Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and human rights activist. He came to prominence as the original frontman of the rock bandGenesis.[1] He left the band in 1975 and launched a solo career with "Solsbury Hill" as his first single. After releasing four successful studio albums, all titledPeter Gabriel, his fifth studio album,So (1986), became 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 nineMTV Awards at the1987 MTV Video Music Awards. A 2011Time report said "Sledgehammer" was the most played music video of all time onMTV.[2]
A supporter ofworld music for much of his career, Gabriel co-founded theWorld of Music, Arts and Dance (WOMAD) festival in 1982, and has continued to produce and promote world music through hisReal World Records label. He has pioneereddigital distribution methods for music by co-foundingOD2, one of the first online music download services.[3] He has also been involved in numerous humanitarian efforts. In 1980, he released theanti-apartheid single "Biko". He has participated in several human rights benefit concerts, includingAmnesty International'sHuman Rights Now! tour in 1988, and co-founded the human rights organisationWitness in 1992.[4] He developed the idea forThe Elders, an organisation of public figures noted as peace activists, alongsideNelson Mandela andRichard Branson in 2007.[5]
Gabriel was born inChobham on 13 February 1950, the son of Edith Irene (née Allen, 1921–2016) and Ralph Parton Gabriel (1912–2012). His maternal grandfather was Colonel Edward Allen, chairman of theCivil Service Department Store onLondon's Strand, and his paternal grandfather was Christopher Burton Gabriel (1876–1947). His mother came from a musical family, while his father was an electrical engineer and dairy farm owner from a long-established family of London timber importers and merchants. He was raised at Deep Pool Farm, aVictorian manor near Chobham.[18][19] His great-great-great-uncle,Sir Thomas Gabriel, 1st Baronet, wasLord Mayor of London from 1866 to 1877, who in turn was the grandson of Cornish Plane maker Christopher Gabriel.[20] Gabriel attended the private primary school Cable House inWoking and St Andrews Preparatory School for Boys inHorsell.[18] During his time at the latter, his teachers noticed his singing talent, but he instead opted for piano lessons from his mother and developed an interest in drumming. At age 10, he purchased a floor tom-tom.[21]
Gabriel later remarked of his early influences, "Hymns played quite a large part. They were the closest I came tosoul music before I discovered soul music. There are certain hymns that you can scream your lungs out on, and I used to love that. It was great when you used to get the old shivers down the back."[22] He wrote his first song, "Sammy the Slug", at age 12. An aunt gave him money for professional singing lessons around this time, but he used it to buythe Beatles' debut albumPlease Please Me, which had just been released.[21] In September 1963, he started at thepublicCharterhouse School inGodalming.[23] There, he was a drummer and vocalist for his first band, thetrad jazz outfit the Milords (or M'Lords). This was followed by a holiday band called the Spoken Word,[24] which recorded anacetate in 1966.[25] Gabriel played drums in both these bands, withMike Rutherford later commenting, "Pete was—and still is, I think—a frustrated drummer."[26]
In 1965, while still at Charterhouse, Gabriel formed the bandGarden Wall with his schoolmatesTony Banks on piano, Johnny Trapman on trumpet, andChris Stewart on drums.[25] Banks had started at Charterhouse at the same time as Gabriel, and the two were uninterested in school activities but bonded over music and started to write songs. At their final concert before they broke up, Gabriel wore akaftan and beads and showered the audience with petals he had picked from neighbouring gardens.[23] Garden Wall disbanded in 1967; Gabriel and Banks were invited by their Charterhouse schoolmatesAnthony Phillips andMike Rutherford, who were in their own band at the school calledAnon until it split up the previous year, to work on ademo tape of songs together.[27] Gabriel and Banks contributed "She Is Beautiful", the first song they wrote together. The tape was sent to Charterhouse alumnus, musicianJonathan King, who was immediately enthusiastic largely due to Gabriel's vocals. He signed the group and suggested that their name be Gabriel's Angels, but this was unpopular with the other members, and they soon settled on his other suggestion ofGenesis.
