Innovative guitarist, vocalist and composer Stephen Richard Hackett, better known as Steve Hackett, was born February 12, 1950, in Pimlico, London, England.
Steve Hackett is a celebrated rock musician. He was the lead guitarist with Genesis during the band’s progressive rock era.
With Genesis, Hackett recorded some of the band’s finest albums: Nursery Cryme (1971), Foxtrot (1972), Selling England by the Pound (1973), Live (1973), The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (1974), A Trick of the Tail (1976), Wind & Wuthering (1976), and Seconds Out (1977).
Hackett released his first solo album, Voyage of the Acolyte, in 1975, while he was still a member of Genesis. Indeed, the album has a very similar progressive rock sound as Genesis. It featured Steve’s brother, John Hackett and two Genesis bandmates: Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins.
Hackett left Genesis in 1977. Afterward, he released several solo albums where he showcased his talent as a guitarist and his multidimensional music sensibility, composing musical pieces that spanned various genres, including progressive rock, blues, classical, world music and mainstream rock.
Hackett co-founded a mainstream AOR band called GTR with Steve Howe (Yes) in 1986. The group released a self-titled album, GTR. Hackett left GTR in 1987 and the group disbanded.
Hackett continued with his solo career. He has released albums and toured worldwide on a regular basis since. In 2012, Hackett released a remarkable double album titled Genesis Revisited II, featuring recreations of early Genesis material featuring some of the best progressive rock musicians and vocalists in the European scene.
Hackett continued to release solo albums, where he combines progressive rock, straight ahead rock, blues and other styles, including Wolflight (2015), The Night Siren (2017), and At the Edge of Light (2019).
In recent years, Steve Hackett has been presenting classic Genesis songs with his live band, offering stunning renditions preserving the feel of the original, early Genesis era. Hackett has released several live albums of his Genesis Revisited performances: Genesis Revisited: Live at Hammersmith (Inside Out Music, 2013), Genesis Revisited: Live at the Royal Albert Hall (Inside Out Music, 2014), and Genesis Revisited Band & Orchestra: Live at the Royal Festival Hall (Inside Out Music, 2019).
Steve Hackett’s autobiography A Genesis In My Bed is scheduled to be published in July 2020.
In 2021, Hackett released two albums, the classical guitar acoustic recording Under A Mediterranean Sky and a rock and world music production titled Surrender of Silence.
Working closely with long-time musical partner Roger King, Hackett used his time during the 2020s lockdown to take the listeners on an extraordinary musical journey around the Mediterranean. Hackett painted vivid images of stunning landscapes and celebrating the diverse cultures of the region. He demonstrated the exquisite beauty of the nylon guitar, at times venturing into the exotic ethnic and often supported by dazzling orchestral arrangements.
“A lot of acoustic ideas had been forming over the years, and it felt like the perfect time to create this album,” said Hackett, “a time to contemplate the places we’ve visited around the Mediterranean with the kind of music which evolved from the world of imagination.
“Because we can’t really travel, substantially at the moment, I hope that the album will take people on that journey. Whether you sit down and listen to it or drift off to it with a glass of wine…”
Hackett commented on the album Surrender of Silence: “It’s a ‘no holds barred’ album, riding that wave, unleashing those demons, dreams and nightmares, all crashing together over the shore.
“I enjoyed the power of this album allowing my guitar to scream in joy and rage… and once again flying across those oceans to distant lands. It’s terrific to connect creatively with musicians from far flung places, particularly when we’ve all been unable to meet. We all have a voice in our cacophony of sound and we cry out together in the Surrender of Silence!”
Discography:
Voyage of the Acolyte (Charisma Records, 1975)
Please Don’t Touch! (Charisma Records, 1978)
Spectral Mornings (Charisma Records, 1979)
Defector (Charisma Records, 1980)
Cured (Charisma Records, 1981)
Highly Strung (Charisma Records, 1983)
Bay of Kings (Charisma Records, 1983)
Till We Have Faces (Lamborghini Records, 1984)
Momentum (Start Records, 1988)
Guitar Noir (Camino Records, 1993)
Blues with a Feeling (Camino Records, 1994)
Genesis Revisited (Camino Records, 1996)
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Angel Records, 1997)
Darktown (Inside Out Music, 1999)
Feedback 86 (Camino Records, 2000)
To Watch the Storms (Camino Records, 2003)
Metamorpheus (Camino Records, 2005)
Wild Orchids (Camino Records, 2006)
Tribute (Camino Records, 2008)
Out of the Tunnel’s Mouth (Wolfwork/EAR Music, 2009)
Beyond the Shrouded Horizon (Inside Out Music, 2011)
Genesis Revisited II (Inside Out Music, 2012)
Genesis Revisited: Live at Hammersmith (Inside Out Music, 2013)
Genesis Revisited: Live at the Royal Albert Hall (Inside Out Music, 2014)
Wolflight (Inside Out Music, 2015)
The Total Experience Live In Liverpool (Inside Out Music, 2016)
The Night Siren (Inside Out Music, 2017)
Wuthering Nights: Live in Birmingham (Inside Out Music, 2018)
At the Edge of Light (Inside Out Music, 2019)
Genesis Revisited Band & Orchestra: Live at the Royal Festival Hall (Inside Out Music, 2019)
Under A Mediterranean Sky (Inside Out Music, 2021)
Surrender of Silence (Inside Out Music, 2021)