He is a classically trained songwriter, pianist and keyboard player and a self-taught guitarist born Anthony George Banks in East Hoathly, Sussex, England.
He formed the band The Garden Wall with Peter Gabriel and Chris Stewart when they were at Charterhouse School. they merged with the group called Anon that included Mike Rutherford and Anthony Philips and ultimately became the successful band, Genesis .
He co-wrote many of the songs for Genesis including “Mad Man Moon”, “One for the Vine” and “Afterglow” and while Genesis was taking a break he wrote the classical music album Seven: A Suite for Orchestra. In 2012 he released his second classical album Six Pieces for Orchestra which was performed by the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.
On 26 March 2012, Banks’s second classical album was released, entitled Six Pieces for Orchestra, performed by the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra
In his solo work he has worked with artists including Fish, Jim Diamond, Toyah Wilcox, Nik Kershaw and Andy Taylor. He also wrote the score for the film Quicksilver but was fired from the 2010 movie by the director.
In 1998 a tribute band was formed in honour of him called Strictly Banks.
Genesis Recordings
Ballad of Big (Tony Banks/Phil Collins/Mike Rutherford)
Behind the Lines Part II (Tony Banks/Phil Collins/Mike Rutherford)
Follow You, Follow Me (Tony Banks/Phil Collins/Mike Rutherford)
Me and Virgil *(Tony Banks/Phil Collins/Mike Rutherford)
Paperlate* (Phil Collins/Tony Banks/Mike Rutherford)
Turn It On Again (Tony Banks/Phil Collins/Mike Rutherford)
You Might Recall* (Tony Banks/Phil Collins/Mike Rutherford)
Sources:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Banks_%28musician%29
- http://www.tonybanks-online.com/index2.php?lang=en
- http://imdb.com/name/nm0052256/