Big Blue Ball

Comprising dozens of musicians from various countries around the world, Big Blue Ball is a collaborative project that began to take shape in the early '90s before finally being released as a full-length album in 2008. Produced by Peter Gabriel along with Karl Wallinger of World Party and Waterboys fame and Stephen Hague of New Order and Pet Shop Boys fame, the Big Blue Ball sessions originally began in 1991 at Gabriel's Real World Studios in England. Over time the sessions included the participation of vocalists Sinéad O'Connor (of Ireland), Tim Finn (New Zealand), Natacha Atlas (Belgium), Papa Wemba (Congo), Joseph Arthur (United States), Iarla Ó Lionáird (Ireland), Hukwe Zawose (Tanzania), Márta Sebestyén (Hungary), and others. Other noteworthy participants in the Big Blue Ball sessions include American guitarist Vernon Reid, American producer/multi-instrumentalist Tchad Blake, Cameroonian singer/multi-instrumentalist Francis Bebey, British guitarist Justin Adams, British bassist Jah Wobble, American guitarist Wendy Melvoin, Japanese percussionist Joji Hirota, Spanish guitarist Juan Cañizares, French drummer Manu Katché, and many others. Upon its release in 2008 on Gabriel's label Real World Records (a whopping 17 years after the recording sessions began), Big Blue Ball proved internationally popular, especially in France, where the album peaked at number 12 on the albums chart.