Biography Genesis - Showbiza.com/gb

The long career for Genesis breaks down neatly into two contrasting eras: For the first half Genesis was a cult band fronted by theatrical vocalist Peter Gabriel, playing majestic art rock that set the style for such American acts as Kansas and Styx —story songs set to complex, richly textured music with hints of classical pomp. After Gabriel left, drummer Phil Collins took over as lead singer —proving himself a more down-to-earth frontman —and the band's audience expanded exponentially, as Genesis streamlined its music into romantic pop songs and abandoned costume drama for laser lightshows. By the mid-'80s, Genesis was one of the world's most popular bands.

After Gabriel and Tony Banks played together in a band called Garden Wall, they formed a "songwriter's collective" with Mike Rutherford and Anthony Phillips while all four were students at Charterhouse, an exclusive British secondary school. In late 1967 British record mogul Jonathan King suggested the name Genesis and got the group a contract that resulted in the poppish 13-song From Genesis to Revelation (1968), which was not released in the U.S. until 1974.

Upon graduating, the four members lived together in an English country cottage and rehearsed for several months before playing their first gig in September 1969. They developed an elaborate stage show —Gabriel had a series of costume changes, including a bat and a flower —And with the adroit drumming of Phil Collins (formerly with Flaming Youth), their songs grew into extended suites on Nursery Cryme, Foxtrot, and Selling England by the Pound. They gained a large following in England and a dedicated cult in the United States. In 1974 Genesis' theatricality peaked with a two-LP set and attendant live show, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, in which Gabriel played Rael, who suffered various metamorphoses in a surreal Manhattan.

Gabriel left Genesis after Lamb for a solo career, and the group took 18 months to adjust. It auditioned over 400 singers before deciding Collins could take over; on tour, the trio employed a second drummer so that Collins could roam the stage. Genesis dispensed with costumes and continued to perform older material, which was credited to the whole group. A Trick of the Tail and Wind & Wuthering expanded the band's cult (the latter included Genesis' first hit single, "Your Own Special Way" [#62, 1977], and…And Then There Were Three…, with somewhat shorter songs, became its first gold album in 1978 (the LP later went platinum).

Genesis began to score U.S. Top 40 hit singles with "Follow You, Follow Me" (#23, 1978) from…And Then There Were Three… and "Misunderstanding" (#14, 1980) from Duke, in which the trio turned their narrative skills to love songs. For Abacab, Genesis incorporated some new-wave concision; the album (#7, 1981) sold 2 million copies, and the title song (#26, 1981) and "No Reply at All" (#29, 1981) were hits. The latter featured the Earth, Wind & Fire horn section, which also appeared on Collins' 2-million-selling solo debut, Face Value (#7, 1981). That album yielded the Top 20 hits "I Missed Again" (#19, 1981) and "In the Air Tonight" (#19, 1981).

Collins' second solo album, Hello, I Must Be Going! (1982), was a Top 10 hit and featured a cover of the Supremes' "You Can't Hurry Love" (#10, 1982). The group's Genesis (#9, 1983) spawned "That's All" {#6, 1983) and "Illegal Alien" (#44, 1984). In 1984 Collins produced ex-Earth, Wind & Fire vocalist Philip Bailey's Chinese Wall album and dueted with him on the hit single "Easy Lover" (#2, 1984). The next year Collins earned an Oscar nomination and won a Grammy for his movie love theme "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" (#1, 1984), and hit #1 with "Separate Lives" (a duet with Marilyn Martin) from the film White Nights. His own 1985 album No Jacket Required hit #1 faster than Michael Jackson's Thriller had, with such hits as "One More Night" (#1, 1985), "Sussudio" (#1, 1985), "Don't Lose My Number" (#4, 1985), and "Take Me Home" (#7, 1986). For the July 13, 1985, Live Aid concert, Collins performed on his own in London that morning, then flew via the Concorde to the Philadelphia show to perform there solo later that day, as well as play drums in the Led Zeppelin reunion with Robert Plant and Jimmy Page. Also in 1985, Mike Rutherford launched Mike + the Mechanics, whose debut album (#26, 1985) produced hit singles with "Silent Running" (#6, 1985) and "All I Need Is a Miracle" (#5, 1986). The Living Years (#13, 1988) yielded a #1 hit in the title track, which was inspired by the death of Rutherford's father.

Genesis returned to the chars with Invisible Touch (#3, 1986), containing the track (#1, 1986), "Throwing It All Away" (#4, 1986), and "Land of Confusion" (#4,1986). The viciously satirical video for the later featured England's Spitting Image puppets of Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, and others. "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" (#3, 1987) was featured in TV commercials for Michelob beer, which also sponsored Genesis' 1987 tour (the Michelob campaign, which also used Eric Clapton's "After Midnight," was later satirized in Neil Young's "this Note's for You" video).

