to flush out talent from the four corners of the globe. Among dozens of others, I'd like to single out Ugandan musician Geoffrey Oryema. If you don't know him, listen to his “Makambo”.

In the early '80s, in the region of Bath where he set up his recording studio, Peter Gabriel also launched WOMAD (World Of Music And Dance), a festival that served as a sounding board for music on the Real World label.

Between the album “Us” (1992) and the long-awaited “I/o” (2023), Gabriel once again took the low road, without necessarily striving for perfection. In 2000, of course, he couldn't refuse to take part in the nascent 21st century and the Dome inaugurated in London for the occasion with “OVO” and its string of guests including Neneh Cherry, Richie Havens and Liz Fraser. Like most artists of his generation, he also contributed to a covers album (“Scratch My Back” in 2010) and a symphonic interpretation of his greatest classics (“New Blood” in 2011).

Returning to the stage in 2023 after a very long absence, Peter Gabriel proved that he had lost none of his generosity or sense of humor. “Actually, I'm not really here tonight. This is a hologram. I'm taking it easy on an island paradise,” he declared at the Sportpaleis in Antwerp (Belgium) in June 2023...

(Stéphane Soupart - Tr.: MH - Photo: © Etienne Tordoir)
Photo: Peter Gabriel on stage at the Torhout Festival (Belgium) on July 5, 1987.