Mike Rutherford

Michael John Cloete Crawford Rutherford (born 2 October 1950) is an English guitarist, bassist and songwriter, best known as co-founder, lead guitarist and bassist of the rock band Genesis. He and keyboardist Tony Banks are the group's two continuous members.

Initially serving as Genesis's bass guitarist and backing vocalist, Rutherford also performed most of the band's rhythm guitar parts—frequently on twelve-string guitar—in collaboration with successive Genesis lead guitarists Anthony Phillips and Steve Hackett. Following Hackett's departure from Genesis in 1977, Rutherford assumed the additional role of lead guitarist on the band's studio albums (beginning with …And Then There Were Three… in 1978). Rutherford was one of the main Genesis songwriters throughout their career and wrote the lyrics for 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". He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Genesis in 2010.

In addition to his work with Genesis, Rutherford released two solo albums in the early 1980s. In 1985, he formed Mike + the Mechanics, which became a chart-topping act and significant live draw in its own right. The group earned Rutherford an Ivor Novello Award for the 1988 single "The Living Years", as well as two Grammy nominations.

Michael John Cloete Crawford Rutherford was born on 2 October 1950 in Chertsey, Surrey. His father, William Francis Henry Crawford Rutherford (1906–1986) was a Royal Navy Captain (awarded the DSO and CBE) who became a manager in industry (including for aircraft manufacturer Hawker Siddeley). Upon his retirement from the service he married his wife, Anne. He has an elder sister, Nicolette.

Rutherford received his first guitar at the age of 8, and played in his first band, The Chesters, so named because by then they lived near Chester, in the following year. He attended The Leas, a preparatory school in Hoylake, Merseyside before he moved to Charterhouse, a private school in Godalming, Surrey in September 1964. He co-formed the school band Anon (short for Anonymous) with guitarist Anthony Phillips in 1965, but was forced to leave the band when his housemaster banned him from playing guitar. After Rutherford got the ban lifted, he played with a band called Climax and was later reinstated into Anon. When the lead vocalist and bassist of Anon both quit, Rutherford switched to bass and lead vocals for a time. Anon played one last concert in this trio configuration in December 1966, after which they split and Rutherford and Phillips started writing songs together during the Christmas holiday. They formed Genesis in 1967 with fellow Charterhouse pupils, keyboardist Tony Banks, vocalist Peter Gabriel, and drummer Chris Stewart. Rutherford disliked his time at Charterhouse, and was expelled for instances of minor misconduct.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.