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Papa Wemba
Papa Wemba
Background information
Born	1949
Origin	Lubefu, Sankuru Province, DR Congo
Genres	Soukous

Papa Wemba was born Jules Shungu Wembadio Pene Kikumba in 1949 in Lubefu (Sankuru District, DR Congo). He is a Congolese rumba (later known as soukous) musician, one of Africa's most popular musicians, and prominent in World music.

Musical history[link]

Zaiko Langa Langa[link]

Papa Wemba was one of the very musicians to join the influential Soukous band, Zaiko Langa Langa when it was created in December 1969^[1] in Kinshasa along with such well known Congolese musicians as Nyoka Longo Jossart, Manuaku Pepe Felly, Evoloko Lay Lay, Bimi Ombale, Teddy Sukami, Zamuangana Enock, Mavuela Simeon, and others.

In a Congolese musical world dominated at the time by Franco Luambo and his remarkable band TPOK Jazz, Tabu Ley Rochereau's Afrisa, and by then-new musical groups like Les Grands Maquisards, Le Trio Madjesi, and even younger bands like Bella-Bella, Thu Zaina and Empire Bakuba, the young and talented Papa Wemba (then known as Jules Presley Shungu Wembadio), was one of the driving forces that by 1973 made Zaiko Langa Langa one of the most-performing dominant Congolese groups, featuring such popular numbers as "Chouchouna" (Papa Wemba), "Eluzam" and " Mbeya Mbeya" (Evoloko Lay Lay), "BP ya Munu" (Efonge Gina), "Mwana Wabi" and "Mizou" (Bimi Ombale) and "Zania" (Mavuela Somo).

Isifi[link]

In December 1974, at the pinnacle of their fame (and just a month after the Rumble in the Jungle between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in Kinshasa), Shungu Wembadio (Papa Wemba), along with Evoloko Lay Lay, Mavuela Somo and Bozi Boziana (who'd joined Zaiko Langa Langa a year earlier), left Zaiko Langa Langa to establish their own musical ensemble Isifi Lokole, ISIFI being an acronym for "Institut du Savoir Ideologique pour la Formation des Idoles." Yet of course, not everything that Wemba claims in earnest can be taken as gospel. In July 1975, Shungu Wembadio officially adopted the soon-to-be-well-known worldwide artist name Papa Wemba, the addition of "Papa" (father) an allusion to what were in fact rather awesome family responsibilities as the first son in a family where both father and mother (Wemba's parents) had been deceased since the 1960s.

The "feux d'artifice" (fireworks) that was Isifi Lokole would only last a year, with the single "Amazone" (Papa Wemba) as its biggest commercial "hit" record. In November 1975, Papa Wemba, Mavuela Somo and Bozi Boziana abandoned Evoloko Lay Lay and Isifi Lokole to create the group Yoka Lokole (also known as The Kinshasa's Wa Fania All-Stars, or Lokole Isifi, or simply Isifi), along with Mbuta Mashakado, another Zaiko Langa Langa 'transfusion.' Yoka Lokole enjoyed slightly less popular success than the original Isifi Lokole, but for a time still managed to remain at the top the African pop music wave with hit songs like "Matembele Bangui", "Lisuma ya Zazu" (Papa Wemba), "Mavuela Sala Keba", and "Bana Kin" (Mavuela Somo).

Like Isifi Lokole, the electronic-instrument driven Yoka Lokole (or The Kinshasa All-Stars) would not last much longer than a year, given the merger of so many big-name talents in the band's lineup. After a year of modest success, controversies within Yoka Lokole over money and prestige (complicated by Wemba's arrest and brief incarceration in Kinshasa Central prison in December 1976 for the 'crime' of being suspected of having had physical intimacy with an influential army general's daughter) would lead Papa Wemba, then feeling diminished by peers and neglected by the public, to form his own group Viva la Musica in February 1977 after a very brief return to Isifi Lokole and Stukas Boys of Lita Bembo where he played for a few weeks as a guest.

Viva la Musica[link]

At his home in the Matonge neighborhood of Kinshasa, Papa Wemba structured Viva la Musica around young talented artists like singers Kisangani Esperant, Jadot le Cambodgien, Pepe Bipoli and Petit Aziza, guitarists Rigo Star, Syriana, and Bongo Wende. A young man of the name of Antoine Agbepa (currently known as Koffi Olomide), whose friend were calling "Cheri O", was the unknown writer of most of the hit songs of the group. The group had nearly instantaneous success, with hit songs like "Mere Superieure," "Mabele Mokonzi", "Bokulaka," "Princesse ya Sinza," and others.