After King suggested they stick to more straightforward pop, Gabriel and Banks wrote "The Silent Sun" as a pastiche of theBee Gees, one of King's favourite bands. It became Genesis' first single, released in 1968,[28] and was included on their debut studio albumFrom Genesis to Revelation (1968). Following the commercial failure ofFrom Genesis to Revelation, the band went their separate ways, and Gabriel continued his studies at Charterhouse.[29] In September 1969, Gabriel, Banks, Rutherford, and Phillips decided to drop their plans and make Genesis a full-time band. In early 1970, Gabriel played the flute onMona Bone Jakon byCat Stevens. The second studio album by Genesis,Trespass (1970), marked Gabriel expanding his musical output with the flute, accordion, tambourine, and bass drum, and incorporating hissoul music influences. Gabriel explained that he was driven to play these instruments because he was uncomfortable with doing nothing during instrumental sections.[30] He would have preferred to play keyboard instruments, but said, "[Banks] was extraordinarily possessive about the keyboards. I'd done a bit of flute at school, I always liked the sound, and a little bit of oboe (I was an even worse oboe player, but it made a couple of good noises now and again). Then the bass drum was something physical, visual, that I could kick hard and occasionally it was in time!"[31] The album sold few copies, with Gabriel at one point securing a place to study at theLondon School of Film Technique because the band "seemed to be dying".[32]
Genesis soon recruited guitaristSteve Hackett and drummerPhil Collins.[33] Gabriel began growing in confidence as a frontman; during an encore performance of "The Knife" on 19 June 1971, he took a running jump into the audience and expected them to catch him, only for them to instead move out of the way and leave him to land on the floor and break his ankle. He consequently had to perform Genesis' next several shows with a wheelchair and crutches.[34] Also during theTrespass tour, he started to recite stories to introduce songs as a way to cover the silence while the band tuned their instruments or technical faults were being fixed.[35] These stories were all improvised on the spot, and evolved as the tour went along.[30] The opener of their next studio album,Nursery Cryme (1971), "The Musical Box", was their first song in which Gabriel incorporated a story and characters into the lyrics, as the lyrics to previous story-based Genesis songs such as "White Mountain" and "One-Eyed Hound" were all written by other members of the group.[citation needed] Gabriel was the primary writer of "Harold the Barrel", another story song onNursery Cryme, with Collins helping him on the lyrics.[36]
The shows featuringFoxtrot (1972) marked a key development in Gabriel's stage performance. During a gig inDublin in September 1972, he disappeared from the set during the instrumental section of "The Musical Box" and reappeared in his wife's red dress and a fox's head, mimicking the album's cover. The idea of the fox costume had been suggested to him byPaul Conroy and Glen Colson, employees of Genesis's record label,Charisma Records.[37] Gabriel said he consulted the rest of Genesis about the fox costume but grew tired of arguing about it, but the other members all maintained that nothing was said about it beforehand and that when Gabriel came out in costume they initially mistook him for a fan invading the stage.[38] The incident received front-page coverage inMelody Maker, giving them national exposure which allowed the group to double their performance fee.[citation needed] One of Gabriel's stories was printed on the liner notes of their live album,Genesis Live (1973). By late 1973, following the success ofSelling England by the Pound (1973), which centred on English themes and literary and materialistic references, a typical Genesis show had Gabriel wear fluorescent make-up, a cape, and bat wings for "Watcher of the Skies", a helmet, chest plate, and a shield for "Dancing with the Moonlit Knight", acrown of thorns and a flower mask for "Supper's Ready", and an old man mask for "The Musical Box".[39]
Gabriel continued to fight for involvement with Genesis's keyboards throughout his time with the group, and following a lengthy argument with Banks, he was allowed to play a minor keyboard part on "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)", only for this part to be left out of the mix.[40] "I Know What I Like" became Genesis's first hit single, reaching number 21 in theUK Singles Chart.[41]
The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (1974) was Gabriel's final studio album with Genesis. He devised its story of the spiritual journey of Rael, a Puerto Rican youth living in New York City, and insisted upon writing all the lyrics himself, whereas on previous albums the lyrics had been divided among all the members of Genesis.[42] Tensions increased during this period, and Gabriel split with the band to pursue a film project withWilliam Friedkin, only to rejoin a week later.[26] Matters were complicated further with the difficult birth of Gabriel's first daughter, resulting in periods of time away from the band. The other members complained that Gabriel was showing a lack of commitment to the band. Gabriel saw this as a "really unsympathetic handling of my dealing with a family crisis" and said it caused a breakdown in his relationships with the rest of Genesis; Rutherford later admitted that they had been overly fixated on their music and were very unhelpful in what must have been a difficult time for Gabriel.[43] Gabriel was late to deliver the lyrics, but has denied that he was too busy to write much music for the album and relied on contributions from Banks and Rutherford.[44] Banks corroborated that Gabriel was the primary composer of theLamb songs "The Carpet Crawlers" and "The Chamber of 32 Doors" and the sole composer of "Counting Out Time".[45]
During a stop in Cleveland, Ohio, early into the album's tour, Gabriel informed the band of his intention to leave at its conclusion.[46][47] Rutherford recalled that they all "could see it coming".[26] Music critics often focused their reviews on Gabriel's theatrics and took the band's musical performance as secondary, which irritated the rest of the band.[48] The tour ended in May 1975, after which Gabriel wrote a piece for the press on 15 August, entitled "Out, Angels Out", about his departure, his disillusion with the business, and his desire to spend time with his family.[49] The news stunned fans of the group and left commentators wondering if the band could survive without him.[50][51] His exit resulted in drummerPhil Collins reluctantly taking over on lead vocals after 400 singers were fruitlessly auditioned.
1975–1985: Solo debut with four self-titled albums
Gabriel described his break from the music business as his "learning period", during which he took piano and music lessons. He had recorded demos by the end of 1975, the fruits of a period of writing around 20 songs with his friend Martin Hall.[52] In 1977, Gabriel released his solo debut,Peter Gabriel, which was recorded in Toronto withBob Ezrin serving as the album's producer.[53] Gabriel did not title his first four studio albums. All were labelledPeter Gabriel, using the same typeface, with designs byHipgnosis. "The idea is to do it like a magazine, which will only come out once a year," he remarked in 1978. "So it's the same title, the same lettering in the same place; only the photo is different."[54]
Peter Gabriel (a.k.a.Peter Gabriel 1: Car) was released in February 1977 and reached No. 7 in the UK and No. 38 in the US. Itslead single, "Solsbury Hill", is an autobiographical song about a spiritual experience on top ofSolsbury Hill in Somerset. "It's about being prepared to lose what you have for what you might get ..." said Gabriel. "It's about letting go."[55] Gabriel toured the album with an 80-date tour from March to November 1977 with a band that included guitaristRobert Fripp ofKing Crimson often playing off stage and introduced as "Dusty Rhodes".[56]
Gabriel onstage in 1978
In late 1977, Gabriel started recording thesecondPeter Gabriel studio album (a.k.a.Peter Gabriel 2: Scratch) in the Netherlands, with Fripp as producer. Its "Mother of Violence" was written by Gabriel and his first wife Jill. Released in June 1978, the album went to No. 10 in the UK and No. 45 in the US. Gabriel's tour for the album lasted from August to December 1978. On this tour, Gabriel and his band shaved their heads.
