Tony Banks

Anthony George Banks (born 27 March 1950) is an English musician, songwriter, singer and film composer primarily known as the keyboardist and founding member of the rock band Genesis.

Banks is also a prolific solo artist, releasing six solo studio albums that range through progressive rock, pop, and classical music.

Anthony George Banks was born on 27 March 1950 in East Hoathly with Halland, East Sussex as the youngest of five children.

He cites his mother, a pianist, as being particularly into music, and first listened to classical music albums that she owned from around six before he moved to musical theatre compositions by Rodgers and Hammerstein.

Banks's elder brother introduced him to a wider variety, naming "Sixteen Tons" sung by Frankie Laine as one of the songs, and said, "By 1961, and for the next five to six years, I was music mad!"

Banks started piano lessons at school at eight with the headmaster's wife, but did not enjoy tuition at first because he was "quite forced into it" by his parents until he grew to enjoy it.

He considered himself an average piano player, and learned to recite pieces by Sergei Rachmaninoff and Maurice Ravel, his two favourite piano composers, by ear.

At 13, he began lessons with an unsuitable teacher who made him lose interest in classical music, but he then started to recite songs by ear that he heard on the radio.

Months later, he acquired a new piano teacher who sparked his interest in classical compositions once more, which became a deciding factor for Banks's decision to pursue a career in music.

In addition to the piano, Banks taught himself to play the guitar.

At seven, Banks began six years of study at Boarzell Preparatory School, a boarding school in Hurst Green.

In September 1963, Banks began study at Charterhouse School, a private school in Godalming, Surrey.

He studied classical piano as an extracurricular subject.

Shortly after his arrival he befriended fellow pupil and future Genesis bandmate Peter Gabriel, initially over their general distaste for the school's environment.

They went on to play in Garden Wall, a school band with drummer Chris Stewart.

Banks co-founded Genesis in 1967 while studying at Charterhouse.

He was their keyboardist and one of their principal songwriters and lyricists.

He became a frequent user of the Hammond T-102 organ, Mellotron, ARP Pro Soloist and Yamaha CP-70 piano.

In the band's earliest years Banks would play acoustic guitar for some of the mellow and pastoral songs.

In early 1967, they merged with guitarists Mike Rutherford and Anthony Phillips, two members of Anon, another school band, to record a series of demos which led to the formation of their new band Genesis.

Banks originally planned to study mathematics in higher education.

After leaving Charterhouse, Banks began studying chemistry at Sussex University but soon switched to physics and philosophy.

After a year at Sussex, he took a leave of absence in 1969 to explore a career with Genesis since the group had split but decided to reform and become a full-time professional band.

Banks never returned to the university.

Banks's elaborate arrangements and keyboard solos – such as the piano introduction to "Firth of Fifth" and the instrumental sections of "The Cinema Show", "Watcher of the Skies", and "Supper's Ready" – helped to establish Genesis's sound.

In addition to playing keyboards, Banks contributed (along with Anthony Phillips, Steve Hackett and Rutherford) to Genesis's 12-string acoustic passages in songs such as "The Musical Box", "Entangled", "The Cinema Show", and the beginning part of "Supper's Ready".

Banks also was an occasional back-up vocalist and sang co-lead vocals on "Shepherd", an unreleased track from 1970 which finally surfaced on the Genesis Archive 1967–75 boxed set.

He and Rutherford can be seen singing alongside Collins in a comedic falsetto during the ending of the Invisible Touch video.

Notable Banks-penned Genesis songs (post Peter Gabriel) include "Mad Man Moon", "One for the Vine" and the anthemic ballad "Afterglow", which remained a popular coda to the Banks-driven medleys that the group played during live shows for years.

Banks first thought of making a solo album in 1975, following Gabriel's departure from Genesis.

He had a group of songs in development at the time which were used on A Trick of the Tail (1976), their first album recorded without Gabriel, including "Mad Man Moon" and sections of "Entangled" and "Ripples".

In 1979, after Genesis had entered a break in activity, Banks and Rutherford travelled to Polar Studios in Stockholm and recorded their first studio albums.

Banks's album, A Curious Feeling, was released first in October of that year.

It was originally meant to be based and titled after the short story Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, and Banks had written a complete set of lyrics for the story, but shelved the idea after he was made aware of an upcoming musical about the book.

In 1997, Banks turned down an invitation to play on Steve Hackett's solo album Genesis Revisited as he disliked going over past material and an appearance would have added confusion to the fact that Genesis were close to putting out Calling All Stations.

After Genesis split in 1998, Banks's career stagnated, and he considered retirement from music.

It was during this time that he began composing, titling an early piece "Black Down" which led to his decision to pursue orchestra composition.

In 2010, Banks was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Genesis.

In 2011, he was included on MusicRadar's list of the 27 greatest keyboard players of all time.

In 2015, he was named "Prog God" at the Progressive Music Awards.