Steve Hackett
Stephen Richard Hackett is an English guitarist who gained prominence as the lead guitarist of the progressive rock band Genesis from 1971 to 1977. Hackett contributed to six Genesis studio albums, three live albums, seven singles and one EP before he left to pursue a solo career. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Genesis in 2010.
Hackett released his first solo album, Voyage of the Acolyte, while still a member of Genesis in 1975. After a series of further solo albums beginning in 1978, Hackett co-founded the supergroup GTR with Steve Howe in 1986. The group released the self-titled album GTR, which peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard 200 in the United States and spawned the Top 20 single "When the Heart Rules the Mind". When Hackett left GTR in 1987, the group disbanded. Hackett then resumed his solo career. He has released albums and toured worldwide on a regular basis since.
Hackett's body of work encompasses many styles; in addition to his work in progressive rock, he has explored pop, blues, world music and classical music on his solo recordings. According to Guitar World: "Hackett's early explorations of two-handed tapping and sweep picking were far ahead of their time, and influenced Eddie Van Halen and Brian May." Other guitarists influenced by Hackett include Alex Lifeson and Steve Rothery.
Early life
Stephen Richard Hackett was born on 12 February 1950 in Pimlico, central London to Peter and June Hackett. He was born one day before his future Genesis bandmate, singer Peter Gabriel. He has a younger brother John who took up the flute and has performed, collaborated and written with Hackett throughout his solo career, and helped compose some of the early Genesis songs uncredited including "Get 'Em Out by Friday" and "Cuckoo Cocoon". Hackett attended Sloane Grammar School in Chelsea. In the 1950s, the family relocated to Vancouver, Canada but returned home after his parents, his mother in particular, became too homesick.Hackett grew up having access to various musical instruments, such as the harmonica and recorder, but he did not develop an interest in the guitar until the age of 12 when he started playing single notes. By 14, he was learning chords and experimenting with chord progressions, although he never received any formal training.
Hackett's earliest musical influences were classical and opera. He has said that his compositions are still influenced by them. Hackett also has cited numerous British blues artists as influences, namely Danny Kirwan, Peter Green and various guitarists in John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, as well as Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles and King Crimson.
Career
1968–1970: Early bands
Hackett's first professional playing experience came as a member of three rock bands: Canterbury Glass, with whom he played on "Prologue" on their album Sacred Scenes and Characters which was recorded in 1968 but distributed in 2007; Heel Pier; and Sarabande, all of whom performed rock with progressive rock elements. He then joined Quiet World in 1970 which featured his brother John on flute. He did not write any material with the group as the band's founders directed what the other members played, which did not bother Hackett as he wished to get more experience in a recording studio since the band had secured a contract with a label. Hackett played on the band's only studio album, The Road, released on Dawn Records, and left them soon after.1970–1977: Genesis
In December 1970, Hackett placed an advertisement in Melody Maker in his search for a new band. It read: "Imaginative guitarist-writer seeks involvement with receptive musicians, determined to strive beyond existing stagnant music forms". In a 2021 interview, Hackett explained that, by 'stagnant', he meant a lack of inclusion among the different music genres in the 1970s. The ad was responded to by Genesis lead vocalist Peter Gabriel. Genesis, which also comprised keyboardist Tony Banks, bassist/guitarist Mike Rutherford and drummer Phil Collins, had lost founding guitarist Anthony Phillips and sought a new, permanent replacement to his temporary replacement Mick Barnard. Gabriel advised Hackett to listen to their last album Trespass before Hackett auditioned for the group. The audition was conducted by just Banks and Gabriel, since Rutherford was sick in bed. Rutherford later confessed that the reason Genesis had been having such a hard time finding a guitarist was that he was looking for someone with the same style and personality as Phillips, and that had he not been sick that day, Hackett would probably not have passed the audition.Hackett's first live performance with Genesis took place at City University, London on 14 January 1971. Hackett's first recording with Genesis was Nursery Cryme. His guitar work is prominently featured through solos on "The Musical Box", "The Return of the Giant Hogweed" and "The Fountain of Salmacis", and despite the fact that much of the material had been written by the time he joined Genesis, he made considerable contributions to the songwriting. He wrote the solo on "The Fountain of Salmacis" rather than improvising. Other significant songwriting contributions to Nursery Cryme included half the lyrics and all of the music to "For Absent Friends", and the pre-chorus of "Seven Stones". He became an early proponent of the guitar tapping technique normally attributed to Eddie Van Halen. Hackett claimed that Van Halen learned the technique after attending a Genesis concert in the mid-1970s.