Gabriel recorded thethirdPeter Gabriel studio album (a.k.a.Peter Gabriel 3: Melt) in England in 1979. He developed an interest in African music anddrum machines and later hailed the record as his artistic breakthrough. Gabriel banned the use of cymbals on the album in order to grant more sonic space for instruments like keyboards and synths. This resulted in the creation of the distinctivegated reverb,[57] a noise processing technique which came about while recording drums on "Intruder", one of the tracks featuringPhil Collins. Collins implemented the reverb to great effect on his debut solo single "In the Air Tonight" and it has since became a signature sound of the 1980s and beyond.
Upon completionAtlantic Records, Gabriel's US distributor who had released his first two albums, refused to put outPeter Gabriel 3: Melt as they thought it was not commercial enough. Gabriel signed arecording contract withMercury Records.[58] Released in May 1980, the album went to No. 1 in the UK for three weeks. In the US, it peaked at No. 22. The single "Games Without Frontiers" went to No. 4 and "Biko" went to No. 36 in the UK. After a handful of shows in 1979, Gabriel toured the album from February to October 1980. The tour marked Gabriel's first successful instance ofcrowd surfing (following his failed June 1971 attempt when touring with Genesis) when he fell back into the audience in a crucifix position. The stunt became a staple of his live shows.[58][59]
Gabriel performing in 1980
OnPeter Gabriel four (a.k.a.Peter Gabriel 4: Security), Gabriel took on greater responsibility over the production than before. He recorded it in 1981 and 1982, solely on digital tape, with a mobile studio parked at his home,Ashcombe House, in Somerset. Gabriel utilized aFairlight CMI digitalsampling synthesizer and incorporated electronic instrumentation with sampling world beat percussion. "Over the course of the last two albums," he observed, "I've got back into a rhythm consciousness. And the writing—particularly with the invention of these drum machines—is fantastic. You can store in their memories rhythms that interest you and excite you. And then the groove will carry on without you, and the groove will be exactly what you want it to be, rather than what a drummer thinks is appropriate for what you're doing."[22]
The fourthPeter Gabriel, released in September 1982, hit No. 6 in the UK and No. 28 in the US. The second single, "Shock the Monkey", became Gabriel's first top 40 hit in the US, reaching No. 29. To handle American distribution, Gabriel signed withGeffen Records, which—initially unbeknown to Gabriel—titled the albumSecurity to differentiate it from the first three. Gabriel's 1982 tour lasted a year and became his first to make a profit.[60] Recordings from the tour were released on Gabriel's debut live release,Plays Live (1983).
Gabriel produced versions of the third and fourthPeter Gabriel albums with German lyrics. The third consisted of the studio recordings, overdubbed with new vocals. The fourth was remixed, with several tracks extended or altered.
In 1983, Gabriel developed the soundtrack forAlan Parker's drama filmBirdy (1984), co-produced withDaniel Lanois. This consisted of new material, without lyrics, as well as remixed instrumentals from his previous studio album.
After finishing the soundtrack toBirdy, Gabriel shifted his musical focus from rhythm and texture, as heard onPeter Gabriel four andBirdy, towards more straightforward songs.[60] In 1985, he recorded his fifth studio album,So (also co-produced with Lanois).[61]So was released in May 1986 and reached No. 1 in the UK and No. 2 in the US. It remains Gabriel's best-selling album with over five million copies sold in the US alone.[62][63] It produced one of Gabriel's signature songs, that has become a concert staple: "In Your Eyes", with a distinctive vocal appearance byYoussou N'Dour, and three UK top 20 singles: "Sledgehammer", "Big Time", and "Don't Give Up", a duet withKate Bush.[64]
The first went to No. 1 on the USBillboard Hot 100, Gabriel's only single of his career to do so. It knocked "Invisible Touch" by Genesis, his former band, out of the top spot, which was also their only US number one hit. In the UK, the single went to No. 4.[65] In 1990,Rolling Stone rankedSo at No. 14 on its list of "Top 100 Albums of the Eighties".[66]
In 1988, Gabriel became involved as composer forMartin Scorsese's filmThe Last Temptation of Christ (1988). Scorsese had contacted Gabriel about the project since 1983 and wished, according to Gabriel, to present "the struggle between the humanity and divinity of Christ in a powerful and original way".[69] Gabriel used musicians fromWOMAD to perform instrumental pieces with focus on rhythm and African, Middle Eastern and European textures, using theNational Sound Archive in London for additional inspiration.[69] The initial plan had dedicated ten weeks for recording before it was cut to three, leaving Gabriel unable to finish all the pieces he originally wanted to record.[69] When the film was finished, Gabriel worked on the soundtrack for an additional four months to develop more of his unfinished ideas. Its soundtrack was released asPassion in June 1989. It won Gabriel aGrammy Award forBest New Age Performance and a nomination for aGolden Globe forBest Original Score – Motion Picture. In 1990, Gabriel put out his first compilation album,Shaking the Tree: Sixteen Golden Greats, which sold 2 million copies in the US.
