The Living Years: The First Genesis Memoir

From unpromising beginnings—demonized by his teachers as a fomenter of revolution, driving to gigs in a bread van—Mike would go on to crisscross the globe with bandmates Peter Gabriel and, later, Phil Collins, playing to packed-out stadiums and achieving record sales of over 150 million. Swapping old school ties and Savile Row suits for flares and Afghan coats, Mike and Genesis would pioneer the pomp and theatricality of 1970s progressive rock before becoming household names in the 1980s with hits like “Turn It On Again, Mama” and “Land of Confusion.”

There was drink, there were drugs; there were arguments and excess. But in the background—and sometimes in the audience—was Mike's father, Captain Rutherford, a naval officer whose life at first seemed nothing like his son's. It was only after Mike discovered his father's unpublished memoir did he discover how similar their lives had been.

Already a bestseller in Britain, The Living Years spans the entire history of Genesis, from the earliest days as a school band to the triumphant reunion tour when Genesis played to over 500,000 people in Rome.