British musician Peter Brian Gabriel is worth $95 million. He began to study music and compose songs at school. All his projects were invariably outrageous and successful.
Lord Peter Brian Gabriel's heir
Peter was born in the small English town of Chobem on February 13, 1950. Dad was an electronics engineer, constantly disappearing in the workshop and inventing something.
Mom taught subjects in music. Listening to waltzes and mazurkas performed by her, the boy was imbued with their beauty so much that he firmly decided to become a musician. He especially liked to listen to old British songs. Surely the call of the ancestors played in the blood, because great-great-great Gabriel bore the title of baronet and was even Lord Mayor of London in the XNUMXth century.
While still at school in Godalming, the boy sang wonderfully, and also easily mastered playing the piano and drums. He became interested in anthems, believing that they were written in the style of soul. At the age of 12, he wrote the song "Sammy the Slug" himself. A year later, he became a member of The Anon. Then, together with school friends who are fond of music, they created the second band, The Garden Wall.
Leader of the Genesis group
Soon, on the basis of these two groups, a third was created, called Genesis. 17-year-old Peter became the vocalist and played the flute. His fellow practitioners distributed other instruments among themselves.
The guys sent a cassette of their recordings to Jonathan King. This is another one of their classmates who managed to become a professional musician. He was so imbued with the sound of the vocalist's voice that he agreed to sign a contract with the newcomers.
King offered to name the newly minted band "Gabriel's Angels", but the musicians did not agree, choosing a different name: "Genesis". It was at the insistence of an experienced friend that the first album "From Genesis to Revelation" sounded more like pop than rock.
Unfortunately, this work was not commercially successful, so friends had to look for ways to earn extra money, and Genesis was left as a hobby. Gabriel played the flute for Cat Stevens. His performance can be heard in the musician's third album.
New albums
The second album "Trespass", released in 1970, received wide recognition. True, the critics' assessments differed radically, but the European public accepted the new music with a bang.
The third album appealed not only to fans, but also to music specialists. New faces were brought in to record Nursery Cryme - guitarist Steve Hackett and drummer Phil Collins. They also stayed to work on the fourth Foxtrot album. It became clear to everyone that Genesis is serious and for a long time.
Peter attracted additional public attention with outrageous antics. For example, speaking in Dublin in 1973, he retired from the stage after performing another hit. He appeared before the public again, dressed in the red dress of his wife. That was the picture on the album cover.
The vocalist did not specifically warn his colleagues about his idea, because they could ban such a PR move. Although the chip worked 100%. Ticket prices for the band's events skyrocketed.
After publishing The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, Peter made the decision to quit Genesis. And this despite the fact that he was declared the commercial winner. And in the USA even received a "gold certificate".
The views on the further work of the frontman and the musicians diverged. In addition, having married, he became a father, and he did not find more points of contact with the guys. The vacant vocalist position was taken by Phil Collins.
Solo career of Peter Brian Gabriel
But it did not work out for a long time to enjoy a quiet, calm rural life. Already at the end of 1975, he thought about individual performance. A year later, the compositions for the new disc were ready.
The launch album "Peter Gabriel" was very different from what had to be composed in Genesis. And the hit “Solsbury Hill”, which ended up at number 13 in the UK hit parade, was rated by fans as a farewell to their favorite band. Being in a creative search, the soloist mixed many styles in this disc. A year later, in 1978, the album "Peter Gabriel 2" was presented to the audience.
Peter began to recruit people to record a third studio album, which clearly showed a post-punk sound. "Peter Gabriel 3" or "Melt" (1980) was at the top of the country charts. And the song from this disc "Games Without Frontiers" was constantly played on the radio.
The musician did not become original and in 1982 he named the fourth work according to the type of the previous ones: "Peter Gabriel 4". True, the American publisher was outraged. He stated that there is confusion between albums with the same name but released by different labels. Then Peter allowed to add a Security sticker to the entire circulation. Almost every composition exudes exoticism. So, in "Rhythm Of The Heat" we are talking about a tribe in Sudan, and in "San Jacinto" - a tribute to an acquaintance with an Apache Indian.
Pause, 4 years long
After the failure of the fourth album, Gabriel took a break that dragged on for 4 years. He did not write songs, but at that time he actively toured. But the album "So" in 1986 reached number two in the charts and was awarded the Grammy Award.
The album "Passion" in 1989 puzzled the admirers of Gabriel's talent a little. It was based on compositions from Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ. At the same time, the music was a little like the usual soundtracks, but more like a mediative instrumental. To write such melodies, the musician had to travel around Africa and the Far East. There he got acquainted with local instruments and borrowed their sound in his compositions.
The next album "Us" was released in 1992 and became no less successful than the previous one. It has been certified platinum in the US and UK. And three of his video clips received a Grammy. The fourth prize in the same year went to Peter for the soundtrack to the film WALL-E.
Gabriel worked as a producer, having the opportunity to communicate with musicians from Africa, Asia, Bulgaria, Israel. So I used them in the work on this unusual album. Here you can hear the sound of Scottish bagpipes, African drums, Armenian duduk. Even the Russian ensemble of Dmitry Pokrovsky participated in the recording. But the fans did not hide the note of the performer's sadness about his divorce from his wife, which clearly slips into the sound.
Life after 2000s
In 2000, Peter continues to develop. He puts on the play OVO: Millennium Show, in which he even singled out a role for himself. Music from around the world, which sounded on stage, was recorded on the OVO disc.
Two years later, the public was presented with the album "Up", work on which continued for 7 years. Recordings were made in the studio "Real World", owned by Gabriel, as well as in France, Brazil. Although the name was optimistic, but rather gloomy sounding tracks can be described as "the beginning of the end". Apparently, the death of his brother from cancer and the departure of loved ones affected.
It took even more time - 18 years - to complete the Big Blue Ball project, which is an 11-track album. It includes records from the 90s. And 75 musicians from around the world took part in the project.
In 2010, Peter started the grandiose project Scratch My Back, the essence of which was that the musician made a cover of the composition of a famous rock artist, and he, in response, reworked and recorded his song.
Peter a year later collected 14 songs, which were accompanied by a symphony orchestra in the ninth album "New Blood". He also arranged a big concert tour with the orchestra in the USA, Europe and other countries.
In 2019, there were rumors that Peter Brian Gabriel would perform at a concert organized by Richard Branson on the border between Colombia and Venezuela. But the audience never saw the star. For them, it remained a mystery whether it was a newspaper "duck", or the performer really planned the performance, but for some reason it fell through.
Personal life of Peter Brian Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel married for the first time in 1971. The chosen one of the musician was Jill Moore. The father of the bride served as a secretary for the queen herself. So the wedding was magnificent and rich. The newlyweds settled in a rural house. The wife gave her beloved man two daughters. But the idyll did not last long. Both started cheating on each other. So after 16 years of marriage, the marriage broke up.
After the divorce, the musician consoled himself in his arms with actress Rosanna Arquette, and then there was a short romance with singer Sinead O'Connor.
For the second time, he married in 2002 with an old girlfriend whom he had met for 5 years before the wedding. Mib Flynn gave birth to her beloved son Isaac back in 2001. In 2008, the couple had Luke. They live in the UK. Gabriel manages the Real World Studios label, is the organizer of the WOMAD festival and is actively involved in social activities.
