Steve Hackett is an English guitarist who is best known as former lead guitarist of progressive rock band Genesis, he released his first solo album in 1975 and, after leaving Genesis in 1977, he continued his solo career. His first tour featured himself alongside his brother, John, on flute, bass pedals, and guitar, Dik Cadbury on bass and vocals, Nick Magnus on keyboards, John Shearer on drums, and Pete Hicks on lead vocals.[1] His current touring line-up includes himself on guitar, harmonica and vocals, keyboardist Roger King and multi-instrumentalist Rob Townsend (both since 2001), vocalist Nad Sylvan (since 2013), bassist Jonas Reingold and drummer Craig Blundell (both since 2018).
Hackett released his first solo album in 1975, called Voyage of the Acolyte, while still a member of Genesis, the album included his Genesis bandmates Phil Collins and Mike Rutherford on drums and bass respectively, the album also included Hackett's brother John on synth and flute, Ian Gillan sideman John Gustafson on bass, Brand X bassist Percy Jones and folk singer Sally Oldfield (sister of Mike Oldfield) among others. After leaving Genesis in 1977 he continued his solo career with Please Don't Touch! in 1978, this album included number of singers, including folk singer Richie Havens, R&B singer Randy Crawford, and Steve Walsh of American progressive rock group Kansas, the album also included Kansas drummer Phil Ehart, Genesis and Frank Zappa drummer Chester Thompson and former Mothers of Invention and Zappa bassist Tom Fowler.
The tour for that album included his brother John Hackett on flute, bass pedals, and guitar, Dik Cadbury on bass, vocals and violin, Nick Magnus on keyboards, John Shearer on drums, and Pete Hicks on lead vocals. The subsequent European tour was Hackett's first as a solo performer. It began at the Chateau Neuf in Oslo, Norway on 4 October 1978 and ended with six shows across the UK, culminating at the Hammersmith Apollo in London on 30 October. Hackett used his band on his next album, Spectral Mornings, recorded in the first two months of 1979 in the Netherlands.Before Hackett recorded his fourth album Defector, he organised a series of gigs in November 1979, including one in London at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, to test out new material. The album also included Hackett then touring band. Hackett changed musical directions with his fifth album, Cured (1981). It was recorded without his band which he had worked with since 1979, barring contributions from Magnus and John Hackett, and features Hackett handling all the lead vocals. Instead of using a drummer, Magnus used an electronic Linn drum machine. The album's tour marked a line-up change with John Hackett and Magnus joined by Chas Cronk (Strawbs) on bass and Ian Mosley (later of Marillion) on drums. The tour for Cured saw the band perform at the 1981 Reading Festival.
After promoting Cured, Hackett received an invitation to form a new trio with Keith Emerson and Jack Bruce, shortly followed by an offer to replace Paul Jones and become lead in a new West End musical production. He declined both offers, and went ahead with his next studio album, Highly Strung, put out in April 1983, which included Magnus and Mosley alongside other musicians.
In 1983, Hackett released his seventh album, Bay of Kings, containing classical guitar compositions, other musicians on the album included only Magnus and John Hackett. This was followed, in August 1984, with Hackett returning to rock music in his next release, Till We Have Faces. the album included Hackett, Magnus and Mosley and various other musicians.
In 1985, Hackett formed the supergroup GTR with veteran Yes and Asia guitarist Steve Howe. The group released a gold-selling album, produced by Yes/Asia keyboardist Geoff Downes. After GTR, Hackett returned to the studio and recorded a new solo album, Momentum, consisting of classical guitar compositions and Hackett brother John on flute. Released in March 1988, his tour across Europe to promote the album was met with large and enthusiastic crowds which included gigs in Estonia, Russia, and the Soviet Union.[2] The tour included Hackett and is brother on guitar and flute respectively.[3]
In 1992, Hackett resumed touring for the first time in six years, which also saw his return to activity in the US in several years. His reason for the prolonged absence was down to his involvement in various legal issues which prevented him from touring there.[2]
Hackett was pleased that his 1992 North American tour was well attended, and used it to test the strength of some new material that he had been working on to an audience, as well as to promote his first live album, Time Lapse.[2] The album included recordings from two shows, one from October 1990, recorded in Nottingham, and one from November 1981, recorded in New York. The 1990 recordings included bassist Ian Ellis, keyboardist Julian Colbeck and drummer Fudge Smith.[4] In May 1993, Hackett released his tenth studio album, Guitar Noir. It includes the track "Walking Away from Rainbows", which lyrically dealt with Hackett's career decision of leaving mainstream music and pursuing what he wishes. The album included Colbeck on keyboards and backing vocals, Dave Ball on bass and Hugo Degenhardt on drums among others. The tour included bassists Dave Ball and Doug Sinclair, drummer Hugo Degenhardt and keyboardist Julian Colbeck.[5]
Hackett followed this with a blues album, Blues with a Feeling (1994), formed of covers and original blues material penned by him and his group, which included Doug Sinclair (bass), Julian Colbeck (keyboards), and Hugo Degenhardt (drums).[2]
For his next album, Hackett decided to rework a selection of Genesis tracks with various guest musicians, including John Wetton, Paul Carrack, Colin Blunstone, Ian McDonald, Tony Levin, Alphonso Johnson, Pino Palladino, Bill Bruford and Chester Thompson. This was released in 1996 as Genesis Revisited. Hackett promoted the album with two shows in Tokyo in December 1996 with and all star line-up of John Wetton (King Crimson, Asia), Chester Thompson (Genesis, Santana), Ian McDonald (King Crimson, Foreigner) and Julian Colbeck (ABWH, Charlie). The concerts were recorded and filmed, later released as The Tokyo Tapes in 1998.
