“People say Genesis ended when Peter Gabriel left, or when Steve Hackett left. But he was the anchor that everything else revolved around”: An appreciation of Tony Banks, by John Boegehold

British Pop and Rock musician Tony Banks of the group Genesis performs onstage at the Rosemont Horizon, Rosemont, Illinois, November 11, 1983. (Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images).

n 2019, as part of Prog’s feature on the 100 greatest artists of the genre, Pattern-Seeking Animals keyboardist John Boegehold explained why Genesis counterpart Tony Banks had always stood out for him – even if Banks tried to avoid doing so.

“When, as a teenager, I first started to get into what was called ‘art rock’ in the 70s, it was the typical bands: Yes, ELP, all of that stuff. I wasn’t playing music at that point, but I was already more attracted to the really flashy keyboard players like Rick Wakeman and Keith Emerson.