Born 12th February 1950, Steve Hackett is a superbly adept guitarist and has cultured a loyal following for his highly creative albums. Having formed QUIET WORLD in the 60's and releasing the album 'The Road' on Dawn Records in 1970, Steve teamed up with GENESIS the same year and remained with the group until his decision to quit GENESIS following the 1977 'Wind And Wuthering' album. Many longstanding fans of the band interpreted Hackett's departure as a signal of his unease with the band's increasingly evident commercial values.

Hackett's solo album, 'Voyage Of The Acolyte', was recorded whilst still a member of the band and features GENESIS members Mike Rutherford and PHIL COLLINS together with vocalist Sally Oldfield, keyboardist John Hackett and QUATERMASS bassist John Gustafson.

As a solo artist Hackett maintained regular appearances in the British album charts with a string of highly impressive albums until 1983 when he switched labels from Charisma to Lamborghini. 1983's 'Highly Strung' featured drummer Ian Moseley and keyboard player Nick Magnus and this duo were augmented by bassist Chas Cronke and flautist John Hackett for live dates. Moseley would shortly after join MARILLION.

1984's 'Till We Have Faces' was recorded in Rio De Janeiro using local musicians and the album reached number 54 in Britain. Hackett then became involved in the formation of the relatively short lived but commercially successful GTR in 1985 with ex-YES and ASIA guitarist STEVE HOWE, former MARILLION drummer Jonathon Mover and former BRONZ and NIGHTWING vocalist MAX BACON.

Returning to solo work the guitarist cut an album for proposed release in 1986 but this was subsequently shelved. In 1988 Steve re-enlisted aid from his brother John and added drummer Fudge Smith and bassist Julian Colbeck, emerging with the 'Momentum' album.

Throughout the nineties Hackett maintained a schedule of album work and also appeared on former YES guitarist PETER BANKS's 1996 album 'Two Sides'. His 1994 outing 'There Are Many Sides To The Night' captured an acoustic performance at the Teatro Metropolitan in Palermo, Sicily, accompanied only by keyboard player Julian Colbeck.

In Mid 1997 Hackett issued the 'Genesis Revisited' album through the Reef label, a collection of re-recorded GENESIS tracks. The guitarist utilized the services of an all-star cast including JOHN WETTON, YES and KING CRIMSON drummer Bill Bruford, Chester Thompson, Colin Blunstone, KING CRIMSON bassist Tony Levin, Pino Palladino and even the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. The guitarist also found time the same year to contribute to ex ASIA man JOHN WETTON's solo album 'Arkangel'.

The 1999 album 'Darktown' sees lead vocal from former BANDIT and AIR SUPPLY singer Jim Diamond. In 2001 Hackett guested on the POSTMANKIND project album of MARILLION drummer Ian Mosley and also JOHN WETTON's 'Sinister' opus. The guitarist would participate in two 'Guitar Wars' shows in Tokyo and Osaka in August and September of 2003 pitched against former EXTREME guitarist NUNO BETTENCOURT and RACER X and MR BIG man PAUL GILBERT. This trio was subsequently joined by the esteemed personage of ex-LED ZEPPELIN bassist JOHN PAUL JONES.

The 'Live Archives '04' album would be culled from Hackett's 2003 'To Watch The Storms' European tour. These outings saw the guitarist joined by a live band comprising bassist Terry Gregory, keyboard player Roger King, saxophonist Rob Townsend and drummer Gary O'Toole.