Peter Gabriel

Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and human rights activist. He came to prominence as the original frontman of the rock band Genesis. He left the band in 1975 and launched a solo career with "Solsbury Hill" as his first single. After releasing four successful studio albums, all titled Peter Gabriel, his fifth studio album, So (1986), became his best-selling release and is certified triple platinum in the UK and five times platinum in the US. The album's most successful single, "Sledgehammer", won a record nine MTV Awards at the 1987 MTV Video Music Awards. A 2011 Time report said "Sledgehammer" was the most played music video of all time on MTV. A supporter of world music for much of his career, Gabriel co-founded the World of Music, Arts and Dance (WOMAD) festival in 1982, and has continued to produce and promote world music through his Real World Records label. He has pioneered digital distribution methods for music by co-founding OD2, one of the first online music download services. He has also 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 human rights organisation Witness in 1992. He developed the idea for The Elders, an organisation of public figures noted as peace activists, alongside Nelson Mandela and Richard Branson in 2007. Gabriel has won three Brit Awards, six Grammy Awards, 13 MTV Video Music Awards, the first Pioneer Award at the BT Digital Music Awards, the Q Lifetime Achievement, the Ivor Novello Award for Lifetime Achievement, and the Polar Music Prize. He was named a BMI Icon at the 57th annual BMI London Awards for his "influence on generations of music makers". In recognition of his human rights activism, he received the Man of Peace award from the Nobel Peace Prize laureates in 2006, and Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2008. AllMusic described him 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, and as a solo artist in 2014. In recognition of his musical achievements, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of South Australia in 2015.