Editing Peter Gabriel (section)

=== 1965–1975: Early career and Genesis ===
In 1965, while still at Charterhouse, Gabriel formed the band [[Garden Wall (band)|Garden Wall]] with his schoolmates [[Tony Banks (musician)|Tony Banks]] on piano, Johnny Trapman on trumpet, and [[Chris Stewart (author)|Chris Stewart]] on drums.{{sfn|Giammetti|2020|p=16}} Banks had started at Charterhouse at the same time as Gabriel, and the two were uninterested in school activities but bonded over music and started to write songs. At their final concert before they broke up, Gabriel wore a [[kaftan]] and beads and showered the audience with petals he had picked from neighbouring gardens.{{sfn|Frame|1983|p=23}} Garden Wall disbanded in 1967; Gabriel and Banks were invited by their Charterhouse schoolmates [[Anthony Phillips]] and [[Mike Rutherford]], who were in their own band at the school called [[Anon (band)|Anon]] until it split up the previous year, to work on a [[Demo (music)|demo]] tape of songs together.{{sfn|Giammetti|2020|p=17}} Gabriel and Banks contributed "She Is Beautiful", the first song they wrote together. The tape was sent to Charterhouse alumnus, musician [[Jonathan King]], who was immediately enthusiastic largely due to Gabriel's vocals. He signed the group and suggested that their name be Gabriel's Angels, but this was unpopular with the other members, and they soon settled on his other suggestion of [[Genesis (band)|Genesis]].

After King suggested they stick to more straightforward pop, Gabriel and Banks wrote "[[The Silent Sun]]" as a pastiche of the [[Bee Gees]], one of King's favourite bands. It became Genesis' first single, released in 1968,{{sfn|Bowler|Dray|1992|p=17}} and was included on their debut studio album ''[[From Genesis to Revelation]]'' (1968). Following the commercial failure of ''From Genesis to Revelation'', the band went their separate ways, and Gabriel continued his studies at Charterhouse.{{sfn|Bowler|Dray|1992|p=22}} In September 1969, Gabriel, Banks, Rutherford, and Phillips decided to drop their plans and make Genesis a full-time band. In early 1970, Gabriel played the flute on ''[[Mona Bone Jakon]]'' by [[Cat Stevens]]. The second studio album by Genesis, ''[[Trespass (album)|Trespass]]'' (1970), marked Gabriel expanding his musical output with the flute, accordion, tambourine, and bass drum, and incorporating his [[soul music]] influences. Gabriel explained that he was driven to play these instruments because he was uncomfortable with doing nothing during instrumental sections.{{sfn|Giammetti|2020|p=84}} He would have preferred to play keyboard instruments, but said, "[Banks] was extraordinarily possessive about the keyboards. I'd done a bit of flute at school, I always liked the sound, and a little bit of oboe (I was an even worse oboe player, but it made a couple of good noises now and again). Then the bass drum was something physical, visual, that I could kick hard and occasionally it was in time!"{{sfn|Giammetti|2020|p=54}} The album sold few copies, with Gabriel at one point securing a place to study at the [[London Film School|London School of Film Technique]] because the band "seemed to be dying".<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Blake |first=Mark |author-link=Mark Blake (writer) |date=December 2011 |title=Cash for questions: Peter Gabriel |magazine=[[Q (magazine)|Q]] |page=46}}</ref>

Genesis soon recruited guitarist [[Steve Hackett]] and drummer [[Phil Collins]].{{sfn|Bowler|Dray|1992|p=43}} Gabriel began growing in confidence as a frontman; during an encore performance of "[[The Knife (song)|The Knife]]" on 19 June 1971, he took a running jump into the audience and expected them to catch him, only for them to instead move out of the way and leave him to land on the floor and break his ankle. He consequently had to perform Genesis' next several shows with a wheelchair and crutches.{{sfn|Giammetti|2020|p=83}} Also during the ''Trespass'' tour, he started to recite stories to introduce songs as a way to cover the silence while the band tuned their instruments or technical faults were being fixed.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uncut.co.uk/features/peter-gabriel-you-could-feel-the-horror-29379|title=Peter Gabriel: "You could feel the horror ..." – Uncut|date=19 October 2012|website=Uncut.co.uk|access-date=29 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161023120219/http://www.uncut.co.uk/features/peter-gabriel-you-could-feel-the-horror-29379|archive-date=23 October 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> These stories were all improvised on the spot, and evolved as the tour went along.{{sfn|Giammetti|2020|p=84}} The opener of their next studio album, ''[[Nursery Cryme]]'' (1971), "[[The Musical Box (Genesis song)|The Musical Box]]", was their first song in which Gabriel incorporated a story and characters into the lyrics, as the lyrics to previous story-based Genesis songs such as "White Mountain" and "One-Eyed Hound" were all written by other members of the group.{{cn|date=October 2024}} Gabriel was the primary writer of "Harold the Barrel", another story song on ''Nursery Cryme'', with Collins helping him on the lyrics.{{sfn|Giammetti|2020|p=104}}

[[File:Peter Gabriel The Moonlight Knight (cropped).png|thumb|upright|right|Gabriel as "Britannia" or "[[Dancing with the Moonlit Knight|The Moonlit Knight]]" in 1974]]