Up until 1989, Gabriel was managed byGail Colson.[70] From 1989 to 1992, Gabriel recorded his follow-up toSo, titledUs. The album saw Gabriel address personal themes, including his failed first marriage, psychotherapy, and the growing distance between him and his eldest daughter at the time.
Gabriel's introspection within the context of the albumUs can be seen in the first single release "Digging in the Dirt" directed by John Downer. Accompanied by a video featuring Gabriel covered in snails and various foliage, this song made reference to the psychotherapy which had taken up much of Gabriel's time since the previous studio album. Gabriel describes his struggle to get through to his daughter in "Come Talk to Me" directed byMatt Mahurin, which featured backing vocals bySinéad O'Connor. O'Connor also lent vocals to "Blood of Eden", directed byNichola Bruce and Michael Coulson, the third single to be released from the album, and once again dealing with relationship struggles, this time going right back toAdam's rib for inspiration.
The album is one of Gabriel's most personal. It met with less success thanSo, reaching No. 2 in the album chart on both sides of the Atlantic, and making modest chart impact with the singles "Digging in the Dirt" and the funkier "Steam", which evoked memories of "Sledgehammer". Gabriel followed the release of the album with theSecret World Tour, first using touring keyboardist Joy Askew to sing O'Connor's part, then O'Connor herself for a few months.[71] O'Connor quit the tour, and was replaced byPaula Cole, the latter appearing on the tour recordings: a double albumSecret World Live, and a concert video also calledSecret World Live, both released in 1994.[72] The film received the 1996Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video, naming director Francois Girard and producer Robert Warr.[73]
Gabriel employed an innovative approach in the marketing of theUs album. Not wishing to feature only images of himself, he asked artist filmmakersNichola Bruce and Michael Coulson to co-ordinate a marketing campaign using contemporary artists. Artists such asHelen Chadwick,Rebecca Horn,Nils-Udo,Andy Goldsworthy,David Mach andYayoi Kusama collaborated to create original artworks for each song on the multi-million-selling CD. Coulson and Bruce documented the process on Hi-8 video. Bruce left Real World and Coulson continued with the campaign, using the documentary background material as the basis for a promotional EPK, the long-form videoAll About Us and the interactive CD-ROMXplora1: Peter Gabriel's Secret World.
In 1997, Gabriel was invited to participate in the direction and soundtrack of theMillennium Dome Show, a live multimedia performance staged in theMillennium Dome in London throughout 2000.[74] Gabriel said the team were given free rein, which contributed to the various problems they encountered with it, such as a lack of proper budgeting. He also felt that management, while succeeding to get the building finished on time, failed to understand the artistic side of the show and its content.[75] Gabriel's soundtrack was released asOVO in June 2000.The Story of OVO was released in the CD-booklet-shapedcomic book which was part of the CD edition with the title "OVO The Millennium Show".[76] As part of Record Store Day 2025, OVO celebrated its 25th anniversary and was released on vinyl for the first time in limited quantity.[77]
Later in 2002,Up, Gabriel's first full-length studio album in a decade, was released in September 2002. He started work on it in 1995 before production halted three years later to focus time on other projects and collaborations. Work resumed in 2000, by which time Gabriel had 130 potential songs for the album, and spent almost two years on it before management atVirgin Records pushed Gabriel to complete it.[78]Up reached No. 9 in the US and No. 11 in the UK, and supported with a world tour with a band that included Gabriel's daughter Melanie on backing vocals. The tour was documented with two live DVDs:Growing Up Live (2003) andStill Growing Up: Live & Unwrapped (2005).
In November 2006, the Seventh World Summit ofNobel Peace Laureates in Rome presented Gabriel with theMan of Peace award. The award, presented by former General Secretary of the USSR and Nobel Peace Prize winnerMikhail Gorbachev andWalter Veltroni, Mayor of Rome, was an acknowledgement of Gabriel's extensive contribution and work on behalf of human rights and peace. The award was presented in the Giulio Cesare Hall of the Campidoglio in Rome. At the end of the year, he was awarded theQ magazine Lifetime Achievement Award, presented to him by American musicianMoby. In an interview published in the magazine to accompany the award, Gabriel's contribution to music was described as "vast and enduring".
In June 2008, Gabriel releasedBig Blue Ball, an album of various artists collaborating with each other at his Real World Studios across three summers in the 1990s. He planned its release in the US without assistance from a label; he raised £2 million towards the recording and distribution of the album withIngenious Media with the worldwide release handled throughWarner Bros. Records.[80] Gabriel appeared on a nationwide tour for the album in 2009.[81]
Gabriel was a judge for the 6th and 8th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists.[82]
Gabriel's 2009 tour appearances included Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Peru and Venezuela. His first ever performance in Peru was held in Lima on 20 March 2009, during his second visit to the country.
