• Michael Rutherford - bass, guitar
• Tony Banks - keyboards
• Ray Wilson - vocals (left 1999)
• Phil Collins - vocals, drums (left 1996)
• Steve Hackett - guitar (left 1977)
• Peter Gabriel - vocals, flute (left 1975)
• Anthony Phillips - guitar (left 1970)
• John Mayhew - drums (left 1970)
• John Silver - drums (left 1969)
• Chris Stewart - drums (left 1968)

Prog legends, art rock innovators, pop superstars... take your pick.

Back in the day, when Peter Gabriel was happy to dress as a giant flower and Phil Collins was a respected drummer with so much hair he was forced to wear some of it on his chin, Genesis were responsible for some of the finest moments in the prog rock canon; among them the sumptuous 'Firth of Fifth', the epic 'Supper's Ready' and the mad, incestuous ghost/love fairy tale 'The Musical Box'. After recording the wonderful, if slightly bloated and lyrically impenetrable double-album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, Gabriel left, feeling he had achieved all he could with the band. He later became the only man to release albums during the '80s and survive with his dignity intact.

Meanwhile, back in Genesis land, Collins took over vocal duties, punk happened, and the band did the only sensible thing: they flirted with jazz-rock. In 1977 they made the mistake of leaving a couple of guitarist Steve Hackett's (good) songs off their (pretty lame, really) Wind and Wuthering album: Hackett responded by quitting the band and recording his own album, which was better. Genesis shrugged and continued as a trio, recording some of the most creative synth pop of the early '80s, and 'Invisible Touch'. Realising 1991's housewife-pleasing We Can't Dance album was just like one of his dull solo albums but with less royalties, Phil Collins jumped ship and hot-footed it to Switzerland, pausing just long enough to fax his wife and cement his reputation as a cunt of the highest order. His ex-bandmates sat on their arses for a few years, then recorded an album with the bloke out of Stiltskin (which probably seemed like a good idea at the time) before going their separate ways and never being quite as successful ever again (which probably didn't seem like such a good idea at the time, but at least it's less embarrassing).

Over the years, individual members have been responsible for such timeless classics as 'Solsbury Hill', 'In The Air Tonight', 'Over My Shoulder' by Mike and the Mechanics, and that 'Driving Over Lemons' book you bought for your Mum a few Christmases back.

News

• 17/06/2008: Mojo Awards '08: two minutes hate
• 06/10/2006: WIN? The most awful single we've heard all year!
• 02/10/2006: Genesis to tour next year
• 26/05/2006: Bloated? Seems apt that Gut are releasing a Prog Rock comp...
• 11/11/2005: Gabriel talks up Genesis reformation

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