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Peter Gabriel

Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer-songwriter, musician and humanitarian activist who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock band Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career. His 1986 album, So, is his most commercially successful, selling five million copies in America, and the album's biggest hit, "Sledgehammer", won a record nine MTV Awards at the 1987 MTV Video Music Awards. "Sledgehammer" remains the most played music video in the history of MTV.

Gabriel has been a champion of world music for much of his career. He co-founded the WOMAD festival in 1982. He has continued to focus on producing and promoting world music through his Real World Records label. He has also pioneered digital distribution methods for music, co-founding OD2, one of the first online music download services. Gabriel has been involved in numerous humanitarian efforts. In 1980, he released the anti-apartheid single "Biko". 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 organization in 1992. In collaboration with entrepreneur Richard Branson, Gabriel developed The Elders, which was launched by Nelson Mandela in 2007.

Gabriel has won numerous music awards throughout his career, including three Brit Awards—winning Best British Male in 1987, six Grammy Awards, thirteen MTV Video Music Awards, the first Pioneer Award at the BT Digital Music Awards, and in 2007 he was honored as a BMI Icon at the 57th annual BMI London Awards for his "influence on generations of music makers". In recognition of his many years of human rights activism, he received the Man of Peace award from the Nobel Peace Prize Laureates in 2006, and in 2008, TIME magazine named Gabriel one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Gabriel was also honored with the Q magazine Lifetime Achievement award in 2006, the Ivor Novello Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2007, and the Polar Music Prize in 2009.

AllMusic has described Gabriel as "one of rock's most ambitious, innovative musicians, as well as one of its most political." He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Genesis in 2010, followed by his induction as a solo artist in 2014. Source: Wikipedia

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Extended Analysis

Exposures

Read "Exposures" reviewed by John Kelman


Between the impact of the COVID pandemic since 2020, and in the eight year-long tenure of King Crimson's final lineup, which toured between 2014 and 2021, there's been a lot revealed about its sole remaining founding member, guitarist/keyboardist Robert Fripp. Since 2012, the more than five-decade history of King Crimson, live and in the studio, has been painstakingly and exhaustively documented in a series of large multimedia box sets and smaller, more price-friendly editions of key material, often ...

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Live Review

Peter Gabriel and Sting at the Pepsi Center

Read "Peter Gabriel and Sting at the Pepsi Center" reviewed by Geoff Anderson


Peter Gabriel/Sting Pepsi Center Denver, CO July 12, 2016 The field of mergers and acquisitions has been a profitable one for many capitalists over the last few decades. Indeed, profit is the driving force behind these transactions. Occasionally you'll hear some mumbling about economic efficiencies and synergies, but mainly it's about profits. Especially for the consultants reaping handsome fees from these endeavors. But a merger for art's sake? That doesn't seem very Wall ...

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Extended Analysis

Various Artists: Real World 25

Read "Various Artists: Real World 25" reviewed by Nenad Georgievski


Probably there is no other popular artist in this shrinking world that has promoted various musics and cultures outside the Western world than singer Peter Gabriel. In the beginning, his solo records were influenced more and more by African music, especially its rhythms until those influences became an important and dominant trademark on his records. Then, in 1982, he got involved in World of Music and Dance festival (or WOMAD), a platform for cross-pollination of world music, which recently celebrated ...

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Film Review

Peter Gabriel: Back to Front - Live in London (Deluxe Limited Blu-Ray)

Read "Peter Gabriel: Back to Front - Live in London (Deluxe Limited Blu-Ray)" reviewed by John Kelman


Peter Gabriel Back to Front: Live in London (Deluxe Limited Blu-Ray) Real World/Eagle Vision2014 Peter Gabriel has, for most of his career, been an artist who has never looked back. Still, the past few years have seen him reevaluating his large repertoire, between orchestral interpretations documented on New Blood: Live in London (Real World/Eagle Entertainment, 2012) and the Back to Front tour that has, since that time, celebrated the 25th anniversary of the release of ...