Foxtrot includes Hackett's guitar solo composition "Horizons", which he based on a Suite for Cello by Bach. On the first day of recording Foxtrot, Hackett offered to leave Genesis because he felt he was not contributing enough to their work and would soon be kicked out of the band anyway, but Rutherford and Banks said they liked his playing and wanted him to stay. Hackett called this a pivotal moment which largely dispelled the insecurity he felt during his early days with the band. Selling England by the Pound features Hackett using tapping and sweep picking, later popularised by Yngwie Malmsteen, both of which are used on "Dancing with the Moonlit Knight". The song "Firth of Fifth" contains one of Hackett's most well-known guitar solos and remained a favourite in concert even after Hackett's departure. The solo was in fact composed by Banks, but Gabriel, Collins, and Banks himself have all said that Hackett effectively made it his own with his interpretation. Gabriel said that Selling England by the Pound "was coming-of-age album in a lot of ways."
The writing sessions for The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway was a difficult time for the entire group, partly due to the personal lives of some members which affected the mood. Hackett explained: "Everybody had their own agenda. Some of us were married, some of us had children, some of us were getting divorced. And we were still trying to get it together in the country". By "some of us were getting divorced", Hackett was coyly referring to his divorce from his first wife; none of the other members were going through divorces. According to Banks, Hackett was not very involved in the songwriting for The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, though he did write the vocal melody for "Cuckoo Cocoon" and the lead melody for "Hairless Heart", and co-wrote the music to "It" with Banks. Hackett picked out "The Lamia" and "Fly on a Windshield" as his favourite moments on the album.
Hackett has the distinction of being the only member of Genesis during his tenure who did not sing. Hackett explained, "I was too shy to sing in those days; I thought I would sing out of tune."
After recording his debut album Voyage of the Acolyte, Hackett resumed working in Genesis, who recorded A Trick of the Tail, the band's first after Gabriel left the band. At this point Banks felt that the practice of crediting all Genesis songs as written by all the members no longer accurately reflected the balance within the group, since the bulk of The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway was written by Gabriel and himself, and at his prodding the band switched to using individual writing credits. As a result, Hackett is credited for co-writing only three of the eight songs on A Trick of the Tail: "Dance on a Volcano", "Entangled" and "Los Endos". The follow-up, Wind & Wuthering, is Hackett's final studio album with the band. He had grown increasingly constricted by his lack of freedom and level of input and was insistent that more of his material be included on the album, but was rebuffed. One of his rejected songs, "Please Don't Touch", was adopted for his second solo album, Please Don't Touch!.
Hackett left the band during the mixing stage of the Genesis live album, Seconds Out. His departure was announced in the press during the promotion of the album on 8 October 1977. Hackett has said that he "needed autonomy".
Reunions
Since Hackett's departure, the 1970–1975 line-up of Genesis has reunited a handful of times. On 2 October 1982, the group gathered for Six of the Best, a one-off performance held to raise money for Gabriel's WOMAD festival. In 1983, Hackett was joined on stage by Gabriel and Rutherford during a series of shows at the Civic Hall in Guildford, the three performing with Hackett's band. The set list included a mix of Genesis songs, covers and tracks from their solo careers.In 1998, members of Genesis reunited for a photo session and dinner to celebrate the release of the Genesis Archive 1967–75 box set. The release featured Hackett and Gabriel re-recording some guitar and vocal parts, respectively. Hackett also participated in the re-recording of "The Carpet Crawlers" from The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway for inclusion on the 1999 greatest hits album Turn It On Again: The Hits.
In late 2005, the 1970–1975 line-up gathered to discuss the possibility of a reunion and performing The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. After Gabriel decided against the idea, Hackett opted out of the project. This led to Banks, Rutherford and Collins getting together in 2006 for the Turn It On Again: The Tour. Hackett took part in a series of interviews for the remastering of the band's albums in 2007, and the interview book Genesis: Chapter and Verse released in the same year.
In March 2010, 1970–1975 line-up of Genesis were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio. Hackett appeared at the ceremony with Banks, Rutherford and Collins, though none of them performed.
In 2014, Hackett was featured in the BBC documentary Genesis: Together and Apart which focused on the band and the solo careers of the other members. Hackett expressed his displeasure with it following its broadcast, which he described as a "biased account of Genesis history" which "totally ignores" his solo work. Hackett was included in the compilation album R-Kive containing Genesis material and tracks from each member's solo career. His contributions are "Ace of Wands", "Every Day" and "Nomads".
In 2022, Hackett said he was invited to the final Genesis concert in London on 26 March. However, he was unable to attend due to his tour being rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In September 2025, Hackett joined Gabriel, Banks and Rutherford for a release party for the 50th anniversary remastered version of The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. The four members gave an interview to Planet Rock about their thoughts on the album and memories of putting it together.