During the height of his success in 1977, Papa Wemba's family home, in Kanda-Kanda street, which had become a popular, some even said hallowed/special place for Matonge youths to gather "à la mode" (i.e., to be cool) was named the "Village Molokai," and Wemba assumed the exalted moniker "Chef Coutumier" (Chief) of the Village of Molokai. That village in the heart of Matonge, included the following streets, which firsts letters were used to form the acronym: M-O-LO-KA-I: Masimanimba-Oshwe-LOkolama-KAnda-kanda-Inzia.

In those days people referred to Papa Wemba as the "chief from the heartland (village)" to differentiate him from Kinshasa-born musical bigshots Mavuela Somo and Mashakado. However years later Mavuela would say that their difficulties only simply amounted to trivial foolishness over money, ambition and fame between some very-young people (that at the time they all were).

Since 1977, Viva la Musica has seen both the 'defections' of musicians every two or three years and the entrée and emergence of other new talents. Fafa de Molokai, Debs Debaba, King Kester Emeneya (1977–1982), Koffi Olomide, as a singer, (1978–1979), Djuna Djanana (1978–1981), Dindo Yogo (1979–1981), Maray-Maray (1980–1984), Lidjo Kwempa (1982–2001), Reddy Amissi (1982–2001), Stino Mubi (1983–2001) are among the currently well-known Congolese musicians who have served at one time or another with Viva la Musica. An old Kinshasa anecdote says that a college student then-named Antoine Agbepa Koffi was such an impressive songwriter that one day in 1977 Papa Wemba exhorted, "Ooh! l'homme idee" (Oh! the idea-man!) thereby on-the-spot renaming the impressive young singer-songwriter Koffi Olomide - and the name stuck...

After the wave of African emigration to Europe in the 1990s, Wemba maintained one group in Kinshasa (called at times "Nouvelle Ecriture," "Nouvel Ecrita," and now again "Viva la Musica") and another one in Paris ("Nouvelle Generation," "La Cour des Grands," and now "Viva Tendance"). He has also consistently maintained a very high profile in World Music with such great hits as "L'Esclave" (1986), "Le Voyageur, Maria Valencia" (1992), "Foridoles, Dixieme Commandement" (1994), "Emotion" (1995), "Pole Position" (1996), "M’Zée Fula-Ngenge" (1999), "Bakala dia Kuba" (2001), and "Somo Trop" (2003).

Papa Wemba is also known as an actor. In 1987, he played the male lead role in the successful Zairean (Congolese) film La Vie est Belle by Belgian director Benoît Lamy and Congolese producer-director Ngangura Mweze.

High and low times[link]

On 18 February 2003, suspected of being involved in a network that has allegedly smuggled hundreds of illegal immigrants from the Democratic Republic of Congo (former Zaire) into Europe, Papa Wemba was arrested at his home in Paris.

Papa Wemba was eventually found guilty at some level in June 2003 and spent three and a half months in prison, an experience which, on his release after a €30,000 bail was posted, he declared had had a profound psychological effect on him. The singer claimed to have undergone a spiritual conversion in jail and even recounted this episode on his new album, "Somo trop" (released in October 2003). On the song "Numéro d'écrou", Papa Wemba recalled the day "God" paid a visit to his cell.

Cross-cultural influence[link]

In 1979, Papa Wemba became the leader of the Sapeur (Société des Ambianceurs et des Personnes d'Élégance or SAPE) which he promoted as a youth cult.^[2] Wemba said:

The Sapeur cult promoted high standards of personal cleanliness, hygiene and smart dress, to a whole generation of youth across Zaire. When I say well groomed, well shaven, well perfumed, it's a propriety that I am insisting on among the young. I don't care about their education, since education always comes first of all from the family.

Recently, Priyan Weerappuli, the leader of the Sri Lankan group Pahan Silu; referred to Wemba as being among his greatest musical influences.

Discography[link]

• Pauline (1970, Zaiko Langa Langa)
• L'Amoureux Decu (1972, Zaiko Langa Langa)
• Mete la Verite, Chouchouna (1973, Zaiko Langa Langa)
• Liwa ya Somo (1973–1974, Zaiko Langa Langa)
• Ainsi Va La Vie, Amazone (1975, Isifi Lokole)
• Matembele Bangi, Lisuma ya Zazu (1976, Yoka Lokole)
• Mere Superieure, Bokulaka, Mabele Mokonzi, Muana Molokai (1977)
• Princesse ya Senza, Fleur Betoko, Zonga-Zonga (1978)
• Anibo, Ata Nkale (1979)
• Levre Rose (1979, with Rochereau & Afrisa)
• Telegramme (1979, with Simaro Massiya & OK. Jazz)
• Analengo (1980), Amena (1980, duo with Pepe Kalle)
• Santa, Matebu (1980, first full album in Paris)
• Melina La Parisienne, Ufukutano (1981)
• Evenement, Rendre A Caesar (1982)
• Eliana, Bukavu Dawa (1983)
• Proclamation (1984, in Paris with Ngashie Niarchos)
• Destin ya Moto (1985)
• L'esclave, Papa Wemba – Au Japon (live) (1986)
• Papa Wemba Ekumani (1987)
• M'fono Yami (1989)
• Biloko ya Moto-Adidas Kiesse (1991)
• Le Voyageur (1992)
• Foridoles (1994)
• Emotion (1995)
• Pôle Position (1996)
• Wake-Up (1996, duo with Koffi Olomide)
• Nouvelle Ecriture (1997)
• Molokaï (1998)
• Nouvelle Ecriture dans L (1998)
• M’Zée Fula-Ngenge (1999)
• Muana Matebu(1999)
• A La Une (2000)
• Zea (2001)
• Bakala Dia Kuba (2001)
• Somo Trop (2003)
• Muana Molokaï (2004)
• Ba Zonkion (2005)
• Cheeky Summer time - Collab with Father J (2004)
• Attention L'artiste (2006)
• Notre Père Rumba (2010)