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Film Review

Peter Gabriel: Live in Athens 1987 (The Full Recorded Show)

Read "Peter Gabriel: Live in Athens 1987 (The Full Recorded Show)" reviewed by John Kelman


Peter Gabriel Live in Athens 1987: The Full Recorded Show including Youssou N'Dour and Le Super Etoile de Dakar Real World / Eagle Eye Media 2013 Count on Peter Gabriel to be ahead of the curve. In 1987, when he was touring his commercial breakthrough record So (Geffen, 1986), he was already thinking ahead (now that the MTV generation had made the value of videos clear) to the potential of recording and releasing concert videos ...

9
Extended Analysis

Peter Gabriel: And I'll Scratch Yours

Read "Peter Gabriel: And I'll Scratch Yours" reviewed by Nenad Georgievski


Peter Gabriel is surely one of the most unpredictable artists today. His career path has proven to be of a mercurial kind with him taking the road less travelled as Gabriel has more often than not sought unusual experiences as a source for his intensively felt music. Long an inventive musical conceptualist he has always sought challenge on all fronts--musically, visually, technologically and emotionally. His bold and innovative career choices have made him a step ahead of the curve as ...

10
Film Review

Peter Gabriel: What a Difference Two Decades Make

Read "Peter Gabriel: What a Difference Two Decades Make" reviewed by John Kelman


What do you do when you're an aging pop/rock star and the mind may be willing but the body is, more and more, simply not up to the task? For some, it seems the answer is: either make a jazz record, or collaborate with an orchestra. In the past decade, Rod Stewart has decimated the Great American Songbook not once, not twice but five times, beginning with It Had to Be You: The Great American Songbook (J-Records, 2002), while Sting ...

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Recording

The Security Project Feat. King Crimson, Shriekback And Peter Gabriel Members To Tour In Support Of New Live Album

The Security Project Feat. King Crimson, Shriekback And Peter Gabriel Members To Tour In Support Of New Live Album

Source: Glass Onyon PR - William James

The Security Project, featuring members of King Crimson, Shriekback and Peter Gabriel's original band bring the genre-less masterpieces of Peter Gabriel into the 21st Century on their new live album Live 1. jny: Seattle-based Trey Gunn and Michael Cozzi join esteemed drummer Jerry Marotta and NY keyboardist David Jameson to harness the core of these songs. Added to the pedigree of these players is the voice of Brian Cummins, whose interpretations add haunting authenticity to the immaculate arrangements. These live ...

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Recording

World Music Artists Indubious Set To Release Remake Of Sledgehammer Classic Peter Gabriel Song Lead Single From New Album Wake The Lion

World Music Artists Indubious Set To Release Remake Of Sledgehammer Classic Peter Gabriel Song Lead Single From New Album Wake The Lion

Source: Glass Onyon PR - William James

Ashland, OR: Oregon based roots-rock, power trio Indubious is set to release their groundbreaking new 11-song album Wake The Lion nationally on September 24th, 2013. The album features a dazzling remake of the classic Peter Gabriel song “Sledgehammer”. Wake The Lion was produced by renown electronic – dub musician GAUDI. The album features a progressive genre bending sound they have dubbed “RootsTronica”—an eclectic mix of Roots Reggae, Dancehall, Progressive Rock and Electronica, The early response to the music has been ...

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Recording

Peter Gabriel’s Iconic "So" Album Remastered And Expanded For 25th Anniversary Edition To Be Released In Multiple Configurations

Peter Gabriel’s Iconic "So" Album Remastered And Expanded For  25th Anniversary Edition To Be Released In Multiple Configurations

Source: Michael Ricci

Peter Gabriel to Tour Across North America, Performing So in its Entirety Hollywood, CA: One of the most successful and iconic music releases of the Eighties, Peter Gabriel’s 1986 album, So, has been digitally remastered for a special 25th Anniversary Edition to be released October 23rd (October 22nd internationally) by Real World Records/EMI in multiple physical and digital configurations. Peter Gabriel has confirmed a 16-date North American tour for September and October, with many of the musicians from his 1987 ...

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TV / Film

Peter Gabriel to Celebrate Anniversary of So with Badly Needed Reworking of 1987 Concert Film

Peter Gabriel to Celebrate Anniversary of So with Badly Needed Reworking of 1987 Concert Film

Source: Something Else!

