Happy Birthday, Steve Hackett!

Genesis' incredible guitarist and songwriter Stephen Richard Hackett was born on this day, February 12 1950, in south-central London. He grew up with access to various musical instruments including harmonica and recorder however he started to play guitar at 12. He started his professional career quietly with three rock groups which he left later. When it was December of 1970, Hackett which was looking for a job placed an ad called: "Imaginative guitarist-writer seeks involvement with receptive musicians, determined to strive beyond existing stagnant music forms". This ad was seen by the lead vocalist of Genesis, Peter Gabriel. After losing the founder guitarist Anthony Phillips, Peter advised Hackett to listen to their latest album and after the auditioning, he was instantly in.

With his entrance band starts to have their unique sound. He became a pioneer. He used tapping technique in Nursery Cryme which is normally associated with Eddie Van Halen but actually, Hackett claims that Van Halen had told him that he learned the technique after attending a Genesis concert. He was on "Foxtrot", "Selling England by the Pound", "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" "A Trick of the Tail" and his last album with Genesis "Wind & Wuthering". He created amazing works such as "Dancing with the Moonlit Knight" and "Firth of Fifth" which his most famous solo. Hackett thought that band was restricting his freedom, and he said that he "needed autonomy" therefore he left the band to work on his solo works.

Even though he left the band, Genesis still had reunions. In 2010 the 1970-1975 Genesis including Hackett was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In his solo career, Hackett released lots of albums which some of them had collaborations with his brother who plays the flute. Some of his solo albums are even more prog than his Genesis work. He still rocks to place even he is exactly 70 years old.