October 2: English musician Mike Rutherford – Genesis, Mike & The Mechanics; "The Living Years" – is 63-years-old today.

-----

  Michael John Cleote Crawford Rutherford was born October 2, 1950 in Guildford, Surrey, England. Rutherford received his first guitar at the age of eight, and played in his first band, the Chesters (named after a local town named Chester) at the age of nine. At the age of 13 at Charterhouse School, he formed a songwriting partnership with fellow guitarist Anthony Phillips.

Genesis

At age 15, the two of them founded Genesis with Tony Banks and Peter Gabriel. With Genesis, he initially played bass sang backup. Rutherford also played rhythm guitar and Twelve-string guitar for the band in the early years.

Following the departure of Steve Hackett from Genesis in 1977, he assumed the role of lead guitarist on the band's studio albums, beginning with ...And Then There Were Three... in 1978. He is one of only two constant members in Genesis (the other is keyboardist Tony Banks).

Rutherford wrote the lyrics to many Genesis songs during their career, including some of the band's biggest international hits, such as "Follow You Follow Me,” "Turn It On Again,” "Land of Confusion" and "Throwing It All Away.”

During breaks in Genesis, he recorded two solo albums, Smallcreep's Day and Acting Very Strange. However, he was dissatisfied with his solo work and in 1984 he resolved to never record a solo album again, since he felt his creativity was at its peak when working in collaboration. Because of this, he formed the band Mike + The Mechanics during a break from Genesis in 1985.



Mike + The Mechanics

Mike + The Mechanics' biggest hits are "All I Need Is a Miracle,” "Word of Mouth,” "The Living Years,” "Silent Running" and "Over My Shoulder.” To help promote the song, Rutherford and the record label perpetuated the impression that "The Living Years" was inspired by Rutherford's relationship with his father, who died during Genesis's Invisible Touch Tour.

In a 2004 interview, Rutherford confessed that the lyrics were in fact written by B. A. Robertson, and based on Robertson's relationship with his father.

Rutherford performed in the closing ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics on 12 August 2012 as a guest member of Ed Sheeran's band along with Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason, playing the Pink Floyd song "Wish You Were Here.”

Mike was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Genesis in 2010.

-----

For more about Mike, visit this Website:

http://www.genesis-music.com/

####