In 1988 Colilns, who had acted professionally as a child, starred in the movie Buster (he'd made his big-screen debut as an extra in in the Beatles' A Hard Day's Night); the soundtrack produced #1 hits for Collins in a cover of the Mindbenders' 1966 hit "Groovy Kind of Love" and "Two Hearts," cowritten with Lamont Dozier of the fame Holland-Dozier-Holland Motown team. His But Seriously (#1, 1989), an attempt to confront social issues, certified Collins as an "adult contemporary" superstar, with "Another Day in Paradise" (#1, 1989), "I Wish It Would Rain Down" (#3, 1990), "Do You Remember?" (#4, 1990), and "Something Happened on the Way to Heaven" (#4, 1990).

The hits continued for Genesis into the '90s, as We Can't Dance (#4, 1991) produced "No Son of Mine" (#12, 1991), "Hold On My Heart" (#12, 1992), and "I Can't Dance" (#7, 1992). The album was Collins' last studio effort with the group. He announced his departure in 1996, the same year his album Dance Into the Light was released. It hit #23, but failed to produce any Top 40 singles. Collins diversified in 1999, recording a live album of greatest hits arranged for a 20-piece big band and lending his vocal and songwriting skills to the soundtrack for Disney's animated Tarzan. (He won an Oscar for Best Original Song, for "You'll Be in My Heart.") Genesis continued, returning to the studio in 1997 with a new singer, 28-year-old Scotsman Ray Wilson, formerly of Stiltskin. Calling All Stations (#54, 1997) was touted as a slight return to the band's progressive-rock roots but lacked the commercial appeal of the Collins-era catalogue.

1998–2005: Partial reunions and hiatus

In 1998, Banks, Collins, Gabriel, Hackett, Phillips, Rutherford, and Silver gathered for a photo session and dinner to celebrate the release of the box set, Genesis Archive 1967–75. In 1999, the 1971–75 line-up of Banks, Collins, Gabriel, Hackett and Rutherford released a new version of "The Carpet Crawlers" for the Turn It On Again: The Hits compilation. On 21 September 2000, Collins, Banks, and Rutherford along with Daryl Stuermer performed acoustic renditions of "I Can't Dance", "Invisible Touch", "Follow You, Follow Me", and "Turn It On Again" at the Music Managers Forum, in honour of their manager Tony Smith. Gabriel attended but did not perform. Most of the original members were involved in compiling the two Archive boxed-sets. Acoustic versions of "Afterglow", "No Son of Mine" and "Follow You, Follow Me" were recorded for a documentary film about the band's history at this time.

2006–present: Reunion and future

After much speculation regarding a reunion, Banks, Collins and Rutherford announced Turn It On Again: The Tour on 7 November 2006; nearly 40 years after the band first formed. The tour took place during summer 2007, and played twelve countries across Europe, followed by a second leg in North America. The trio had wanted to reunite as a five-piece with Gabriel and Hackett for a live performance of The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. While Gabriel reportedly agreed in principle to perform, he was unable to commit to a date. Collins later observed that "Peter is a little over-cautious about going back to something which fundamentally is just fun". Hackett agreed to participation but decided not to without Peter. Collins, Banks and Rutherford toured with Chester Thompson and Daryl Stuermer.

The band and the producer since 1991, Nick Davis, remixed their back catalogue (into 5.1 and new stereo mixes) for release in three batches over the course of 2007 and 2008, each comprising a third of the band's albums (from Trespass to Calling All Stations) in a boxset-style release. Each album is presented as a double-disc set containing a multi-channel hybrid Super Audio CD, as well as a DVD-Video with DTS 24bit/96K and Dolby Digital24bit/48K 5.1 tracks. The DVDs also include extras such as promo videos, live performances, TV appearances, tour programmes and new interviews in which the band discuss the period surrounding each album. (For the US and Canada pressings, the audio discs are regular CDs and not SACD hybrids.) These remasters were released in three box sets: Genesis 1976–1982 in May 2007, Genesis 1983–1998 in October 2007, and Genesis 1970–1975 in November 2008, in addition to each album being released individually. Each box set contains the albums from its designated time period, as well as a bonus CD/DVD-A of non-album tracks.

On 12 May 2007, the band were honourees at the second annual VH1 Rock Honors, along with Ozzy Osbourne, Heart and ZZ Top. Genesis performed "Turn It On Again", "No Son of Mine" and "Los Endos", which later was broadcast on VH1 in the US on 25 May 2007. On 11 June 2007 Genesis officially kicked off their 2007 Turn It On Again World Tour in Helsinki, Finland. The band performed over 50 shows in several countries including Denmark, Belgium, Germany, Poland, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada. The German show was broadcast live to several cinemas across the UK and Europe. On 7 July 2007, Genesis participated at Live Earth, a series of concerts to promote action to confront global climate change at the new Wembley Stadium in London, along with other artists including Madonna, Duran Duran and Red Hot Chili Peppers.

In an August 2007 interview, Collins has stated that the recording of a new album is currently "very, I repeat, very unlikely" [emphasis in original], citing a lack of both time and inspiration. However, Banks, on 22 August, stated "The three of us would be quite keen to have a go and see what happens."

On 2 October, Starbucks released the CD Sampler Genesis: 14 From Our Past, containing one song from each studio album from Trespass on (except Nursery Cryme).