On 25 July 2009, he played at WOMAD Charlton Park, his only European performance of the year, to promote Witness. The show included two tracks from the then-forthcomingScratch My Back:Paul Simon's "The Boy in the Bubble" andthe Magnetic Fields' "The Book of Love".[84]
2009–2019:Scratch My Back,New Blood and further side projects
In 2009, Gabriel recordedScratch My Back, an album of cover songs by various artists includingDavid Bowie,Lou Reed,Arcade Fire,Radiohead,Regina Spektor andNeil Young. The original concept was for Gabriel to cover an artists' song if they, in turn, covered one of his for an album simultaneously released asI'll Scratch Yours, but several participants later declined or were late to deliver and it was placed on hold.[85] Gabriel avoided using drums and guitar in favour of orchestral arrangements, and altered his usual songwriting method by finishing the vocals first and then the song, for which he collaborated withJohn Metcalfe.[86] Released in February 2010,Scratch My Back reached No. 12 in the UK. Gabriel toured worldwide with the New Blood Tour from March 2010 to July 2012 with a 54-piece orchestra and his daughterMelanie and Norwegian singer-songwriterAne Brun on backing vocals. The follow-up,And I'll Scratch Yours, was released in September 2013.
During the New Blood Tour, Gabriel decided to expand on theScratch My Back concept and, with Metcalfe's assistance, re-record a collection of his own songs with an orchestra. The result,New Blood, was released in October 2011.[87]
In September 2012, Gabriel kicked off hisBack to Front Tour which featuredSo (1986) performed in its entirety with the original musicians who played on the album, to mark its 25th anniversary.[88] When the opening leg finished a month later, Gabriel took one year off to travel the world with his children.[89][90] The tour resumed with a European leg from September 2013 to December 2014.[91]
In 2014, Gabriel was inducted into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist byColdplay frontmanChris Martin. They performed Gabriel's "Washing of the Water" together. Gabriel performed "Heroes" byDavid Bowie with an orchestra at a concert in Berlin to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the fall of theBerlin Wall in November 2014.
In June 2016, Gabriel released the single "I'm Amazing". The song was written several years prior, in part as a tribute to boxerMuhammad Ali.[95] That month, he embarked on a joint tour withSting titled The Rock Paper Scissors North American Tour.[96]
Gabriel re-emerged in 2019 with the release ofRated PG, a compilation of songs that were created for film soundtracks throughout his career. The song selection spans over 30 years and includes tracks that had never been released on an official Gabriel album previously, including "Down to Earth" (fromWALL-E) and "That'll Do" (fromBabe: Pig in the City), an Oscar-nominated collaboration withRandy Newman. Initially only released on vinyl forRecord Store Day on 13 April, the album was eventually released on digital streaming services later that month.[97] Later that same year, Gabriel issued another digital release on 13 September titledFlotsam and Jetsam, a collection ofB-sides, remixes and rarities that span Gabriel's entire solo career from 1976 to 2016, including his first solo recording, a cover ofthe Beatles' song "Strawberry Fields Forever".[98]
By 2002, Gabriel had been continually working on what he had given the tentative title ofI/O, his tenth studio album, which he had begun work on as early as 1995.[99][100] It was originally set to be released 18 months afterUp, but touring pushed the release far away.[101] He did an interview withRolling Stone in 2005 stating that he had 150 songs in various stages.[102] From 2013 to 2016, he posted regularly on social media about recording the new album.[103] In 2019, he spoke onBBC Radio 6 about how he had taken a hiatus from making music due to his wife being sick, but he had begun to return to it now that she had recovered.[104] In 2021, he was interviewed multiple times about his new album, and revealed that he had been recording withManu Katché,Tony Levin andDavid Rhodes on 17 new songs.[105][106] He posted multiple photos to his Facebook and Instagram of these sessions.[107][108] In June 2022, Katché told the French magazineL'Illustré that the album was nearly complete and would be released later that year, pending an official announcement.[109][110][111]
In November 2022, Gabriel announced his upcoming "I/O The Tour" for the spring of 2023 across several European cities, with later dates to be confirmed for the North America leg of the tour for the late summer/fall of 2023.[112] This announcement also confirmed the name of the upcoming album to be stylised asI/O. The first single from the album, "Panopticom", was released digitally on 6 January 2023.[113] A new piece from the album will be released on the date of each full moon in 2023,[114] as well as a different mix of the song on each new moon in 2023, starting with the Dark Side Mix of "Panopticom".[115] On 5 February, Gabriel released "The Court", the second single from the album. On 7 March, Gabriel released the third single, "Playing for Time". A basic arrangement of the song featuring only Gabriel on piano and Levin on bass had already opened the shows on theBack to Front Tour, by the name of "Daddy Long Legs".[116][117] The title track "I/O" was the fourth single released on 6 April. On 5 May, Peter Gabriel released the fifth single from the album, "Four Kinds of Horses", a track which is a collaboration withBrian Eno andRichard Russell. The sixth single, "Road to Joy", was released on 4 June. Six more singles were released, separately, within the next six months—"So Much", "Olive Tree", "Love Can Heal", "This Is Home", "And Still" and "Live and Let Live"—beforeI/O was finally released on 1 December 2023.[118]