Filmography[link]

• Les Habits neufs du gouverneur (The Governor's New Clothes) (2004)
• Combat de fauves (1997) - The African
• La Vie est Belle (Life Is Beautiful) (1987) - Kourou

References[link]

External links[link]

• Biography of Papa Wemba

Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel at the Wikipedia 10th anniversary party in London in January 2011.
Background information
Birth name	Peter Brian Gabriel
Born	(1950-02-13) 13 February 1950 (age 62) Chobham, Surrey, England, United Kingdom
Genres	Progressive rock, art rock, experimental rock, pop rock, world music
Occupations	Musician Producer Humanitarian
Instruments	Vocals, keyboards, flute, drums, piano, guitar, bass, harmonica, oboe
Years active	1967–present
Labels	Geffen (US & Canada), Real World, Virgin, Charisma, Atlantic (US & Canada), EMI (Brazil)
Associated acts	Genesis, Laurie Anderson, Kate Bush
Website	www.petergabriel.com

Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis.^[1] After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career. His 1986 album, So, is his most commercially successful, and the album's biggest hit, "Sledgehammer", won a record nine MTV Awards at the 1987 MTV Video Music Awards, and the song is the most played music video in the history of the station.^[2]

More recently, Gabriel has focused on producing and promoting world music and pioneering digital distribution methods for music. He has also been involved in various humanitarian efforts. Gabriel has won numerous music awards throughout his career, including three Brit Awards—winning Best British Male in 1987, six Grammy Awards, thirteen MTV Video Music Awards, and in 2007 he was honoured as a BMI Icon at the 57th annual BMI London Awards for his “influence on generations of music makers.”^[3][4][5] Gabriel was also awarded the Polar Music Prize in 2009, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Genesis in 2010.

Early life[link]

Peter Gabriel was born in Chobham, Surrey, England.^[6] His father, Ralph Parton Gabriel, was an electrical engineer, and his mother, Edith Irene Allen,^[7] from a musical family, taught him to play the piano at an early age. He attended Cable House, a private primary (pre-prep) school in Woking, Surrey, St. Andrews Prep School in Horsell, then Charterhouse School (Godalming) from 1963. He played drums in his first rock bands, and Mike Rutherford commented in 1985 that "Pete was - and still is, I think - a frustrated drummer."^[8]

Genesis[link]

Gabriel founded Genesis in 1967 with fellow Charterhouse School pupils Tony Banks, Anthony Phillips, Mike Rutherford, and drummer Chris Stewart. The name of the band was suggested by fellow Charterhouse alumnus, the pop music impresario Jonathan King, who produced their first album, From Genesis to Revelation.

Gabriel was influenced by many different sources in his way of singing, such as Family lead singer Roger Chapman. In 1970, he played the flute on Cat Stevens' album, Mona Bone Jakon.

Genesis drew some attention in England and eventually also in Italy, Belgium, Germany and other European countries, largely due to Gabriel's flamboyant stage presence, which involved numerous bizarre costume changes and comical, dreamlike stories told as the introduction to each song (originally Gabriel developed these stories solely to cover the time between songs that the rest of the band would take tuning their instruments and fixing technical glitches). The concerts made extensive use of black light with the normal stage lighting subdued or off. A backdrop of fluorescent white sheets and a comparatively sparse stage made the band into a set of silhouettes, with Gabriel's fluorescent costume and make-up providing the only other sources of light.

Costumes[link]

Gabriel as "Britannia", or "The Moonlit Knight" 1974

Early Genesis concerts were hampered by a bad PA system which made it difficult for audiences to understand what Gabriel was singing. According to Mike Rutherford, this drove Gabriel to find other ways to impress his personality on the audience, leading to his performing in various costumes.^[8]

In an episode of the 2007 British documentary series Seven Ages of Rock, Steve Hackett recalled the first appearance of Gabriel 'in costume'. It was the dress-wearing, fox-headed entity immortalised on the cover of Foxtrot. Hackett and the rest of the band had no inkling that Gabriel was going to do this, and at the time Hackett worried that it would ruin the performance. However, it was a success, encouraging Gabriel to continue wearing costumes while singing.

