Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English musician and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis . After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career . More recently he has focused on producing and promoting world music and pioneering digital distribution methods for music . He has also been involved in various humanitarian efforts . Gabriel was awarded the Polar Music Prize in 2009 . A lover of soul music, Gabriel was influenced by many different sources in his way of singing – mainly Otis Redding and other soul singers, as well as Family lead singer Roger Chapman . In 1970, he played the flute on Cat Stevens' album, Mona Bone Jakon. Genesis drew some attention in England and eventually also in Italy, Belgium, Germany and other European countries, largely due to Gabriel's flamboyant stage presence, which involved numerous bizarre costume changes and comical, dreamlike stories told as the introduction to each song (originally Gabriel developed these stories solely to cover the time between songs that the rest of the band would take tuning their instruments and fixing technical glitches). The concerts made extensive use of Black light with the normal stage lighting subdued or off. A backdrop of fluorescent white sheets and a comparatively sparse stage made the band into a set of silhouettes, with Gabriel's fluorescent costume and make-up providing the only other sources of light. Among Gabriel's many famous costumes, which he developed to visualize the musical ideas of the band as well as gain press coverage were "Batwings", for the usual opening number, or "Watcher of the Skies". .