Steve Hackett Net Worth

What is Steve Hackett's Net Worth?

Steve Hackett is an English musician and songwriter who has a net worth of $20 million.

Steve Hackett is best known for serving as the lead guitarist of the rock band Genesis from 1971 to 1977. He has also had a prolific solo career and been a member of such groups as GTR and Djabe.

Early Life and Education

Steve Hackett was born on February 12, 1950, in London, England to June and Peter. He has a younger brother named John, who also became a musician. Hackett was educated at the Sloane School in Chelsea. He lived for a period in the 1950s with his family in Vancouver, Canada, but they returned due to homesickness. When Hackett was 12 years old, he began playing the guitar. Among his earliest musical influences were Johann Sebastian Bach and opera tenor Mario Lanza.

First Bands

In the late 1960s, Hackett played in the rock bands Canterbury Glass, Heel Pier, and Sarabande. At the beginning of the 1970s, he joined Quiet World, which also included his brother on flute. Hackett performed on Quiet World's sole studio album, "The Road," and left the group soon after.

Genesis

At the end of 1970, Hackett placed an ad in Melody Maker magazine seeking a new band. He heard back from Peter Gabriel, the lead singer of the rock band Genesis. The band had recently lost founding guitarist Anthony Phillips and was looking for a permanent replacement. Hackett successfully passed his audition and became a member of Genesis, joining Gabriel, keyboardist Tony Banks, bassist Mike Rutherford, and drummer Phil Collins. His first recording with the group was the 1971 album "Nursery Cryme," for which he also contributed songwriting. On the album, he contributed notable guitar solos to the tracks "The Musical Box," "The Return of the Giant Hogweed," and "The Fountain of Salmacis." Genesis's next album, "Foxtrot," came out in 1972; it contains Hackett's solo guitar composition "Horizons." Hackett's contributions are particularly noteworthy on the band's 1973 album "Selling England by the Pound," on which he uses his signature tapping and sweep picking techniques. The track "Firth of Fifth" features one of his most famous guitar solos. "Selling England by the Pound" became Genesis's biggest commercial hit in the UK at that time, reaching number three on the Albums Chart.

Amid tensions between the band members, Genesis released the rock opera "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" in late 1974. The final Genesis album to feature Peter Gabriel, it reached number 10 on the UK Albums Chart. That was followed in early 1976 by "A Trick of the Tail," which saw Phil Collins move to lead vocals. Hackett had songwriting credits on three of the album's eight tracks: "Dance on a Volcano," "Entangled," and "Los Endos." His final studio album with Genesis was "Wind & Wuthering," which was released in late 1976. Recorded in the Netherlands, the album was another hit for the band, peaking at number seven in the UK and number 26 in the US. However, the production of the album sparked friction within the band, and Hackett felt constrained by a lack of freedom and input. He toured with the band in 1977 before making his departure during the mixing of the live album "Seconds Out." Hackett has appeared for the occasional brief Genesis reunion since then. In 2010, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the band.

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Solo Career

Hackett launched his solo career in 1975 with the album "Voyage of the Acolyte." Featuring his fellow Genesis bandmates Phil Collins and Mike Rutherford, the album peaked at number 26 on the UK Albums Chart. Hackett's next solo album, "Please Don't Touch!," came out in 1978 after he had left Genesis. It reached number 38 in the UK. Hackett subsequently put together a band to perform his material live. He recruited his brother John as well as lead vocalist Pete Hicks, bassist and vocalist Dik Cadbury, keyboardist Nick Magnus, and drummer John Shearer. Hackett used this band for his next album, "Spectral Mornings," which was released in 1979. That was followed in 1980 by "Defector," which became Hackett's highest-charting album in the UK when it reached number nine on the Albums Chart. He continued his success with his 1981 album "Cured," which peaked at number 15 in the UK. Hackett's subsequent albums were "Highly Strung" and "Bay of Kings," both released in 1983, and "Till We Have Faces," released in 1984. After focusing on his supergroup GTR, Hackett released his next solo album, "Momentum," in 1988.

In 1992, Hackett went on tour for the first time in six years and released his first live album, "Time Lapse." His next studio album, "Guitar Noir," came out in 1993. The following year, Hackett released "Blues with a Feeling." In 1996, he released "Genesis Revisited," a reworking of various Genesis tracks with different guest musicians. Hackett then released the classical album "A Midsummer Night's Dream" in 1997. Following that were the 1998 live album "The Tokyo Tapes" and the 1999 studio album "Darktown." Commencing the new millennium, Hackett released "Feedback 86," consisting of songs written in 1986 that were shelved. His subsequent albums were "To Watch the Storms" (2003), the classical "Metamorpheus" (2005), "Wild Orchids" (2006), the classical "Tribute" (2008), and "Out of the Tunnel's Mouth" (2009). Hackett's studio albums in the 2010s are "Beyond the Shrouded Horizon," "Genesis Revisited II," "Wolflight," "The Night Siren," and "At the Edge of Light." In the 2020s, he has released "Under a Mediterranean Sky," "Surrender of Silence," and "The Circus and the Nightwhale."

Other Musical Projects

In 1985, Hackett founded the rock supergroup GTR with guitarist Steve Howe. The group had success with its sole, self-titled album, which reached number 11 on the Billboard 200 in 1986 and spawned the hit single "When the Heart Rules the Mind." GTR disbanded in 1987. Among his other musical projects, Hackett has frequently performed with the Hungarian jazz-rock group Djabe, appearing on a few of its studio albums and several of its live albums. He also released the Erik Satie tribute album "Sketches of Satie" with his brother John.

Personal Life

Hackett wed his first wife, Ellen Busse, in 1972. They had a son named Oliver before divorcing in 1974. Hackett married his second wife, Brazilian artist Kim Poor, in 1981. They divorced in 2007 and spent a few years in a legal battle over royalties. Hackett went on to marry author Jo Lehmann in 2011.

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