Steve Hackett On His Agonizing Decision To Leave Genesis Without Regrets

Steve Hackett sat down with Guitar World and revealed that he doesn’t regret leaving Genesis.

During the chat, he was asked about his new album ‘The Circus And The Nightwhale,’ and if his story is wrapped up or if he prefers people drawing conclusions. After talking about the album, he discussed his part in Genesis and how it affected his life:

“Genesis was becoming a little bit too much of a closed shop and it was affecting my ability to sleep. I agonised over leaving the band for a good two years and then I thought, ‘No, I’ve got to make a leap of faith at this point in time.’ And there’s no doubt that I made the right decision.”

He then explained his personal and financial needs:

“If you look at it purely in financial terms, you would have said, ‘Yeah, but you could afford Buckingham Palace by now if you’d stayed with the band.’ But on the other hand, music is its own currency. It’s what nourishes you, if you need to do it.”

Democracy ‘Never’ Worked

In the 2021 Genesis biography, Hackett talks about why he left the band from the band back in ’77. Apparently, it all started with a serious chat he had with keyboardist Tony Banks. According to Hackett, he felt he wasn’t getting the recognition he deserved for his songwriting, even though he was ‘contributing’ a bunch of material for the band back then. He said:

“I had already managed to get a hit album on my own, so I needed to be respected as a writer, and I don’t think I was getting that from Mike and Tony.”

He also mentioned the democracy in the band:

“I think their agenda was always to run the band. Pete [Gabriel], who had been an enormously important part of the band, had always wanted a democracy, as had [early Genesis guitarist] Anthony Phillips. Democracy in bands is a great ideal, but rarely works in practice because to achieve it you need to [recognize] everyone as being equally talented as yourself, and I think that’s difficult for certain people to take on board.”

You can hear Hackett’s new album below.