Steve Hackett

Raised on a diet of classical music, Londoner Steve Hackett discovered the great British blues guitarists of the 1960s as a teenager before becoming a revered axe man in his own right with legendary prog rockers Genesis. Part of the band's classic early line-up, Hackett played on landmark albums 'Selling England By the Pound' (1973) and 'A Trick of the Tail' (1976) but left the group in 1977 after releasing acclaimed solo debut 'Voyage of the Acolyte' (1975).

Famed for being one of the first rock guitarists to pioneer the two-handed tapping technique, Hackett went on to work with Richie Havens, Randy Crawford and Steve Walsh on 'Please Don't Touch' (1978) and made the UK top ten with 'Defector' (1980) before founding the supergroup GTR with Yes guitarist Steve Howe in 1985. In a solo career that dabbled with blues, folk, world and classical influences, other hit albums include 'Cured' (1981) and 'Highly Strung' (1982) and Hackett worked with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra on 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' (1997), a neo-classical, instrumental record based on the Shakespeare play.

In 2000, Hackett took a different route when he teamed up with his brother John to record a tribute album to French composer Erik Satie titled 'Sketches for Satie' featuring Satie's works arranged for flute and guitar. 2003 saw the release of 'To Watch the Storms' marking his return to progressive rock. He followed this with the orchestral 'Metamorpheus' in 2005, rock album 'Wild Orchids' in 2006, classical 'Tribute' in 2008 and prog rock 'Out of the Tunnel's Mouth' in 2009 which featured Anthony Phillips from Genesis and Chris Squire from Yes. 'Beyond the Shrouded Horizon' came in 2011, 'A Life Within a Day' with Squire in 2012, 'Wolflight' in 2015 and 'The Night Siren' in 2017. He began work on his 25th studio album 'At the Edge of Light' soon after, eventually releasing in January 2019.