Peter Gabriel's 1986 project So has long been critically and commercially beloved. The accompanying Martin Scorsese-directed concert film, “Peter Gabriel: POV"? Not so much. Look for reissues of both in the coming months, as Gabriel puts the finishing touches on a special 25th anniversary edition of the original album and a long-needed reworking of the 1987 performance flick—shot in Athens, but dragged down by a series of off-stage and behind-the-scenes edits. Entertainment Weekly, at the time, praised Gabriel's performance, but ...

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Video / DVD

Peter Gabriel - New Blood: Live in London DVD (2011)

Peter Gabriel - New Blood: Live in London DVD (2011)

Source: Something Else!

I was fine, mostly, with Peter Gabriel dumping the guitars and drums for his interpretations of other people's work on Scratch My Back. There was considerably less excitement, though, for these looming orchestral interpretations of his own solo works, many of which were initially defined by their rhythmic invention. Tracks like “Intruder," “Solsbury Hill," “Red Rain," “Digging in the Dirt," “Signal to Noise," even “In Your Eyes," on Gabriel's soon-to-be-released New Blood: Live in London DVD were so closely associated ...

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Recording

Peter Gabriel - New Blood (2011)

Peter Gabriel - New Blood (2011)

Source: Something Else!

By Tom Johnson Somewhere out there, music fans cower in fear. The day has come again: Peter Gabriel returns with yet another album of orchestral covers! But fear not. This time he's covering his own songs. Luckily on New Blood the results are far, far more pleasing to long-time fans than his previous effort, last year's Scratch My Back, which saw Gabriel taking on a number of current and older favorite songs and, as the title would suggest, the artists ...

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Video / DVD

DVD: Peter Gabriel - Growing up Live (2003)

DVD: Peter Gabriel - Growing up Live (2003)

Source: Something Else!

By Tom Johnson Perhaps it was a reaction to claims by fans and detractors alike that Peter Gabriel's previous live offering, Secret World Live, was really more “live" than live, that Gabriel decided to both offer up untouched soundboard recordings of each show on his summer tour and to quickly release a live DVD documenting a night on this European tour. It would make sense—release the most raw audio footage in order to refute those who claimed Gabriel had to ...

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Performance / Tour

Peter Gabriel: North American Tour

Peter Gabriel: North American Tour

Source: JamBase

TOUR TO FEATURE ORCHESTRAL MAKEOVER OF GABRIEL BACK CATALOGUE Legendary singer, songwriter and musician Peter Gabriel will tour North America this summer with the New Blood orchestra. On his last outing, Gabriel redrew the works of Lou Reed, David Bowie, Radiohead. This time out he applies the orchestral makeover to his own back catalogue. The stunning musical backdrop leaves Gabriel's vocals centre-stage and bare, stripped of the usual rock'n'roll clothing, no loud guitars or booming drums to hide behind. Raw ...

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Recording

Gimme Five: Favorites, Forgotten Gems from Peter Gabriel

Gimme Five: Favorites, Forgotten Gems from Peter Gabriel

Source: Something Else!

By Something Else Reviews Anybody who names his first four solo recordings after himself is going to require some deciphering, right? We're here to help with a five-song spin through Peter Gabriel's solo career, featuring both charting favorites and a few forgotten gems. “HERE COMES THE FLOOD" (PETER GABRIEL 1/CAR, 1977) By Tom Johnson With Gabriel's first solo album, “Here Comes the Flood" arrived bearing the weight of a full band, then shed most of the instrumentation for another appearance ...

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Performance / Tour

Review: Peter Gabriel at the Hollywood Bowl

Review: Peter Gabriel at the Hollywood Bowl

Source: Michael Ricci

It's all too easy in the age of “American Idol" to forget just how profoundly powerful music can be in the hands of an absolute master like Peter Gabriel.

The veteran British artist -- one of the select few in the pop music world to whom the term “artist" is wholly appropriate -- brought his orchestral tour to the Hollywood Bowl on Friday and demonstrated once again his completely inspired command of the medium of live performance. Theatrics in pop ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Exposures

Panegyric Recordings
2022

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Various Artists: Real...

Real World Records
2014

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Back to Front - Live...

Real World Records
2014

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Peter Gabriel: And...

Real World Records
2013

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Videos

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