Peter Gabriel

Rock Musician

Singer and songwriter Peter Gabriel fronted the 1970s rock group Genesis before embarking on a solo career that has included the hit songs "Shock the Monkey," "In Your Eyes" and "Sledgehammer." Gabriel co-founded Genesis in 1967 and was with them until 1975. The group was known for their conceptual albums and theatrical stage shows and became one of the best-known "art rock" groups of the '70s. Gabriel's first three solo albums were all titled Peter Gabriel, but are known to fans as "Car" (1977), "Scratch" (1978) and "Melt" (1980). His 1982 release, Security, featured his first top 40 hit, "Shock the Monkey," and showcased his talent at blending global music with modern recording technology. During the '90s Gabriel released soundtrack albums as well as pop records, and made a splash on MTV with the adventurous and humorous videos of "Big Time," "Sledgehammer" and "Kiss That Frog." He also embarked on a parallel career as a booster of world music, founder of the Real World record label, dabbler in interactive digital technology and supporter of human rights. His other albums include So (1986), Us (1992) and Up (2002).

Extra credit: In 1980 Gabriel co-founded an annual festival of world music called WOMAD (World of Music, Arts & Dance)... He also co-founded Witness, a grassroots program to expose violations of human rights around the world, and On Demand Distribution (OD2), a digital music distribution system in the United Kingdom... He also helped start up the online music distribution service We7.

Other technology-wise musicians include Brian Eno, David Bowie and Prince.