Peter Gabriel was born in 1950 in Cobham, Surrey, England. He started the band Genesis in 1967 and has had a successful music career spanning several decades with hits such as "Sledgehammer", "Big Time", and songs featured in movies. Gabriel founded the WOMAD festival in 1982 to promote world music and has supported human rights organizations like Witness and The Elders, which he co-founded in 2007 to address humanitarian crises. He has received several awards for his musical and humanitarian contributions.