One day prior toI/O's release, Gabriel toldThe New York Times that he does not expect a follow-up album (which he described as his "brain project") to take another 21 years, saying that "there's a lot of stuff in the can" but added that the material is not yet finished.[119]
Additionally, Gabriel stated in his November 2023 Full Moon update video that the track "What Lies Ahead" will be on "the next record".[120] He performed "What Lies Ahead" several times in 2023 and it was a contender forI/O. In February 2025, Gabriel revealed toMojo that he was working on the follow-up toI/O: "It will be calledO/I [...] that'sI/O backwards."[121]
Stylistically, Gabriel's music has been alternately described by music writers asprogressive rock,[1]art rock,[122]art pop,[123]worldbeat,[124]post-progressive[125] andprogressive soul.[126] According toRolling Stone journalist Ryan Reed, Gabriel has developed in all as an "art-rock innovator, soul-pop craftsman, [and] 'world music' ambassador" over the course of his career,[127] while music scholar Gregg Akkermann argues that, despite his progressive rock origins, he has "managed to attract fans from across the spectrum: prog rock, alternative rock, world beat, blue-eyed soul, dance music, the college crowd, the teens, Americans and Europeans".[128] More broadly,AllMusic'sStephen Thomas Erlewine says Gabriel emerged during the 1980s as "one of rock's most ambitious, innovative musicians", as well as "an international pop star".[129]
Over the years, Gabriel has collaborated with singerKate Bush several times; Bush provided backing vocals for Gabriel's "Games Without Frontiers" and "No Self Control" in 1980, and female lead vocal for "Don't Give Up" (a top 10 hit in the UK) in 1986, and Gabriel appeared on her television special. Their duet ofRoy Harper's "Another Day" was discussed for release as a single, but never appeared.[130]
Gabriel collaborated on tracks with electronic musicianBT, who also worked on theOVO soundtrack with him. The tracks were never released, as the computers they were contained on were stolen from BT's home in California. He also sang the lyrics forDeep Forest on their theme song for the movieStrange Days (1995). In addition, Gabriel has appeared onAngelique Kidjo's 2007 studio albumDjin Djin, singing on the song "Salala".
Gabriel has recorded a cover of theVampire Weekend single "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" withHot Chip, where his name is mentioned several times in the chorus. He substitutes the original line "But this feels so unnatural / Peter Gabriel too / This feels so unnatural/ Peter Gabriel too" with "It feels so unnatural / Peter Gabriel too / and it feels so unnatural / to sing your own name."[134]
Gabriel collaborated withArcade Fire on their 2022 studio album,We. He sang backing vocals on the track "Unconditional II (Race and Religion)".[135]
Gabriel's interest inworld music was first apparent on his third solo studio album. According to Spencer Kornhaber inThe Atlantic in 2019: "When Peter Gabriel moved toward 'world music' four decades ago, he not only evangelized sounds that were novel to Western pop. He also set a radio template: majestic, with flourishes meant to read as 'exotic,' and lyrics meant to change lives."[136] This influence has increased over time, and he co-founded theWorld of Music, Arts and Dance (WOMAD) festival in 1982.[4] Gabriel said:
The first time I really got into music from another culture was as a result of the shifting ofRadio 4, which I used to wake up to. I'd lost it onmedium wave and was groping around in the morning on the dial, trying to find something that I could listen to, and came across a Dutch radio station who were playing the soundtrack from some obscureStanley Baker movie calledDingaka. That had quite a lot of stuff from—I think it was—Ghana. I can't remember now, but it really moved me. One of the songs I heard on that was a thing called 'Shosholoza', which I recorded on the b-side of the 'Biko' single.[137]
In the 1990s, with Steve Nelson of Brilliant Media and director Michael Coulson, he developed advanced multimedia CD-ROM-based entertainment projects, creatingXplora (the world's largest-selling music CD-ROM), and subsequently theEVE CD-ROM.EVE was a music and art adventure game directed by Michael Coulson and co-produced by theStarwave Corporation in Seattle; it won the Milia d'Or award Grand Prize at the Cannes in 1996.
In 1990, Gabriel lent his backing vocals to Ugandan political exileGeoffrey Oryema's "Land of Anaka", appearing on Oryema's first studio albumExile, released on Gabriel's Real World label.[138]
In 1994, Gabriel starred inBreck Eisner's short filmRecon as a detective who enters the minds of murder victims to find their killer's identity.
