Peter Gabriel's Biography

Peter Gabriel was born on 13 February 1950 in Woking, Surrey.

Along with Charterhouse schoolmates Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford, Peter Gabriel founded Genesis in 1967. A few years later the band was joined by Phil Collins and Steve Hackett.

Genesis became hugely successful in the early 70s, producing fantastic concerts and releasing classics like the double album The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway. Nevertheless, in May 1975 Peter Gabriel announced that he was leaving the group.

Peter Gabriel launched a solo career. Amongst his biggest hits were Games Without Frontiers (1980), Biko (1980), and Sledgehammer (1986), which was accompanied by one of the best videos of the time.

A feature of Peter Gabriel has been his forward thinking, both in terms of technology and in terms of taste, for example, embracing world music before it was fashionable.

In 1982 Gabriel helped present WOMAD (World of Music and Dance); he paid off their initial debt, and has become a figurehead for the festival. Peter Gabriel released Ovo, originally the music for the Millennium Dome show, on Real World, the label affiliated to WOMAD, located in Gabriel's studio.

In 2004 US company Loudeye acquired OD2, the British digital music company founded by Peter Gabriel and Brian Eno.

Peter Gabriel's daughter, Anna, has released a film, Growing Up On Tour - A Family Portrait, which is featured on Peter Gabriel's Official Site.

In 2006, Peter Gabriel was awarded the BT Digital Music Pioneer Award, the Q Magazine Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Man of Peace Award, presented by the Nobel Peace Laureates.

In 2007, Peter Gabriel was a co-founder of music download site we7.

In February 2009, Peter Gabriel was honoured at the Grammys for his work on Wall-E.

On 13 February 2009, the BBC reported that Peter Gabriel had pulled out of the Oscar ceremony because his best song nominee would be performed for just 65 seconds.

In May 2009, Peter Gabriel and Jose Antonio Abreu won Sweden's biggest music award, the Polar Music Prize.

In October 2009, the BBC reported on Peter Gabriel's first album for seven years that will be released in 2010.

In 2011, Media Guardian reported that We7, the company Peter Gabriel founded, reduced its losses to about £3m.