In April 1997 he released the neo-classical influenced A Midsummer Night's Dream with accompaniments from the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. It reached the top 10 UK classical chart. This marked the beginning of keyboardist, arranger, and producer Roger King taking a more prominent role on Hackett's future albums and live shows.[6] In 1999, Hackett released his fourteenth studio album, Darktown. It included Julian Colbeck, Hugo Degenhardt, Jim Diamond, John Hackett, Roger King, Ian McDonald, Doug Sinclair and John Wetton.
In 2000, Hackett and his brother John released Sketches of Satie, a tribute album to the French composer Erik Satie with the compositions rearranged for flute and guitar. Hackett said that he had not worked on a project with John for some time and had missed playing with him, leading to his manager Billy Budis to suggest an album of Satie's music.[7] Later in 2000, an album of Hackett's with material originally put together in 1986 but put on the shelf, was released as Feedback 86. A portion of the material was for a second GTR album, and features appearances by Brian May,[8] as well as Marillion members Pete Trewavas and Ian Mosley, Bonnie Tyler and Chris Thompson. In addition, in July 2000, Hackett undertook a 4 day tour of Italy, playing for the first time lime with Roger King on Keyboards, Gary O'Toole on Drums, Phil Mumford on Bass, and Ben Castle on Sax and Flute. [9] This lineup is documented in the "Somewhere In Italy" bonus feature on the Somewhere In South America DVD.[10]
In 2003, Hackett released To Watch the Storms, his first studio album in four years and his first completed in his new recording studio, Crown Studios. It also marked his return to progressive rock music, and unlike his several previous records the material was put together within three months.[11] The album features all of his then touring band,[12] including Roger King (keyboards), Rob Townsend (woodwind, percussion, vocals, later keyboards), Terry Gregory (bass, vocals) and Gary O'Toole (drums, vocals),[13] and also guests Ian McDonald (saxophone) and John Hackett (flute). This tour band stayed the same until 2005 when Hackett embarked on an acoustic tour which included Hackett, his brother John and Roger King,[14] this tour continued into 2006 in Japan.[15]
The electric band returned in 2009 with Townsend and O'Toole back and new members Nick Beggs on bass and Chapman Stick and Amanda Lehmann on guitar and vocals,[16] as well as original bassist Dik Cadbury for at least one show. This band remained the same until 2011 when Beggs left and was replaced by Phil Mulford,[17]
In 2011 Hackett released his 24th studio album Beyond the Shrouded Horizon which included his touring band, alongside guests John Hackett, Simon Philips and Chris Squire, among others. In 2012, Hackett and Chris Squire again collaborated to release the album A Life Within a Day under the name of Squackett.[18]
During 2012 Hackett released Genesis Revisited II in October. The album features various guests, including members from Opeth, It Bites, Porcupine Tree, King Crimson, Sound of Contact, Marillion and Spock's Beard. Following this well-received album he has incorporated numerous Genesis songs into his live performances.
