Marillion guitarist Steve Rothery recently talked about his memories of Genesis’ Steve Hackett in Raised on Radio. Rothery’s Rock God is Steve Hackett, as he revealed in the video.
Primarily known as the guitarist of Genesis, Steve Hackett contributed to the band’s many studio albums, live albums, and singles between 1971 and 1977. Hackett first appeared on Genesis’ third studio album named ‘Nursery Crime,’ released in 1971. He gave an excellent direction to the band’s sound with his mellotron and guitar playing, especially his guitar solos in ‘The Musical Box.’
Hackett impressed the audience with his solo techniques in ‘Firth of Fifth’ so that the song became his most well-known track, which he played in almost every concert. While continuing with Genesis, the guitarist also worked on his solo album released in 1975, ‘Voyage of the Acolyte.’
Hackett has become an enormous influence on many musicians, especially the guitarists like Eddie Van Halen and Brian May. Steve Rothery, the guitarist of Marillion, is also another name who was inspired by the guitar skills of Steve Hackett, as he revealed in a recent conversation.
Rothery chose Hackett as his Rock God and mentioned he learned about Genesis when he first listened to them live. He revealed that he was so impressed by Hackett’s guitar playing that he wanted to play guitar immediately. Rothery also chose the solo of Hackett in ‘Firth of Fith’ as his favorite one.
Steve Rothery explained in his words:
“My rock god would be Steve Hackett. At first, I heard Steve in Genesis live when I was 15 and living in Yorkshire. For me, it was just a revelation to hear the guitar played in such an inventive and melodic way. It made me want to learn the guitar. The solo in ‘Firth of Fifth’ from ‘Selling England By The Pound’ by Genesis is still one of my favorites.”
Rothery continued the talking about how Hackett wanted to re-record ‘The Lamia’ with him. As the guitarist recalled in the video, they also performed an excellent show at the Hammersmith together. It was a fantastic memory for him that he could not have guessed while he was a kid. According to Rothery, he has been still carrying the influence of Hackett on his music. Rothery also mentioned that they were good friends and that Hackett was a modest person.
“Ten years ago, Steve asked me to play on the re-recording of ‘The Lamia’ for his ‘Genesis Revisited II’ album. This was followed by a nerve-wracking live performance at the Hammersmith, where we traded the sellers at the end of the song, which was an incredible honor that 15-years-old me could have never imagined.
In the last ten years, we’ve become really good friends and met up at dinner regularly along with our wives, both coincidently Jo and moved in the practice of writing an album together.
I can still hear Steve’s influence on my playing, even on my new album, ‘An Hour Before It’s Dark.’ Steve is a true rock god. I mean, an incredibly talented man who is also a very humble person.”
You can watch the entire video below.
