# Mike Rutherford

Michael John Cloete Crawford Rutherford (born 2 October 1950) is an English guitarist, bassist, songwriter, and singer who co-founded the rock band Genesis in 1967. He is one of the group's two continuous members along with keyboardist Tony Banks.Initially serving as Genesis's bass guitarist and backing vocalist, Rutherford also performed most of the band's rhythm guitar parts—frequently on twelve-string guitar—in collaboration with successive Genesis lead guitarists Anthony Phillips and Steve Hackett. Following Hackett's departure from Genesis in 1977, Rutherford assumed the additional role of lead guitarist on the band's studio albums (beginning with ...And Then There Were Three...