Among Gabriel's many famous costumes, which he developed to visualise the musical ideas of the band as well as to gain press coverage, were "Batwings" for the band's usual opening number, "Watcher of the Skies".

Other costumes included "The Flower" and "Magog", which were both alternately worn for "Supper's Ready" from the album Foxtrot.

"Britannia" was worn for "Dancing with the Moonlit Knight", and "The Reverend" was worn for "The Battle of Epping Forest" from Selling England by the Pound.

"The Old Man" was worn for "The Musical Box" from Nursery Cryme.

"The Slipperman" and "Rael" were worn during "The Colony of Slippermen", in which "Rael" was the protagonist of the album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.

Departure[link]

Gabriel's departure from Genesis in 1975—which stunned fans of the group and left many commentators wondering if the band could survive—was the result of a number of factors. His stature as the lead singer of the band, and the added attention garnered by his flamboyant stage persona, led to tensions within the band. Genesis had always operated more or less as a collective, and Gabriel's burgeoning public profile led to fears within the group that he was being unfairly singled out as the creative hub. The band had also begun to feel confined by the reputation (and fans' expectations) attached to their famously elaborate theatrical performances, believing that the visual element of their performances was receiving more attention than their actual music.

Tensions were heightened by the ambitious album and tour of the concept work The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, a Gabriel-created concept piece which saw him taking on the lion's share of the lyric writing. During the writing and recording of The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, Gabriel was approached by director William Friedkin, allegedly because Friedkin had found Gabriel's short story in the liner notes to Genesis Live interesting. Gabriel left Genesis to pursue a film project with Friedkin, only to rejoin a week later.^[8] The decision to quit the band was made before the tour supporting The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, with Gabriel explaining his decision to the band while keeping it from the press until the conclusion of that tour. Bassist Mike Rutherford recalled that they all "could see it coming."^[8] Although tensions were high, both Gabriel and the remaining members of Genesis have stated publicly that Gabriel left the band on good terms.

The breaking point came with the difficult pregnancy of Gabriel's wife, Jill, and the subsequent birth of their first child, Anna-Marie. When he opted to stay with his sick daughter and wife, rather than record and tour, the resentment from the rest of the band led Gabriel to conclude that he had to leave the group. "Solsbury Hill", Gabriel's debut single as a solo artist, was written specifically about his departure from Genesis. The song also charted on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1978,^[9] reaching the Top 70, though it was recorded in 1976, and appeared on the 'Car' album in 1977. In 1982, Gabriel reunited with his former Genesis colleagues for the one-off concert Six of the Best, in order to recoup debts that arose from his involvement in the staging of the first WOMAD concert.

Solo career[link]

Gabriel refused to title any of his first four solo albums, which were all labelled Peter Gabriel using the same typeface, but which featured different cover designs (by Hipgnosis); in all of these designs, Gabriel's face is wholly or partially obscured in some way. The albums are usually differentiated by number in order of release (I, II, III, IV), or by sleeve design, with the first three solo albums often referred to as Car, Scratch and Melt respectively, in reference to their cover artwork. His fourth solo album, also called Peter Gabriel, was titled Security in the U.S. at the behest of Geffen Records.

After acquiescing to distinctive titles, Gabriel used a series of 2-letter words to title his next three albums: So, Us, and Up. His most recent greatest hits compilation is titled Hit; within the two-CD package, disc one is labelled "Hit" and disc two is labelled "Miss".

[edit] Peter Gabriel albums (1977–1985)

Gabriel performing, August 1978

Gabriel recorded his first self-titled solo album in 1976 and 1977 with producer Bob Ezrin. His first solo success came with the single "Solsbury Hill", an autobiographical piece expressing his thoughts on leaving Genesis. Although mainly happy with the music, Gabriel felt that the album, and especially the track "Here Comes the Flood" was over-produced. Sparser versions can be heard on Robert Fripp's Exposure, and on Gabriel's greatest hits compilation Shaking the Tree (1990).

Gabriel worked with guitarist Fripp as producer of his second solo LP, in 1978. This album was leaner, darker and more experimental, and yielded decent reviews, but no major hits.

