When
Peter Gabriel left in 1975, they went on a frustrating search for a new lead singer, which ended when they settled on drummer
Phil Collins, who had a theater background and could sing. Collins would sing demos for the singers they auditioned, but the singers couldn't do it any better than Collins.
Gabriel and Collins both had tremendous success as solo artists, and Rutherford did very well as leader of Mike + The Mechanics.
One of the names they considered was "Gabriel's Angels." Their manager gave them the name Genesis.
Their first album was called From Genesis To Revelation. It sold about 650 copies, partly because record stores thought it was a religious album and placed it accordingly.
In an attempt to get more publicity, Gabriel started wearing costumes on stage. It worked, as newspapers started writing about the band and they became famous for their stage show.
Before the departure of Gabriel, Genesis was a progressive rock band. When they switched to a pop sound with Collins as singer, they had enormous mainstream success.
On their 1974 tour, they played their double album The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway from start to finish, with Gabriel changing costumes several times.
Original lead guitarist Anthony Phillips was replaced by Steve Hacket because Anthony was suddenly struck with horrible stage fright.
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Matt - Galloway, NJ
In 2007, Genesis (with Collins as lead singer) got back together for the "Turn It On Again" tour. Their previous tour was in 1992, and the last time they had played together was at Gabriel's wedding in 2002.
From about 1978 on, Genesis were a trio featuring Collins, Banks, and Rutherford; the band acknowledged this on their 1978 album ...And Then They Were Three.
Steve Hackett left after the release of Seconds Out in late 1977, leaving Rutherford to play guitars and bass on studio recordings from ... and Then There Were Three onwards. (Rutherford was trained as a guitar played and had switched to bass only to accommodate the lineup in the band's early history.)
Rutherford could not play bass and guitar simultaneously during live performances, so he split duties with Daryl Stuermer while on tour. Rutherford would play the bass on the older tracks and Stuermer would replace Steve Hackett on guitar; on the newer tracks (recorded with Rutherford on guitar) Rutherford would play guitar while Stuermer would switch to bass.
Along with ABBA, Jimmy Cliff, The Hollies, and The Stooges, they were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame at the 25th Annual Induction Ceremony at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City on March 15, 2010.
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Bertrand - Paris, France
In 1982, Peter Gabriel launched the WOMAD festival, which brought together musicians from all over the world. It was a financial disaster, and to help pay the debts, his former Genesis mates offered to play a reunion concert with him, which took place at the Milton Keynes Bowl on October 2, 1982. Gabriel tapes lyric sheets around the stage to help him recall the words to many songs he hadn't performed in seven years.
In the late '70s, the each set up home studios and began writing separately, bringing their ideas together when it came time to make albums. This led to Collins' emergence as a top songwriter, as he discovered his talent for writing.
They aren't the most photogenic band, but Genesis was one of the biggest acts on MTV. In
his Songfacts interview, Tony Banks talked about making the videos: "It was a lot of fun, really. It sort of became a thing you had to do, almost. We weren't naturally inclined to do it, but Phil fortunately was very comfortable in front of a camera, so he could kind of front the video. So when we did something a little bit different, he could act, and Mike and I could do it as best we could in the background."
Mike Rutherford was a very keen polo player for 25 years. He's now retired, having broken his leg and his nose, and having his teeth knocked out.
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