Lee Pomeroy joined in 2012 on bass, variax and 12-string guitar.[19] The line-up changed in 2013 when Lehmann left the band, though she still makes regular guest appearances on tour,[20] and vocalist Nad Sylvan, who had contributed to the Genesis Revisited II album, joined.[21] In 2014 Pomeroy departed and was replaced by a returning Nick Beggs,[22] however he was replaced by Swedish guitarist Roine Stolt in 2015[23] [24] who stayed into 2016,[25] he was replaced by Nick Beggs for his third tenure in 2017.[26] Jonas Reingold (a regular collaborator with Stolt) joined the band in 2018 on bass and twelve string.[27] Later in 2018 longtime drummer and vocalist Gary O'Toole departed from the band citing a "horrid year" in his personal life.[28] O'Toole was replaced by Steven Wilson drummer Craig Blundell,[29] this line-up has stayed the same since,[30] [31] except when Blundell had commitments with Frost* in 2022 and was covered for by Nick D'Virgilio (Spock's Beard, Big Big Train).[32]
| Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steve Hackett | 1978–present | all releases | ||
| Roger King | 1997–present | keyboards | all releases from Genesis Revisited (1996) onwards, except Feedback 86 (2000), Live Archive 70s 80s 90s (2001), Live Archive 70s : Newcastle (2001) and Live Archive 83 (2006) | |
| Rob Townsend | all releases from Somewhere in South America... (2002) onwards, except Live Archive 83 (2006), except Tribute (2008) | |||
| Nad Sylvan | 2013–present | all releases from Genesis Revisited II (2012) onwards, except Wolflight (2015), At the Edge of Light (2019), and Under a Mediterranean Sky (2021) | ||
| 2018–present | all releases from At the Edge of Light (2019) onwards, except Under a Mediterranean Sky (2021) | |||
| Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Hackett | |||||
| Nick Magnus | 1978–1983 | ||||
| Dik Cadbury | |||||
| Pete Hicks | 1978–1980 | vocals | |||
| John Shearer | |||||
| Ian Mosley | 1981–1983 | ||||
| Chas Cronk | |||||
| Julian Colbeck | 1990–1996 | ||||
| Ian Ellis | 1990–1992 | Time Lapse (1992) | |||
| Fudge Smith | drums | ||||
| Hugo Degenhardt | 1993 | ||||
| Dave Ball | bass | ||||
| Doug Sinclair | |||||
| 1996 | |||||
| Ian McDonald | 1996 | ||||
| Chester Thompson | 1996 | ||||
| Gary O' Toole | all releases from Somewhere in South America... (2002) to Genesis Revisited Band & Orchestra: Live at the Royal Festival Hall (2019), except Live Archive 05 (2005), Live Archive 83 (2006) and Tribute (2008) | ||||
| Phil Mulford | bass | ||||
| Terry Gregory | 2001–2004 | ||||
| Amanda Lehmann | 2009–2012 | all releases from Out of the Tunnel's Mouth (2009) to onwards | |||
| Lee Pomeroy | 2012–2014 | ||||
| Roine Stolt | 2015–2016 | ||||
| Nick D'Virgilio | 2022 |
| Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peter Banks | 1999 | bass | on "Blues Jam" at CRS Awards[33] | ||
| Oliver Wakeman | 1999 | keyboards | |||
| Ray Wilson | 2013 | lead vocals | on "I Know What I Like" and on "Carpet Crawlers" at Royal Albert Hall, he also sings on Genesis Revisited II: Selection (2013) | ||
| Jakko Jakszyk | on "Entangled" at Hammersmith Odeon | ||||
| on "The Lamia" at Hammersmith Odeon, which they perform on Genesis Revisited II (2012) and Genesis Revisited II: Selection (2013) | |||||
| Steve Rothery | lead guitar | ||||
| Chris Squire | 2014 | bass | on "All Along the Watchtower" at Cruise To The Edge, he also played on Out of the Tunnel's Mouth (2009), Beyond the Shrouded Horizon (2011) and Wolflight (2015) |
| Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Acock | |||||
| 1975 | Voyage of the Acolyte (1975) | ||||
| Johnny Gustafson | 1975 | bass guitar | |||
| Percy Jones | 1975 | ||||
