He is a guitarist/songwriter born Stephen Richard Hackett in Pimlico, London, England.
He was with the band Quiet World and then in 1970 became a member of the group Genesis. He is renowned for his mastery of guitar techniques such as “tapping” which is used in tracks such as “The Musical Box” and “Dancing in a Moonlight Night”. He also pioneered the use of “sweep-picking” which was first used on the Selling England by the Pound album and his solo on “Firth of Frith” is considered by many to be one of the great electric guitar solos.
He released his first solo album, Voyage of the Acolyte in 1975 and following its success he left the band in 1977. On leaving Genesis he made the statement “I was getting tired of bringing ideas into the group which I felt they weren’t going to do. I felt that the band was heading towards an area that was becoming very safe.”
He formed the group GTR in 1986 along with Steve Howe from Asia and Yes. His brother John is a flutist and guitar player and has appeared with him in his more recent works.
In 2009 he released his album Out of the Tunnel’s Mouth and his autobiography Sketches of Hackett. In 2011 his Beyond the Shrouded Horizon came out and the following year A Life Within a Day came out under the name of Squackett. Also in 2012 his Genesis Revisited II reached No. 24 in the UK chart. This was followed by the tour’s CD/DVD box sets which also went up the charts in 2013.
In 2015 he released Wolflight, which reached No. 31 in the UK chart. Also in 2015 the documentary The Man, The Music released by Weinerworld which went to No. 5 on the UK DVD chart. In 2017 it was the turn of The Night Siren which reached No. 28 in the UK chart.
Artists such as Yngwie Malmsteen and Mike Holmes have cited him as an influence while he has cited Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Jeff Beck and J.S. Bach as his own. His second wife, Kim Poor, is an artist and has painted the covers for all of his solo albums. He married his third wife, the author Jo Lehmann, in 2011.
In 2010 he and the other members of Genesis were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
- http://www.stevehackett.com/
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Hackett
- home.att.net/~los.endos/genesis/archive1967.htm
- http://www.allmusic.com/artist/steve-hackett-mn0000754587/biography
- https://www.discogs.com/artist/125989-Steve-Hackett