History Music / PeterGabriel

* ''Music/{{Passion}}'' (1989; the score for ''Film/TheLastTemptationOfChrist'')[[note]]the album is sometimes classified as both a soundtrack album and a studio album given that Gabriel started with the score itself and added onto it to create ''Passion'', similarly to ''Music/AKindOfMagic'' by Music/{{Queen}} and ''[[Music/HoursDavidBowieAlbum 'hours...']]'' by Music/DavidBowie; most sources however treat it as a soundtrack album alone given that it primarily consists of the music for and was released to tie in with ''The Last Temptation of Christ''[[/note]]

* GreenAesop: In the accompanying Full Moon update, Gabriel described "i/o" as about realizing how interconnected humanity and nature are, and how failing to care for the environment will destroy us as well.

** "Fourteen Black Paintings" to Creator/FranciscoDeGoya.

* RichIdiotWithNoDayJob: Though he came from a wealthy/upper class background and met his fellow Music/{{Genesis|Band}} founders at the prestigious public school they all attended, this is an averted trope. Also averted by the fact, despite the long gaps between albums, Gabriel continues to tour (albeit more often in Europe) and oversees a state-of-the-art recording studio, [[http://realworldstudios.com/ RealWorld Studios]], in Wiltshire, about 100 miles west of London.

After leaving the band, he first gained a hit with "Solsbury Hill," which was, appropriately enough, about his breakup with them. He then went on to release four increasingly experimental solo albums from 1977-1985. These were all initially [[OneSteveLimit titled]] [[SelfTitledAlbum eponymously]], but have since gained nicknames (based on their cover art) that have been embraced by the fandom [[AscendedFanon (and Gabriel himself)]]. Each were fairly successful, with the third and fourth producing multiple hits, such "Games Without Frontiers", "I Don't Remember", and "Shock the Monkey".

** The title of Gabriel's 1990 collection, ''Shaking the Tree: Sixteen Golden Greats'', lampshades the [[MoneyDearBoy cash-grab nature of compilation albums]]. The compilation is notable for containing an alternate mix of "I Have the Touch" (first released as a BSide to the "Walk Through the Fire" non-album single in 1984; the version included here is an edited down version included as the BSide to the "Sledgehammer" 12" single in 1986), a re-recording of "Here Comes the Flood", and a remix of the Youssou N'Dour collaboration "Shaking the Tree".
** In 1992, Gabriel's old North American label, Creator/AtlanticRecords, released ''Peter Gabriel Revisited'' to capitalize on the release of ''Music/{{Us}}'' that year. The compilation centers on songs from Gabriel's first two albums, ''Music/{{Car}}'' and ''Music/{{Scratch}}'', both of which Atlantic owned the rights to in the US and Canada.

* RearrangeTheSong: "Shaking the Tree", the TitleTrack to Gabriel's first GreatestHitsAlbum, is a re-recording of a song he did with ''Music/{{So}}'' collaborator Youssou N'Dour one year prior. Among other things, Gabriel and N'Dour's roles are swapped: whereas the 1989 version had N'Dour sing lead and Gabriel sing backing vocals, the 1990 version has Gabriel on lead and N'Dour on backing vocals.

** He has also contributed single tracks to tribute & benefit records, and to many movie soundtracks, including ''Film/BabePigInTheCity'', ''WesternAnimation/WallE'', ''Film/{{Gremlins}}'', and ''[[WesternAnimation/TheWildThornberrys The Wild Thornberrys Movie]]'', which for many fans (especially due to the long gap between albums) take on the rarefied air of B-sides as well, and many become fan favorites.

* PopStarComposer: As noted above, composed the scores for ''Birdy'', ''The Last Temptation Of Christ'', and ''Film/RabbitProofFence'', and has contributed songs to ''Film/{{Philadelphia}}'', ''Film/{{Phenomenon}}'' (a remixed version of "I Have the Touch"), ''Against All Odds'', ''Hard to Hold'' (interesting in that he only contributed one song; the rest of the soundtrack was mostly Rick Springfield, who also starred in it), ''VideoGame/{{Uru}}'', ''[[WesternAnimation/TheWildThornberrys The Wild Thornberrys Movie]]'', and ''WesternAnimation/WallE''.