An album of the reunion tour, entitled Live over Europe 2007 was released in November of that year. The tracklist features a balanced set list covering most of their career. None of the songs recorded during Ray Wilson's time with the band were featured. In addition to the aforementioned album, sound deck recordings of each show were released by "The Music" A DVD of the concert on 14 July 2007 in Rome's Circo Massimo, When in Rome 2007was released on 26 May.

In an interview to celebrate the release of the Genesis: 1970–1975 boxset, Tony Banks revealed that it is a possibility that the band may reunite with Peter Gabriel and Steve Hackett. He said: "We've never said 'never' about it, you know. I know Phil (Collins) would be quite happy with the idea of just playing the drums; it would be quite fun for him. Mike (Rutherford) and I are certainly happy to do it. I know Steve (Hackett) is keen as well. I think it'd be down to Peter (Gabriel) more than anyone else." However, Collins has stated in various interviews that he is unable to play the drums due to a medical ailment. "After playing drums for 50 years, I've had to stop. My vertebrae have been crushing my spinal cord because of the position I drum in. It comes from years of playing. I can't even hold the sticks properly without it being painful, I even used to tape the sticks to my hands to get through."

On 10 September 2009, Collins revealed in a post on the official Genesis website that during the 2007 Turn It On Again tour, he dislocated a vertebra in his neck which has required surgery to repair. The injury and resulting recovery has made it "impossible to play the drums or piano" according to the article. However, Collins states that in a year's time or more this situation could change. Future plans for any Genesis reunion could hinge on Collins's ability to recover and play the drums again.

On 21 September 2009, Genesis released Genesis Live 1973–2007, a box set containing remixed and remastered editions of the band's first four live albums. The box includes Genesis Live and Seconds Out in both stereo and 5.1 surround sound versions, andThree Sides Live and The Way We Walk in stereo-only editions. On 23 November 2009, the band released a DVD box set of live concert videos filmed between 1981 and 1992.

On 15 March 2010, Genesis were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The band were inducted by Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio. Collins, Banks, Rutherford and Steve Hackett appeared at the ceremony, but Peter Gabriel did not appear due to rehearsals for his solo tour to support his new solo album Scratch My Back.[61] Genesis did not perform at the ceremony. Phish paid tribute to them by opening the show with "Watcher of the Skies" and then followed Anastasio's speech with a version of "No Reply at All".

In a September 2010 interview with Billboard, Collins was less than optimistic about the future of Genesis, stating "I think Genesis are no longer. I don't foresee me doing any more Genesis shows. Not because I don't like it or don't want to. But it doesn't fit in with my life and wanting to be with the boys, and taking onboard [my other interests like] the Alamo and writing a book about that. And the other stuff that I'd like to do – and that includes doing nothing as well. But also, I can't physically play the drums. I don't want to sound like a spoiled kid, like I've had my stuff and I don't want to do it any more. But I have done it all my life, and now I'm enjoying another side of life."

Citing family commitments, Collins announced on 4 March 2011 that he had ended his music career.

In an interview with Rolling Stone on 27 September 2011, Peter Gabriel said that a reunion with the classic line-up is still a possibility, but hopes remain very slim, stating "I won't say never ever, but it's in the outside department of the betting shop... if you stick with the stuff that nourishes you the most then you'll probably be the happiest." Asked about the future of Genesis during an interview on BBC Breakfast on 4 May 2012, Tony Banks replied "I think we probably won't do it. Phil, particularly, has sort of moved on somewhat. We did do that last tour three or four years ago as a sort of goodbye. That was the idea of it."

Genesis won the "Lifetime Achievement" award at the inaugural Progressive Music Awards in September 2012, with Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford receiving the reward on behalf of the entire band at the presentation evening on 5 September 2012.

On 22 October 2012, Steve Hackett released Genesis Revisited II, which featured 17 Genesis songs from the period of Hackett's time with Genesis.

In 2013, Phil Collins stated in German media that he is considering a comeback, declaring: "I have started thinking about doing new stuff". He even stated that he considers a comeback as a member of Genesis. "Maybe playing some shows again, even with Genesis. Everything is possible. We could tour in Australia and South America. We haven't been there yet."

In an interview with the magazine Rolling Stone in December 2013, Peter Gabriel addressed the possibility of a Gabriel/Genesis reunion. "It's never been ruled out. I'm trying to picture a time when it would top my priorities list though."

On 29 October 2013, Steve Hackett released the album Genesis Revisited: Live at Hammersmith, which features a show from the Genesis Revisited II tour performing all the Genesis classics. During the touring of the album in Glasgow, Ray Wilson and Steve Hackett did live versions of "The Carpet Crawlers" and "Entangled".

March 2014, Steve Hackett continues an extended tour of his Genesis Revisited II album and has added Genesis stage favorites such as "Lillywhite Lilith" and "The Knife" to the playlist.

Peter Gabriel was inducted as a solo artist into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on April 12, 2014. After the ceremony he was asked again about a possible Genesis reunion saying "I never say never. It really didn’t happen last time. I think there’s a small chance, but I don't think it’s very high."