| Robin Miller | |||||
| Nigel Warren-Green | cello | ||||
| vocals | |||||
| 1977–1978 | Please Don't Touch | (1978) | |||
| Randy Crawford | |||||
| Feydor | |||||
| Dale Newman | |||||
| Dan Owen | |||||
| John Perry | |||||
| Maria Bonvino | female soprano | ||||
| Richie Havens | |||||
| David LeBolt | keyboards | ||||
| electric bass | |||||
| Hugh Malloy | cello | ||||
| Graham Smith | violin | ||||
| James Bradley | percussion | ||||
| Phil Ehart | |||||
| Bimbo Acock | |||||
| Chris Lawrence | 1982 | contrabass | Highly Strung (1983) | ||
| Nigel Warren-Green | cello | ||||
| Rui Mota | 1983–1984 | drums | Till We Have Faces (1984) | ||
| Sérgio Lima | |||||
| Waldemar Falcão | |||||
| Fernando Moura | Rhodes piano | ||||
| Ronaldo Diamante | bass | ||||
| Clive Stevens | wind synthesizer | ||||
| Japanese voice | |||||
| Sidinho Moreira | percussion | ||||
| Junior Homrich | |||||
| Jaburu | |||||
| Peninha | |||||
| Zizinho | |||||
| Baca | |||||
| Brian May | 1986 | Feedback 86 (2000) | |||
| bass | |||||
| Terry Pack | |||||
| vocals | |||||
| Aron Friedman | |||||
| Billy Budis | |||||
| Jerry Peal | |||||
| John Chapman | 1994 | baritone saxophone | Blues with a Feeling (1994) | ||
| Pete Long | tenor saxophone | ||||
| John Lee | trumpet | ||||
| Matt Dunkley | |||||
| Paul Carrack | 1995–1996 | vocals | Genesis Revisited (1996) | ||
| Colin Blunstone | |||||
| Will Bates | |||||
| "Spats" King | vibes | ||||
| Ben Fenner | |||||
| bass | |||||
| Alphonso Johnson | |||||
| Pino Palladino | |||||
| Tarquin Bombast | drums | ||||
| backing vocals | |||||
| Richard Wayler | |||||
| Jeanne Downs | |||||
| Sarah Wilson | cello | ||||
| Howard Gott | 2003 | violin | To Watch the Storms (2003) | ||
| 2004 | Metamorpheus (2005) | ||||
| Dick Driver | double bass | ||||
| Richard Stewart | cello | ||||
| Richard Kennedy | French horn | ||||
| Colin Clague | trumpet | ||||
| Christine Townsend | |||||
| Lauren King | 2008–2009 | backing vocals | Out of the Tunnel's Mouth (2009) | ||
| Egerhazi Attila | Anklung | ||||
| Jo Hackett née Lehmann | |||||
| Barabas Tamas | |||||
| Banai Szilard | |||||
| Kovacs Zoltan | |||||
| Kovacs Ferenc | |||||
| Simon Phillips | drums | ||||
| 2011–2012 | vocals | Genesis Revisited II (2012) | |||
| Attila Égerházi | |||||
| Simon Collins | |||||
| Neal Morse | |||||
| Dave Kerzner | keyboards | ||||
| Francis Dunnery | |||||
| Steven Wilson | |||||
| Jeremy Stacey | drums | ||||
| Rachel Ford | cello | ||||
| Malik Mansurov | tar | ||||
| Sara Kovács | 2012–2017 | didgeridoo | |||
| Gunnlaugur Briem | |||||
| Benedict Fenner | |||||
| Leslie-Miriam Bennett | 2014–2017 | keyboards | The Night Siren (2017) | ||
| uilleann pipes | |||||
| vocals | |||||
| Mīrā ‘Awaḍ | |||||
| Durga McBroom | |||||
| Lorelei McBroom | |||||
| 2018 | sitar | At the Edge of Light (2019) | |||
| Paul Stillwell | didgeridoo | ||||
| Franck Avril | 2021 | Under a Mediterranean Sky (2021) | |||
| Arsen Petrosyan | duduk | ||||
| Sodirkhon Ubaidulloev | dutar | Surrender of Silence (2021) | |||
| Benedict Fenner | 2023 | keyboards | The Circus and the Nightwhale (2024) |
| Period | Members | Releases | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978–1983 |
|
| |
| 1980–1981 |
|
| |
| 1981–1983 |
|
| |
| 1983–1988 |
|
| |
| Hiatus 1989 – 1990 | |||
| 1990–1992 |
|
| |
| 1993 |
|
| |
| 1993 |
|
| |
| 1994 |
|
| |
| 1996 |
|
| |
| Hiatus 1996–2001 | |||
| 2001 |
| ||
| 2001–2004 |
|
| |
| 2005–2006 |
|
| |
| 2006–2009 |
|
| |
| 2009–2011 |
|
| |
| 2012 |
|
| |
| 2012–2014 |
|
| |
| 2014–2015 |
|
| |
| 2015–2016 |
|
| |
| 2017–2018 |
|
| |
| 2018 |
|
| |
| 2018–2022 |
|
| |
| 2022 |
| ||
| 2022–present |
|
| |