Peter Gabriel reveals why he attended the final concert of ex-band Genesis

20 October 2023, 15:17

Peter Gabriel left Genesis in 1975.

As the band's quirky, magnetic frontman from their formation in 1967, Genesis released six albums with Gabriel before parting ways.

Though their immersive progressive rock sound was lauded in breakthrough albums such as Nursery Cryme and Foxtrot, critics later expressed that the band's music was slowly becoming secondary to Gabriel's on-stage theatricality.

With evident ideas of where he wanted his own music to go, Gabriel left in 1975, initially to take a break from music but then work on his own solo career.

The band's co-founder and keyboardist Tony Banks later stated: "Pete was also getting too big for the group. He was being portrayed as if he was 'the man' and it really wasn't like that."

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"It was a very difficult thing to accommodate. So it was actually a bit of a relief," after he left, though there seemingly wasn't any bitterness from either party.

Genesis pushed drummer Phil Collins to the fore as their singer, and pursued a mainstream sound which brought their enormous commercial success.

Peter Gabriel on the other hand similarly achieved commercial success, but much later during his adventurous career which brought aspects of electronica, world music, folk and pop together with rock.

Though their paths split during the 1970s, they would meet once again at the final ever Genesis concert in 2022, explaining that it was "rite of passage" for him to attend.

Gabriel is currently promoting his i/o album, which is set for release on December 1, 2023 via Real World Records.

He's gradually been releasing music from the album, alongside his first tour since 2016 which has spanned the UK and Europe, and is scheduled to finish in the US on 21st October.

Peter spoke to Mojo magazine ahead of i/o's release, and revealed the reason why he attended Genesis' final ever concert at London's O2 Arena on 26th March.

"Me going was a rite of passage, really," the 'Sledgehammer' icon explained. "I'd been part of the creation of Genesis, so I wanted to be there at the end."

Genesis' tenure as a band has been cut short by the rapidly declining health of singer Collins, but Gabriel felt his performance was still strong.

"Phil wasn’t in as great a shape as he used to be, but they did a great job," he confirmed.

In 2022, Nic Collins - the son of drummer Phil who took on stick duties during their final tour - told Rolling Stone magazine it was the first time he'd ever met Gabriel at the concert.

"To be able to finally speak to someone I knew had such a big impact on my dad's life and obviously mine … since the set we were doing, so much of it was from the Peter Gabriel era … to finally be able to talk to him was really great."

Nic revealed Peter told him "It was a great show. He said he was happy to be there since it was important to him as well."

"He left in 1975, and he never looked back. He never fell back on the Genesis material. He had a very, very successful solo career. But it was just great for him to be there."

"He said, 'This is the end of something I was a part of.' We spoke briefly," Nic continued. "And then he and my dad spoke pretty extensively and caught up about all their good times. It was pretty great to see."

Peter's own live music journey is soon to end once again, albeit not for the final time, as his latest tour concludes.

"After this tour, I'm going to be a family man for six months and then I’ll get back to looking at music again," he told Mojo, whilst hinting at more new music.

"There's still more stuff in the can. I might keep releasing it on full moons."