The shows featuring ''[[Foxtrot (album)|Foxtrot]]'' (1972) marked a key development in Gabriel's stage performance. During a gig in [[Dublin]] in September 1972, he disappeared from the set during the instrumental section of "[[The Musical Box (Genesis song)|The Musical Box]]" and reappeared in his wife's red dress and a fox's head, mimicking the album's cover. The idea of the fox costume had been suggested to him by [[Paul Conroy (music executive)|Paul Conroy]] and Glen Colson, employees of Genesis's record label, [[Charisma Records]].{{sfn|Giammetti|2020|p=155-157}} Gabriel said he consulted the rest of Genesis about the fox costume but grew tired of arguing about it, but the other members all maintained that nothing was said about it beforehand and that when Gabriel came out in costume they initially mistook him for a fan invading the stage.{{sfn|Giammetti|2020|p=157, 162}} The incident received front-page coverage in ''Melody Maker'', giving them national exposure which allowed the group to double their performance fee.{{cn|date=October 2024}} One of Gabriel's stories was printed on the liner notes of their live album, ''[[Genesis Live]]'' (1973). By late 1973, following the success of ''[[Selling England by the Pound]]'' (1973), which centred on English themes and literary and materialistic references, a typical Genesis show had Gabriel wear fluorescent make-up, a cape, and bat wings for "[[Watcher of the Skies]]", a helmet, chest plate, and a shield for "[[Dancing with the Moonlit Knight]]", a  [[crown of thorns]] and a flower mask for "[[Supper's Ready]]", and an old man mask for "The Musical Box".{{sfn|Giammetti|2020|p=162, 203}}

Gabriel continued to fight for involvement with Genesis's keyboards throughout his time with the group, and following a lengthy argument with Banks, he was allowed to play a minor keyboard part on "[[I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)]]", only for this part to be left out of the mix.{{sfn|Giammetti|2020|p=197}} "I Know What I Like" became Genesis's first hit single, reaching number 21 in the [[UK Singles Chart]].<ref>[http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/_/genesis/ Genesis UK chart history], The Official Charts Company. Retrieved 13 October 2024.</ref>

[[File:Peter Gabriel, April 1975.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Gabriel performing during [[The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway Tour]], 1975]]

''[[The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway]]'' (1974) was Gabriel's final studio album with Genesis. He devised its story of the spiritual journey of Rael, a Puerto Rican youth living in New York City, and insisted upon writing all the lyrics himself, whereas on previous albums the lyrics had been divided among all the members of Genesis.{{sfn|Giammetti|2020|p=211-213}} Tensions increased during this period, and Gabriel split with the band to pursue a film project with [[William Friedkin]], only to rejoin a week later.<ref name="Mike on Mike" /> Matters were complicated further with the difficult birth of Gabriel's first daughter, resulting in periods of time away from the band. The other members complained that Gabriel was showing a lack of commitment to the band. Gabriel saw this as a "really unsympathetic handling of my dealing with a family crisis" and said it caused a breakdown in his relationships with the rest of Genesis; Rutherford later admitted that they had been overly fixated on their music and were very unhelpful in what must have been a difficult time for Gabriel.{{sfn|Giammetti|2020|p=217-218}} Gabriel was late to deliver the lyrics, but has denied that he was too busy to write much music for the album and relied on contributions from Banks and Rutherford.{{sfn|Giammetti|2020|p=236}} Banks corroborated that Gabriel was the primary composer of the ''Lamb'' songs "[[The Carpet Crawlers]]" and "The Chamber of 32 Doors" and the sole composer of "Counting Out Time".{{sfn|Giammetti|2020|p=225-228}}

During a stop in Cleveland, Ohio, early into the album's tour, Gabriel informed the band of his intention to leave at its conclusion.{{sfn|Genesis|2007|p=158}}<ref>{{cite news |last=Saavedra |first=David |date=24 September 2024 |title=Greek mythology and oversized egos: The Genesis album that ended progressive rock |work=El Pais |url=https://english.elpais.com/culture/2024-09-24/greek-mythology-and-oversized-egos-the-genesis-album-that-ended-progressive-rock.html |access-date=8 October 2024 }}</ref> Rutherford recalled that they all "could see it coming".<ref name="Mike on Mike" /> Music critics often focused their reviews on Gabriel's theatrics and took the band's musical performance as secondary, which irritated the rest of the band.{{sfn|Bowler|Dray|1992|p=93}} The tour ended in May 1975, after which Gabriel wrote a piece for the press on 15 August, entitled "Out, Angels Out", about his departure, his disillusion with the business, and his desire to spend time with his family.{{sfn|Bowler|Dray|1992|p=107}} The news stunned fans of the group and left commentators wondering if the band could survive without him.<ref name="Leaves Genesis">{{cite news|url=http://ultimateclassicrock.com/peter-gabriel-leaves-genesis/|first=Dave|last=Swanson|title=38 Years Ago: Peter Gabriel Leaves Genesis|website=Ultimateclassicrock.com|date=15 August 2013|access-date=13 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150821051141/http://ultimateclassicrock.com/peter-gabriel-leaves-genesis/|archive-date=21 August 2015|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Reunion">{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/music-news/10903747/Genesis-back-together-after-nearly-40-years.html|first=Anita|last=Singh|title=Genesis back together after nearly 40 years|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|date=16 June 2014|access-date=13 August 2015|location=London|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924202057/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/music-news/10903747/Genesis-back-together-after-nearly-40-years.html|archive-date=24 September 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> His exit resulted in drummer [[Phil Collins]] reluctantly taking over on lead vocals after 400 singers were fruitlessly auditioned.