Gabriel developed a new interest in world music (especially percussion), and for bold production, which made extensive use of recording tricks and sound effects. Gabriel's interest in music technology is considered by many people to be the spark of his success as it inspired his third album. The third album is often credited as the first LP to use the now-famous "gated drum" sound.^[10] Phil Collins played drums on several tracks, including the opener, "Intruder", which featured the reverse-gated, cymbal-less drum kit sound which Collins would also use on his single "In the Air Tonight" and through the rest of the 1980s. Gabriel had requested that his drummers use no cymbals in the album's sessions, and when he heard the result he asked Collins to play a simple pattern for several minutes, then built "Intruder" around it. The album achieved some chart success with the songs "Games Without Frontiers" (#4 U.K, #48 U.S.), and "Biko".

Arduous and occasionally damp recording sessions at his rural English estate in 1981 and 1982 resulted in Gabriel's fourth LP release, on which Gabriel took more production responsibility. It was one of the first commercial albums recorded entirely to digital tape (using a Sony mobile truck), and featured the early, extremely expensive, Fairlight CMI sampling computer, which had already made its first brief appearances on the previous album. Gabriel combined a variety of sampled and deconstructed sounds with world-beat percussion and other unusual instrumentation to create a radically new, emotionally charged soundscape. Furthermore, the sleeve art consisted of inscrutable, video-based imagery. Despite the album's peculiar sound, odd appearance, and often disturbing themes, it sold very well. This album featured his first Top 40 hit in the U.S., "Shock the Monkey", as well as the song "I Have the Touch". The music video for "Shock the Monkey", which featured Gabriel in white face paint and a caged macaque, held the #1 spot on "MTV" for 9 weeks. Geffen records forced Peter to give his fourth self-titled album a name in the US - Security - to mark his arrival on the label and to differentiate his fourth album from the other three.

Alternate versions of Gabriel's third and fourth albums were also released with German lyrics. Peter Gabriel 3 consisted of basically the same recording overdubbed with new vocals, while Security was also remixed and several tracks were extended or altered in slight ways.

Gabriel toured extensively for each of his albums. Initially, he pointedly eschewed the theatrics that had defined his tenure with Genesis. For his second solo tour, his entire band shaved their heads. By the time of Security he began involving elaborate stage props and acrobatics which had him suspended from gantries, distorting his face with Fresnel lenses and mirrors, and wearing unusual make-up. His 1982–83 tour included a section opening for David Bowie. Recordings of this tour were released as the double LP Plays Live.

The stage was set for Gabriel's critical and commercial breakout with his next studio release, which was in production for almost three years. During the recording and production of the album he also found time to develop the film soundtrack for Alan Parker's 1984 feature Birdy, which consisted of new material as well as remixed instrumental tracks from his previous studio album.

[edit] So, Passion and Us (1986–1994)

	"Don't Give Up" noicon A 1986 duet with Kate Bush, "Don't Give Up" tells of the despair of a man who feels defeated by the economic system, and the support and wise counsel sung in the refrain.
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

Gabriel achieved his greatest popularity with songs from the 1986 album So.^[11] The album charted at number 1 in the UK Album Chart, and number 2 on the Billboard 200 in the US.^[12][13] It is certified triple platinum in the UK, and five times platinum in the US.^[14][15] The album produced three UK Top 20 hits, "Sledgehammer", "Big Time", and "Don't Give Up" — a duet with Kate Bush.^[12] The album also produced three Top 40 hits in the U.S., "Sledgehammer", "In Your Eyes" (featured in the John Cusack film Say Anything), and "Big Time".^[13] "Sledgehammer", peaked at #1 in the U.S., knocking Genesis' "Invisible Touch" off the top spot, and #4 in the UK.^[13] The ballad "Don't Give Up" was about the devastation of unemployment. Gabriel co-produced So with Daniel Lanois, also known for his work with U2 and Brian Eno.^[16] In 1990, Rolling Stone ranked So number #14 on its list of "Top 100 Albums of the Eighties".^[17]

Gabriel's song "Sledgehammer", which dealt specifically with the themes of sex and sexual relations, was accompanied by a much-lauded music video, which was a collaboration with director Stephen R. Johnson, Aardman Animations, and the Brothers Quay.^[2] The video set a new standard for art in the music video industry, and won nine MTV Video Music Awards in 1987, a record which still stands as of 2011.^[2] "Sledgehammer" is the most played music video in the history of MTV, and in 1998 it was named the station's number one animated video of all time.^[2][18] A follow-up video for the song "Big Time" also broke new ground in music video animation and special effects. The song is a story of "what happens to you when you become a little too successful", in Gabriel's words. The success of the album earned Peter Gabriel two awards at the Brit Awards in 1987: Best British Male Solo Artist and Best British Video for "Sledgehammer".^[4] Gabriel was also nominated for three Grammy Awards: Best Male Rock Vocal Performance, Song of the Year, and Record of the Year.^[19]

In 1989, Gabriel released Passion, the soundtrack for Martin Scorsese's movie The Last Temptation of Christ. For this work he received his first Grammy Award, in the category of Best New Age Performance. He also received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Score - Motion Picture.

