Happy Birthday To The Most Intriguing Member Of Genesis

Happy Birthday Peter Gabriel. To celebrate his birthday, let's see if you know Peter Gabriel beyond Genesis. He is not only a "Prog God", Pete has many other facets of his life that are truly intriguing. Without a doubt, Pete is the most fascinating and diverse member of Genesis.

Political Roots:  His great-great-great-uncle, Sir Thomas Gabriel, 1st Baronet, served as Lord Mayor of London from 1866 to 1877

Connection to Royalty (kinda): Gabriel's first wife Jill was the daughter of the Queen of England's private secretary. They met when he was 15 and she was 16, and got married in 1971.

How Genesis Formed: Gabriel, along with Tony Banks and a drummer named Chris Stewart, formed a band called Garden Wall while at Charterhouse Public school in 1965. At the same time, Mike Rutherford and Anthony Phillips were in another band called Anon. Later, the two bands amalgamated into the first incarnation of Genesis.

Fun Genesis Fact: Peter was credited for inventing "stagediving" He performed a "stagedive" during the song "the knife". Once he even broke his leg, but crawled back on the stage and finished the concert.

His first four albums released in England and first three in America were titled "Peter Gabriel." The first 3 are sometimes referred to as "car," "melt," and "scratch," based on the album covers.

Careful what you wish for Atlantic Records: Gabriel's US label, Atlantic, dropped him after his third album because they thought it would be a commercial flop. They tried to buy him back two years later after the album did well.

His solo album "SO" might have been a acronym for "Sellout" It was his most popular release.

Political Activist Here are some highlights: Too many to mention, here are a few highlights. Pete has always been an advocate for Great Britain to remove itself from Northern Ireland. In 1992, he joined many leftist individuals that recognized the 20th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday. In 2014, Pete joined the advocacy of a two state solution in Palestine.

Pete had a connection to Jesus Christ himself, literally: He composed the music for Martin Scorsese's movie The Last Temptation Of Christ. The soundtrack won a Grammy for best New Age performance.

Olympian: Gabriel performed John Lennon's "Imagine" at the opening ceremonies of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Italy.

Human Rights: He has participated in several human rights benefit concerts, including Amnesty International's Human Rights Now! tour in 1988, and co-founded the WITNESS human rights organisation in 1992

Nobel Recognition: In recognition of his many years of human rights activism, he received the Man of Peace award from the Nobel Peace Prize Laureates