Genesis Guitarist Steve Hackett Sees Reunion With Peter Gabriel as Unlikely

When Genesis was elected to this year's class in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, fans held out a lot of hope this occasion, which has brought many other bands together, would reunite Tony Banks, Phil Collins and Mike Rutherford with former members Steve Hackett and Peter Gabriel for the first time since they toured together in 1982. Hackett will be there, along with Collins, Rutherford and Banks, but with Gabriel in preparations for his upcoming solo tour he will not attend the dinner in NYC.

With Collins currently unable to drum because of medical reasons and Gabriel continuing on with his successful solo career, the chances for a reunion of 'The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway'-era version of Genesis, one of the most influential and successful acts of the art-rock period, continues to dwindle. And guitarist Hackett, who says, "I think it would be wonderful it happens and I'm certainly up for it," knows it's becoming less likely.

"But it wouldn't surprise me if that never happens," he tells Spinner of a possible reunion. "It's so difficult to turn the clock back, for all sorts of reasons." The very candid Hackett says just look at the Hall of Fame dinner and you'll understand the difficulties the band faces. "At the moment it seems we can't get either of the singers to perform live for this induction thing," he says. "So what does that tell you about potential reunions?"

Still, he is not entirely giving up hope that the legacy of that era will continue to live on, perhaps through the possible thaetrical run of 'The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway' that has been discussed. "But maybe one day the band will be able to organize themselves to the point where there's a musical, maybe it's possible, I don't know," he says. "Maybe it'll be us doing it, maybe it'll be someone else."

Whether it does happen or not, though, Hackett, whose new solo album, 'Out of the Tunnel's Mouth,' is available through his Web site and at his shows, is fine moving on. "I love what the band did collectively when we all managed to play together and I love what the guys have done individually, of course. There's been a lot of music out of that particular school, so I'm proud of that," he says.

Genesis' Spinner Interview