Following this, Gabriel released Us in 1992 (also co-produced with Daniel Lanois), an album in which he explored the pain of recent personal problems; his failed first marriage, and the growing distance between him and his first daughter.

Gabriel's introspection within the context of the album Us can be seen in the first single release "Digging in the Dirt" directed by John Downer. Accompanied by a disturbing video featuring Gabriel covered in snails and various foliage, this song made reference to the psychotherapy which had taken up much of Gabriel's time since the previous album. Gabriel describes his struggle to get through to his daughter in "Come Talk To Me" directed by Matt Mahurin, which featured backing vocals by Sinéad O'Connor. O'Connor also lent vocals to "Blood of Eden", directed by Nichola Bruce and Michael Coulson, the third single to be released from the album, and once again dealing with relationship struggles, this time going right back to Adam's rib for inspiration. The result was one of Gabriel's most personal albums. It met with less success than So, reaching #2 in the album chart on both sides of the Atlantic, and making modest chart impact with the singles "Digging in the Dirt" and the funkier "Steam", which evoked memories of "Sledgehammer". Gabriel followed the release of the album with a world tour (with Paula Cole or Joy Askew filling O'Connor's vocal role) and accompanying double CD and DVD Secret World Live in 1994.

Gabriel employed an innovative approach in the marketing of the Us album. Not wishing to feature only images of himself, he asked artist filmmakers Nichola Bruce and Michael Coulson to coordinate a marketing campaign using contemporary artists. Artists such as Helen Chadwick, Rebecca Horn, Nils Udo, Andy Goldsworthy, David Mach and Yayoi Kusama collaborated to create original artworks for each of the 11 songs on the multi-million-selling CD. Coulson and Bruce documented the process on Hi-8 video. Bruce left Real World and Coulson continued with the campaign, using the documentary background material as the basis for a promotional EPK, the long-form video All About Us and the interactive CD-ROM Xplora1.

Gabriel won three more Grammy Awards, all in the Music Video category. He won the Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video in 1993 and 1994 for the videos to "Digging in the Dirt" and "Steam" respectively. Gabriel also won the 1996 Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video for his Secret World Live video.

[edit] OVO, Up, Scratch My Back and New Blood (1995–present)

After five years of not releasing any new music, Gabriel re-emerged with OVO, a soundtrack for the live Millennium Dome Show in London in 2000, and Long Walk Home, the music from the Australian movie Rabbit-Proof Fence, early in 2002. This soundtrack also received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Score – Motion Picture.

In September 2002, Gabriel released Up, his first full-length studio album in a decade. Entirely self-produced, Up returned to some of the themes of his work in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Three singles failed to make an impression on the charts—in part because almost every track exceeded six minutes in length, with multiple sections—but the album sold well globally, as Gabriel continued to draw from a loyal fan base from his almost forty years in the music business. Up was followed by a world tour featuring his daughter Melanie Gabriel on backing vocals, and two concert DVDs, Growing Up Live (2003) and Still Growing Up: Live & Unwrapped (2004).

In 2008, Gabriel contributed to the WALL-E soundtrack several new songs with Thomas Newman, including the film's closing song, "Down to Earth", for which they received the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media. The song was also nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Original Song - Motion Picture and the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

In 2010, Gabriel released Scratch My Back. The album is made up entirely of cover songs including material written by David Bowie, Lou Reed, Arcade Fire, Radiohead, Regina Spektor, Neil Young, and more. The concept for the record is that Gabriel covers songs by various artists and those artists in turn will cover Gabriel songs to be released on a future follow-up album called I'll Scratch Yours. Scratch My Back features only orchestral instrumentation; there are no guitars, drums, or electronic elements that are usual attributes of Gabriel records. A very brief tour followed the album's release where Gabriel performed with a full orchestra and two female backup singers, his daughter Melanie Gabriel and Norwegian singer-songwriter Ane Brun.

On 11 October 2011, Gabriel released New Blood, a collection of his earlier songs recorded with an orchestra. A special edition of the album features solely instrumental versions of some of the songs.

In Fall 2012, Gabriel will embark on the Back to Front Tour in which he will perform the entire So album to celebrate its 25th anniversary.^[20]

Musicians and collaborators[link]

Gabriel has worked with a relatively stable crew of musicians and recording engineers throughout his solo career. Bass and Stick player Tony Levin, for example, has appeared on every Gabriel studio album (except Scratch My Back and the soundtracks Passion and Long Walk Home) and has performed on every Gabriel solo tour (except The New Blood Tour). Guitar player David Rhodes has been Gabriel’s guitarist of choice since 1979. Prior to So, Jerry Marotta was Gabriel's preferred drummer, both in the studio and on the road. (For the So and Us albums and tours Marotta was replaced by Manu Katché, who was then replaced by Ged Lynch on parts of the Up album and all of the subsequent tour). Gabriel is known for choosing top-flight collaborators, from co-producers such as Ezrin, Fripp, Lillywhite, and Lanois to musicians such as Natalie Merchant, Elizabeth Fraser, L. Shankar, Trent Reznor, Youssou N'Dour, Larry Fast, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Sinéad O'Connor, Kate Bush, Ane Brun, Paula Cole, John Giblin, Peter Hammill, Papa Wemba, Manu Katché, Bayete, Phil Collins (as drummer), and Stewart Copeland.

