Peter Gabriel

Art-rock godfather Peter Gabriel has been blasting away at pop music's boundaries ever since founding Genesis in the late '60s, but on his own he's blazed an even more expectation-shattering trail. He was one of the first — if not the only — prog-rock vets to win converts in the new-wave era, with the edgy, angular, and danceable smash "Games Without Frontiers." Gabriel's world-music wallop and global politics sprang into view with the soul-stirring anti-apartheid anthem "Biko." But when he blossomed into full-fledged superstardom with the groove-packed, sexy slam-bang of "Sledgehammer" and the synth-funk zap of "Shock the Monkey," the world was truly Gabriel's oyster.

Hear Gabriel zig while the rest of the world zags, getting his shimmering soundtracks and global boogie on, in Next Steps.

Constantly moving at odd angles to the rest of the rock world, Peter Gabriel has taught his fans to expect the unexpected. The man who helmed double-album art-rock operas with Genesis pounded out a pulsing, punky ode to keeping things small on "D.I.Y." Before long, Gabriel left standard rock 'n' roll beats in the dust when he leaped headfirst into the percolating polyrhythms of "San Jacinto," where Native American imagery dances to a Balinese gamelan groove, and the electro-boogieing world-beat blast of "I Have the Touch." And for a while, he left pop music itself behind by plunging into the orchestral, atmospheric territory of movie music, leading multi-culti ambient excursions like "Passion" from The Last Temptation of Christ.

Follow Gabriel on his strange journey inside some unforgettable characters, in Deep Cuts.

Part of what makes Peter Gabriel such an unparalleled songwriter is his knack for slipping into the skin of unconventional characters and bringing their skewed visions to life. On "Family Snapshot," he inhabits the narrator's personality with such compassion that you can't help but feel sympathy for a psychotic soon-to-be assassin. He dips into the Talking Heads' songbook to deliver a ghostly chamber-pop take on "Listening Wind," one of the only songs ever to examine terrorism from the inside out. But Gabriel really doesn't even need words in order to tell a startling story — he scored Birdy with otherworldly mood-setters like "Slow Marimbas," evoking the strange world inside the mind of Matthew Modine's traumatized Vietnam vet.

After making some of the most challenging sounds of the '70s with Genesis, Peter Gabriel pursued his unquenchable desire for new artistic frontiers, becoming an icon of the '80s in the process. Perhaps only Prince has made as much subversive, left-of-center music while remaining so consistently in the superstar spotlight. But besides his innovative work in world music, production, and video technology, Gabriel has used his celebrity status to promote human rights on a global level, spearheading the legendary Amnesty International tour and watchdog organization WITNESS. And through his WOMAD group, and Real World label and studio, he's done more to promote international music than just about anybody. Where do you start with Gabriel's staggering story? Not to worry — we've plucked the pearls from his eccentric art-rock extravaganzas, ethno-funk adventures, '80s pop blockbusters and more, placing them all just a click away from your fingertips.