Gabriel helped pioneer a new realm of musical interaction in 2001, visitingGeorgia State University's Language Research Center to participate in keyboard jam sessions withbonobo apes from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. (This experience inspired the song "Animal Nation", which was performed on Gabriel's 2002 "Growing Up" tour and was featured on theGrowing Up Live DVD andThe Wild Thornberrys Movie soundtrack.) Gabriel's desire to bring attention to the intelligence of primates also took the form of ApeNet, a project that aimed to link great apes through the internet, enabling the first interspecies internet communication.[139]
Gabriel was one of the founders of on Demand Distribution (OD2), one of the first online music download services. Prior to its closure in 2009, its technology had been used by over 100 music download sites including MSN Music UK, MyCokeMusic, Planet Internet (KPN), Wanadoo and CD WOW!. OD2 was bought by US company Loudeye in June 2004 and subsequently by Finnish mobile giantNokia in October 2006 for $60 million.[140]
Gabriel is co-founder (withBrian Eno) of a musicians union called Mudda, short for "magnificent union of digitally downloading artists".[141][142]
In 2000, Gabriel collaborated withZucchero,Anggun and others in a charity for kids withAIDS. Erick Benzi wrote words and music and Patrick Bruel, Stephan Eicher, Faudel, Lokua Kanza, Laam, Nourith, Axelle Red have accepted to sing it.[143]
In 2003, Gabriel contributed a song for the video gameUru: Ages Beyond Myst.[144] In 2004, Gabriel contributed another song ("Curtains") and contributed voice work on another game in theMyst franchise,Myst IV: Revelation.[145]
In June 2005, Gabriel and broadcast industry entrepreneurDavid Engelke purchasedSolid State Logic, a manufacturer of mixing consoles and digital audio workstations.[146] In 2017, the company was sold to theAudiotonix Group.[147]
In May 2008, Gabriel'sReal World Studios, in partnership withBowers & Wilkins, started the Bowers & Wilkins Music Club—later known as Society of Sound—a subscription-based music retail site. Albums are currently available in eitherApple Lossless orFLAC format.[148]
Gabriel is one of the founding supporters of the annual global eventAsteroid Day.[149]
In 1986, Gabriel started what has become a longstanding association withAmnesty International, becoming a pioneering participant in all 28 of Amnesty'sHuman rights concerts—a series of music events and tours staged by the US Section of Amnesty International between 1986 and 1998. He performed during the six-concertA Conspiracy of Hope US tour in June 1986; the twenty-concertHuman Rights Now! world tour in 1988; theChile: Embrace of Hope Concert in 1990 and atThe Paris Concert for Amnesty International in 1998. He also performed in Amnesty'sSecret Policeman's Ball benefit shows in collaboration with other artists and friends such as Lou Reed,David Gilmour ofPink Floyd and Youssou N'Dour; Gabriel closed those concerts performing his anti-apartheid anthem "Biko".[150]He spoke of his support for Amnesty onNBC'sToday Show in 1986.[151]
Gabriel has a longstanding interest in human rights and launchedWitness,[152] a charity that trains human rights activists to use video and online technologies to expose human rights abuses. In 2006, his work with Witness and his long-standing support of peace and human rights causes was recognised by theNobel Peace Prize Laureates with theMan of Peace award. In November 2007, Witness launched The Hub, a participatory media site for human rights.
In the late 1990s, Gabriel and entrepreneurRichard Branson discussed withNelson Mandela their idea of a small, dedicated group of leaders, working objectively and without any vested personal interest to solve difficult global conflicts. On 18 July 2007, inJohannesburg, South Africa, Nelson Mandela announced the formation of a new group,The Elders, in a speech he delivered on the occasion of his 89th birthday.Kofi Annan served as Chair of the Elders andGro Harlem Brundtland as deputy chair. The other members of the group areMartti Ahtisaari,Ela Bhatt,Lakhdar Brahimi,Fernando Henrique Cardoso,Jimmy Carter,[155]Hina Jilani,Graça Machel,Mary Robinson[155] andErnesto Zedillo.Desmond Tutu was an Honorary Elder, as was Nelson Mandela. The Elders is independently funded by a group of donors, including Branson and Gabriel, and use their collective skills to catalyse peaceful resolutions to long-standing conflicts, articulate new approaches to global issues that are causing or may later cause immense human suffering, and share wisdom by helping to connect voices all over the world. They work together to consider carefully which specific issues to approach.
In September 2008, Gabriel was named as the recipient of Amnesty International's 2008Ambassador of Conscience Award. In the same month, he receivedQuadrigaUnited We Care award of Werkstatt Deutschland along withBoris Tadić,Eckart Höfling and Wikipedia. The award was presented to him byQueen Silvia of Sweden.[156]
In 2010, Gabriel lent his support to the campaign to releaseSakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, an Iranian Azeri woman who was sentenced to death by stoning after being convicted of committing adultery.[157]
In December 2013, Gabriel posted a video message in tribute to the deceased former South African president and anti-apartheid leaderNelson Mandela. Gabriel was quoted:
To come out of 27 years in jail and to immediately set about building a Rainbow Nation with your sworn enemy is a unique and extraordinary example of courage and forgiveness. In this case, Mandela had seen many of his people beaten, imprisoned and murdered, yet he was still willing to trust the humanity and idealism of those who had been the oppressors, without whom he knew he could not achieve an almostpeaceful transition of power. There is no other example of such inspirational leadership in my lifetime.[158][159]
Gabriel has criticisedAir France for their continued transport of monkeys to laboratories. In a letter to the airline, Gabriel wrote that in laboratories, "primates are violently force-fed chemicals, inflicted with brain damage, crippled, addicted to cocaine or alcohol, deprived of food and water, or psychologically tormented and ultimately killed."[160]
In March 2014, Gabriel publicly supported #withsyria, a campaign to rally support for victims of theSyrian Civil War.[161]