Over the years, Gabriel has collaborated with singer Kate Bush several times; Bush provided backing vocals for Gabriel's "Games Without Frontiers" and "No Self Control" in 1980, and female lead vocal for "Don't Give Up" (a Top 10 hit in the UK) in 1986, and Gabriel appeared on her television special. Their duet of Roy Harper's "Another Day" was discussed for release as a single, but never appeared.

He also collaborated with Laurie Anderson on two versions of her composition "Excellent Birds" – one for her 1984 album Mister Heartbreak, and a slightly different version called "This is the Picture (Excellent Birds)", which appeared on cassette and CD versions of So. In 1987, when presenting Gabriel with an award for his music videos, Anderson related an occasion in which a recording session had gone late into the night and Gabriel's voice had begun to sound somewhat strange, almost dreamlike. It was discovered that he had fallen asleep in front of the microphone, but had continued to sing.

Gabriel sang (along with Jim Kerr of Simple Minds) on "Everywhere I Go", from The Call's 1986 release, Reconciled. On Toni Childs' 1994 CD, The Woman's Boat, Gabriel sang on the track, "I Met a Man".

In 1998, Gabriel appeared on the soundtrack of Babe: Pig in the City, not as a composer, but as the singer of the song "That'll Do", written by Randy Newman. The song was nominated for an Academy Award, and Gabriel and Newman performed it at the following year's Oscar telecast. He performed a similar soundtrack appearance for the 2004 film Shall We Dance?, singing a cover version of "The Book of Love" by The Magnetic Fields.

Gabriel has also appeared on Robbie Robertson's self-titled album, singing on "Fallen Angel"; co-written two Tom Robinson singles; and appeared on Joni Mitchell's 1988 album Chalk Mark in a Rainstorm, on the track "My Secret Place".

In 2001, Gabriel contributed lead vocals to the song "When You're Falling" on Afro Celt Sound System's Volume 3: Further in Time.^[21] In the summer of 2003, Gabriel performed in Ohio with a guest performance by Uzbek singer Sevara Nazarkhan.

Gabriel collaborated on tracks with electronic musician BT. The tracks were never released, as the computers they were contained on were stolen from BT's home in California. He also sang the lyrics for Deep Forest on their theme song for the movie Strange Days. In addition, Gabriel has appeared on Angelique Kidjo's 2007 album Djin Djin, singing on the song "Salala".

Gabriel has recorded a cover of the Vampire Weekend single "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" with Hot Chip, where his name is mentioned several times in the chorus. He substitutes the original line "But this feels so unnatural / Peter Gabriel too / This feels so unnatural/ Peter Gabriel too" with "It feels so unnatural / Peter Gabriel too / and it feels so unnatural / to sing your own name."

WOMAD and other projects[link]

Gabriel has been interested in world music for many years, with the first musical evidence appearing on his third album. This influence has increased over time, and he is the driving force behind the World of Music, Arts and Dance (WOMAD) movement. He created the Real World Studios and record label to facilitate the creation and distribution of such music by various artists, and he has worked to educate Western culture about the work of such musicians as Yungchen Lhamo, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Youssou N'dour. He has a long-standing interest in human rights, and launched Witness,^[22] a nonprofit which trains human rights activists to use video and online technologies to expose human rights abuses. In 2006 his work with WITNESS and his long standing support of peace and human rights causes was recognised by the Nobel Peace Prize Laureates with the Man of Peace award.

In the 1990s, with Steve Nelson of Brilliant Media and director Michael Coulson, he developed advanced multimedia CD-ROM-based entertainment projects, creating the acclaimed Xplora (the world's largest selling music CD-ROM), and subsequently the EVE CD-ROM. EVE was a music and art adventure game directed by Michael Coulson and co-produced by the Starwave Corporation in Seattle; it won the prestigious Milia d'Or award Grand Prize at the Cannes in 1996 and featured themes and interactivity well in advance of its time. Xplora and EVE can no longer be played on modern PCs, due to changes to their operating systems.

In 1994, Gabriel starred in the Breck Eisner short film "Recon" as a detective who enters the minds of murder victims to find their killer's identity.

