Steve Hackett is one of progressive rock’s most inventive and respected guitarists — the man whose atmospheric, innovative playing helped define the classic sound of Genesis, and who has spent five decades since building one of the genre’s richest and most adventurous solo catalogues. Lyrical, restlessly curious and quietly virtuosic, he is a guitarist’s guitarist with a composer’s imagination.

The short version

After making his name as the guitarist in Genesis during their celebrated early-1970s peak, Steve Hackett launched a solo career that began, remarkably, while he was still in the band, with the symphonic-prog classic “Voyage of the Acolyte” (1975). Going fully solo in 1977, he has ranged across symphonic rock, classical guitar, blues and world music ever since, and in recent years has become a beloved custodian of the Genesis legacy through his acclaimed “Genesis Revisited” project. His is a body of work of remarkable depth and variety.

From Genesis to a solo voice

Steve Hackett joined Genesis in 1971, becoming the guitarist on their most revered albums and a key part of their classic five-piece line-up. A genuine innovator, he is widely credited as an early pioneer of guitar techniques such as two-handed tapping and sweep picking — methods later popularised by others — and his use of sustain, controlled feedback and atmospheric texture brought a distinctive, painterly quality to the band’s music. Even before leaving Genesis, he stepped out on his own: “Voyage of the Acolyte” (1975), recorded during a band break and featuring his Genesis bandmates Phil Collins and Mike Rutherford, was a fully realised symphonic-prog statement. Frustrated by the limited room for his own material within Genesis, he left in 1977 to pursue his solo vision full time.

Lyrical guitar and symphonic scope

Hackett’s music is built around his unmistakable guitar voice — sustained, singing, deeply melodic, and capable of both delicate beauty and dramatic power. As a composer he draws on an unusually broad palette: the symphonic grandeur of classic prog, the intimacy of nylon-string classical guitar, the textures of world music, and a flair for the cinematic and the atmospheric. His brother John Hackett’s flute, lush keyboards and a rotating cast of gifted collaborators have long coloured his work. Across it all runs a sense of curiosity and craft, of a musician forever exploring new sounds rather than repeating a formula.

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The classic solo run

Having gone solo, Hackett produced a string of acclaimed albums. “Please Don’t Touch!” (1978) was an eclectic showcase featuring an array of guest vocalists, while “Spectral Mornings” (1979) — a fan favourite with its beloved title track — saw him settle into a rich symphonic style with his own band. “Defector” (1980) continued in that vein, before “Cured” (1981) and “Highly Strung” (1983) embraced a more streamlined, accessible sound with Hackett increasingly taking the lead vocals himself. “Till We Have Faces” (1984) found him experimenting boldly, incorporating Brazilian percussion and rhythms. Alongside these rock albums he also pursued a parallel love of classical guitar, and in 1986 enjoyed mainstream success with GTR, a supergroup formed with fellow guitar virtuoso Steve Howe of Yes.

Reinvention and Genesis Revisited

After a productive but lower-profile spell, Hackett’s solo career found renewed energy from the 1990s onward, with albums like “Guitar Noir” (1993) and a blues record showing his range. But the project that most transformed his later career was “Genesis Revisited” — a series of re-recordings and, crucially, live tours in which Hackett performs the classic Genesis material in full. Embraced enthusiastically by fans, especially as Genesis themselves no longer play their early repertoire, these tours and albums have made him the foremost living standard-bearer of vintage Genesis. At the same time, his own new music has flourished: ambitious, world-spanning albums such as “To Watch the Storms” (2003), “Wolflight” (2015) and “The Night Siren” (2017) confirm a creative late-career renaissance.

Album by album

A selection spanning Hackett’s long and varied solo career, from the 1975 debut onward. Tap any title for its guide.

The artist

Steve Hackett (guitars, vocals, composition) is the constant at the heart of this music, but he has always been a generous collaborator. His brother John Hackett (flute) has been a frequent presence, and over the decades his bands have featured gifted players including keyboardists Nick Magnus and, more recently, Roger King, multi-instrumentalist Rob Townsend, and vocalist Nad Sylvan, who has fronted the Genesis Revisited shows. Old friends from the prog world, among them Robert Fripp, have guested on his albums. Together they realise Hackett’s wide-ranging musical vision — though the singing, soaring guitar at the centre is always unmistakably his.

Where to start

Begin with “Spectral Mornings” (1979), widely regarded as the finest of his classic solo albums and a perfect distillation of his melodic, symphonic style. The debut “Voyage of the Acolyte” (1975) is essential for anyone who loves classic Genesis, given its sound and personnel. For his acclaimed later work, “Wolflight” (2015) or “The Night Siren” (2017) show his continued ambition. And his “Genesis Revisited” live recordings are a joy for any fan of the early band.

Why he still matters

Steve Hackett occupies a special place in progressive rock — both as an architect of the classic Genesis sound and as a solo artist of remarkable longevity and range. His innovations on the guitar influenced players far beyond the prog world, and his solo catalogue, spanning symphonic rock, classical guitar, blues and world music, is among the most varied and rewarding any prog musician has produced. In keeping the early Genesis flame alive, he has also become a vital link to one of the genre’s golden eras. Restless, melodic and endlessly creative, Steve Hackett remains essential listening for anyone who loves the guitar — and the boundless ambition of progressive rock.

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