In March 2015, Gabriel was awarded an honorary doctorate by theUniversity of South Australia in recognition of his commitment to creativity and its transformational power in building peace and understanding.[163]
At the1997 general election, he declared his support for theLabour Party, which won that election by a landslide after 18 years out of power, led byTony Blair.[166] In 1998, he was named in a list of the biggest private financial donors to Labour.[167] He subsequently distanced himself from the Labour government following Blair's support forGeorge W. Bush and Britain's involvement in theIraq War, which he strongly opposed.[155] Gabriel later explained his decision for funding Labour, saying, "after all those years ofThatcher, that was the only time I've put money into a political party because I wanted to help get rid of theTory government of that time."[168]
In 2012, Gabriel condemned the use of his music by the Americanconservative talk radio personalityRush Limbaugh duringa controversial segment in which Limbaugh vilifiedGeorgetown University law studentSandra Fluke. A statement on behalf of Gabriel read: "Peter was appalled to learn that his music was linked to Rush Limbaugh's extraordinary attack on Sandra Fluke. It is obvious from anyone that knows Peter's work that he would never approve such a use. He has asked his representatives to make sure his music is withdrawn and especially from these unfair, aggressive and ignorant comments."[171]
Gabriel has declared his support for thetwo-state solution to theIsraeli–Palestinian conflict. In 2014, he contributed songs to a new compilation album to raise funds for humanitarian organisations aiding Palestinian Arabs inGaza. Gabriel was quoted: "I am certain that Israelis and Palestinians will both benefit from a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders. We have watched Palestinians suffer for too long, especially in Gaza. I am not, and never was, anti-Israeli oranti-Semitic, but I oppose the policy of the Israeli government, oppose injustice and oppose the occupation ... I am proud to be one of the voices asking the Israeli government: 'Where is the two-state solution that you wanted so much?' and clearly say that enough is enough."[173] In 2019, Gabriel was among 50 artists who urged theBBC to ask for theEurovision Song Contest to be moved out of Israel, citing human rights concerns.[174] In 2023, Gabriel signed theArtists4Ceasefire open letter to PresidentJoe Biden calling for a ceasefire during theGaza war.[175]
Gabriel has been in support of theArmenian genocide recognition.[176] In October 2020, he posted a message on social media in support ofArmenia andArtsakh in regards to theNagorno-Karabakh war. He said, "The fighting that has now broken out between Azerbaijan and Armenia is really horrific and we need to lobby whoever we can to encourage a ceasefire, but hearing reports that PresidentErdoğan has now lined up 80,000 Turkish troops on the Armenian border is a terrifying prospect, full of the dark echoes of history."[177]
Gabriel's music featured prominently on the popular 1980s television showMiami Vice. The songs include "The Rhythm of the Heat" and "Biko" (from "Evan"), "Red Rain" (from "Stone's War"), "Mercy Street" (from "Killshot"), "Sledgehammer" (from "Better Living Through Chemistry"), "We Do What We're Told (Milgram's 37)" (from "Forgive Us Our Debts" and "Deliver Us from Evil") and "Don't Give Up" (from "Redemption in Blood"). With seven songs used total, Gabriel had the most music featured by a solo artist in the series, and he is the only artist to have had a song used in four of Vice's five seasons. Five of the nine tracks on his most popular albumSo (1986) were used in the series.
Gabriel’s song "In Your Eyes" features twice in the teen romance dramaSay Anything (1989). It is the song playing on Lloyd Dobler’s boombox as he serenades Diane, creating the film’s most iconic scene.
Gabriel's cover ofDavid Bowie's "Heroes" was featured in the fourth season finale ofBig Love, as well as the first season and the ending scene ofStranger Things season 3 and the ending credits ofLone Survivor. The song also features in 'Children of Mars', a 2020 episode of the web seriesStar Trek: Short Treks.
A series of spoof documentaries about the fictitious rock starBrian Pern were based loosely on Gabriel.[178]
In 2021, Northern Irish post-punk band Invaderband released their second studio album entitled 'Peter Gabriel'.[179] The sleeve was a painting of Gabriel byLuke Haines.
Gabriel has married twice and has four children. In 1971, at age 21, he married Jill Moore, daughter of BaronPhilip Moore.[180] They had two daughters,[155] one of whom, Anna-Marie, is a filmmaker who filmed and directed Gabriel's live DVDsGrowing Up on Tour: A Family Portrait (2003),Still Growing Up: Live & Unwrapped (2005) and some of his music videos. Melanie is a musician who had been a backing vocalist in her father's band in 2002–2011. Both daughters appear in the final sequence of the video for their father's song "Sledgehammer".
Gabriel's marriage became increasingly strained, culminating in Moore's affair withDavid Lord, the co-producer of Gabriel'sfourth studio album. After the coupledivorced in 1987, Gabriel fell into a period of depression and attended therapy sessions for six years.
For a time after his divorce, Gabriel lived with American actressRosanna Arquette.[180] In 2021, Irish singerSinéad O'Connor said that she maintained an on-and-off relationship with Gabriel in the wake of his divorce. She ended the relationship because of her frustration with his lack of commitment, which inspired her single "Thank You for Hearing Me".[181]
Gabriel married Meabh Flynn in 2002, with whom he has two sons.[85][180]
Gabriel has resided inWiltshire for many years and runsReal World Studios fromBox, Wiltshire. He previously lived in the Woolley Valley nearBath, Somerset. In 2010, he joined a campaign to stop agricultural development in the valley, which had also inspired his first solo single, "Solsbury Hill", in 1977.[182]
^abMcNulty, Bernadette (12 September 2013)."Peter Gabriel, interview".The Daily Telegraph.Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved29 September 2016.
^abcSnow, Mat (April 2010)."The man who fell to earth".MOJO. pp. 76–86.Archived from the original on 1 November 2019. Retrieved1 November 2019 – via The Genesis Archive.
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