Gabriel helped pioneer a new realm of musical interaction in 2001, visiting Georgia State University's Language Research Center to participate in keyboard jam sessions with bonobo apes from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. (This experience inspired the song "Animal Nation," which was performed on Gabriel's 2002 "Growing Up" tour and was featured on the Growing Up Live DVD and The Wild Thornberrys Movie soundtrack.) Gabriel's desire to bring attention to the intelligence of primates also took the form of ApeNet, a project that aimed to link great apes through the internet, enabling the first interspecies internet communication.^[23]

He was one of the founders of On Demand Distribution (OD2), one of the first online music download services. Its technology is used by MSN Music UK and others, and has become the dominant music download technology platform for stores in Europe. OD2 was bought by US company Loudeye in June 2004 and subsequently by Finnish mobile giant Nokia in October 2006 for $60 million.

Additionally, Gabriel is also co-founder (with Brian Eno) of a musicians union called Mudda, short for "magnificent union of digitally downloading artists."

In 2000, Peter Gabriel collaborated with Zucchero, Anggun and others in charity for kids with AIDS. Erick Benzi have write words and music and Patrick Bruel, Stephan Eicher, Faudel, Lokua Kanza, Laam, Nourith, Axelle Red have accept to sing it.

In 2003, Gabriel's song "Burn You Up, Burn You Down" was featured in Cyan Worlds' video game Uru: Ages Beyond Myst. In 2004, Gabriel contributed another song ("Curtains") and contributed voice work on another game in the Myst franchise, Myst IV: Revelation.

During the latter part of 2004, Gabriel spent time in a village in eastern Nepal with musician Ram Sharan Nepali, learning esoteric vocal techniques. Gabriel subsequently invited Nepali to attend and perform at the Womad festival in Adelaide, Australia.

In June 2005, Gabriel and broadcast industry entrepreneur David Engelke purchased Solid State Logic, a leading manufacturer of mixing consoles and digital audio workstations.^[24] SSL is among the top 2 or 3 recording console manufacturers in the world of recording.

In May 2008, Gabriel's Real World Studios, in partnership with Bowers & Wilkins, started the Bowers & Wilkins Music Club - now known as Society of Sound - a subscription-based music retail site. Albums are currently available in either Apple Lossless or Flac format.^[25]

Activist for humanitarian causes[link]

In 1986 he started what has become a longstanding association with Amnesty International, becoming a pioneering participant in all 28 of Amnesty's Human Rights Concerts — a series of music events and tours staged by the US Section of Amnesty International between 1986-1998. He performed during the six-concert A Conspiracy of Hope US tour in June 1986; the twenty-concert Human Rights Now! world tour in 1988; the Chile: Embrace Of Hope Concert in 1990 and at The Paris Concert For Amnesty International in 1998. He also performed in Amnesty's Secret Policeman's Ball benefit shows.^[26] He spoke of his support for Amnesty on NBC's Today Show in 1986.^[27]

Inspired by the social activism he encountered in his work with Amnesty, in 1992 Gabriel co-founded WITNESS, a non-profit group that equips, trains and supports locally-based organizations worldwide to use video and the internet in human rights documentation and advocacy.

In 1995, Gabriel and Cape Verdean human rights activist Vera Duarte were awarded the North-South Prize in its inaugural year.^[28][29]

Peter Gabriel at WITNESS Gala 2007

In the late 1990s, Gabriel and entrepreneur Richard Branson discussed with Nelson Mandela their idea of a small, dedicated group of leaders, working objectively and without any vested personal interest to solve difficult global conflicts.

On 18 July 2007, in Johannesburg, South Africa, Nelson Mandela announced the formation of a new group, Global Elders, in a speech he delivered on the occasion of his 89th birthday. The present members of this group are Desmond Tutu, Graça Machel, Kofi Annan, Ela Bhatt, Lakhdar Brahimi, Gro Harlem Brundtland, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Jimmy Carter, Mary Robinson, Muhammad Yunus, and Aung San Suu Kyi (with an empty chair for her).^[30]

The Elders will be independently funded by a group of "Founders", including Branson and Gabriel.

Desmond Tutu serves as the chair of the Elders, who will use their collective skills to catalyse peaceful resolutions to long-standing conflicts, articulate new approaches to global issues that are causing or may later cause immense human suffering, and share wisdom by helping to connect voices all over the world. They will work together over the next several months to consider carefully which specific issues they will confront.

In November 2007 Gabriel's non-profit group WITNESS launched The Hub, a participatory media site for human rights.

In September 2008 Gabriel was named as the recipient of Amnesty International’s 2008 Ambassador of Conscience Award. In the same month, he received Quadriga United We Care award of Werkstatt Deutschland along with Boris Tadić, Eckart Höfling and Wikipedia. The award was presented to him by Queen Silvia of Sweden.^[31]

Gabriel lent his support to the campaign to release Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, an Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning after being convicted of committing adultery.^[32]

Politics[link]