* ''Music/{{Passion}}'' (1989; the score for ''Film/TheLastTemptationOfChrist'')[[note]]the album is sometimes classified as both a soundtrack album and a studio album given that Gabriel started with the score itself and added onto it to create ''Passion'', similarly to ''Music/AKindOfMagic'' by Music/{{Queen}} and ''Music/{{Hours}}'' by Music/DavidBowie; most sources however treat it as a soundtrack album alone given that it primarily consists of the music for and was released to tie in with ''The Last Temptation of Christ''[[/note]]

* ChronologicalAlbumTitle: Gabriel's first four albums were all [[SelfTitledAlbum self-titled]], various international releases appended numerals to them to help people tell them apart. The American and Japanese releases of the [[Music/{{Scratch}} second]] and [[Music/{{Melt}} third]] albums respectively retitled them ''Peter Gabriel II'' and ''Peter Gabriel III'', and the Japanese releases of the [[Music/{{Car}} first]] and [[Music/{{Security}} fourth]] albums called them ''Peter Gabriel I'' and ''Peter Gabriel IV''. The Japanese release of ''Music/{{So}}'' additionally added the subtitle ''Peter Gabriel V'' to keep up the pattern. This eventually carried over to the 2002 remasters, which respectively retitled each of the first four albums ''1'', ''2'', ''3'', and ''4'' (in North America, ''4'' kept its original retitle for that region, ''Security'').

* GreatestHitsAlbum: The title of Gabriel's 1990 collection, ''Shaking the Tree: Sixteen Golden Greats'', lampshades the [[MoneyDearBoy cash-grab nature of compilation albums]]. The compilation is notable for containing an alternate mix of "I Have the Touch" (first released as a BSide to the "Walk Through the Fire" non-album single in 1984; the version included here is an edited down version included as the BSide to the "Sledgehammer" 12" single in 1986) and a re-recording of "Here Comes the Flood".

* SpiritualSuccessor: "Steam" is basically Gabriel's attempt to recapture the sound and feel of "Sledgehammer."

* RealLifeWritesThePlot: Real Life Writes the Song: The song "Family Snapshot" was inspired by the assassination attempt on [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Wallace George Wallace]].
** "Solsbury Hill" documents him leaving Genesis for a solo career.
** His divorce from first wife Jill, breakup with girlfriend Rosanna Arquette, and at-the-time estrangement from his daughter Anna informed ''Us''.

Born in Surrey, England, Peter Brian Gabriel (born February 13, 1950) is the former frontman of the influential ProgressiveRock band Music/{{Genesis}} (for details on his time with them, visit their page) and currently a solo artist.

* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: He got a reputation for this in his Music/{{Genesis}} days for dressing up in weird costumes. He comes across as much more down to earth offstage and in interviews.

* LargeHam: He's toned it down since the Music/{{Genesis}} days, but he brought an unprecedented theatricality into rock music. Some of this naturally involved ChewingTheScenery when necessary. "GIANT HOGWEED IS AVENGED! HUMAN BODIES SOON WILL KNOW ANGER! KILL THEM WITH YOUR HOGWEED HAIRS! HERACLEUM MANTEGAZZIANI!"

* PungeonMaster: His lyrics with Music/{{Genesis}} and much of his earlier solo work contain wordplay galore.
* [[RealLifeWritesThePlot Real Life Writes the Song]]: The song "Family Snapshot" was inspired by the assassination attempt on [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Wallace George Wallace]].

* RichIdiotWithNoDayJob: Though he came from a wealthy/upper class background and met his fellow Music/{{Genesis}} founders at the prestigious public school they all attended, this is an averted trope. Also averted by the fact, despite the long gaps between albums, Gabriel continues to tour (albeit more often in Europe) and oversees a state-of-the-art recording studio, [[http://realworldstudios.com/ RealWorld Studios]], in Wiltshire, about 100 miles west of London.

** The baritone Gabriel often shared vocals with the tenor-ranged Music/PhilCollins in Music/{{Genesis}}.

** "Solsbury Hill" is about Gabriel's departure from Music/{{Genesis}}. WordOfGod has confirmed this.

** While some fans may have thought his not being present at the induction of Music/{{Genesis}} into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in 2010 was a snub, he couldn't attend because he was involved in rehearsals for his orchestral ''New Blood'' tour [[http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/959216/genesis-says-peter-gabriel-missing-rock-hall-induction-is-no-snub at the time]].

* ''Rated PG'' (2019; collection of songs previously written for movie soundtracks, plus [[Music/{{So}} "In Your Eyes"]])

-->--[[Creator/ReducedShakespeareCompany ''The Bible: The Complete Word of God (abridged)'']]

* BaldOfAwesome: Infamously shaved a swath of his hair on top in his 1972-73 Music/{{Genesis}} period; he shaved it entirely in 1978 and on occasion since in the early [[TheEighties 1980s]]. Later, his hair naturally receded and went grey throughout TheNineties.

* NotableMusicVideos: "Sledgehammer".

** Music/{{Sledgehammer|1986}}

** "Music/{{Sledgehammer|Song}}"

* ''Big Blue Ball'' (2008; a collection of WOMAD collaborations recorded in the 90's and eventually mixed & released as a studio album in 2008)

* BaldOfAwesome: Infamously shaved a swath of his hair on top in his 1972-73 Music/{{Genesis}} period; he shaved it entirely in 1978 and on occasion since in the early [[TheEighties 1980's]]. Later, his hair naturally receded and went grey throughout TheNineties.