Peter Gabriel is among the musicians paying tribute to former US President Jimmy Carter, who has died at the age of 100.
In a post headed "What a man! What a life! What a loss!", Gabriel says, "President Jimmy Carter was a truly extraordinary man and a rare politician who always stood up and spoke out for idealism, compassion and human rights and particularly for the rights of women and those who suffered real oppression.
"He was always there to support those whose struggles had gone unseen or unheard, a champion for the homeless with yearly visits house building with Habitat for Humanity, he was the flag-bearer for so many minorities.
"He championed those with rare diseases whose cures would never make much money for big pharma. Some killer diseases, like Guinea Worm and River Blindness, the Carter Centre had a critical role in eradicating from many countries.
"He also, endlessly, campaigned for the right to proper representation, to free and fair elections in so many fledgling democracies and, closer to home, he proudly stood behind all Rosalyn’s [Carter's late wife] work prioritising and bringing mental health out of the shadows."
Gabriel went on to talk about The Elders, the non-governmental organisation of Global leaders founded by Nelson Mandela in 2007. The NGO, which Gabriel and businessman Richard Branson initially drove, benefitted from Carter's influence and ability to open doors.
"He then became one of the most active and influential Elders since its creation, travelling to Darfur, Israel and Palestine, North Korea, the Cote d’Ivoire and South Sudan," says Gabriel. "At all the meetings, however many years he had on his belt, he was always one of the first out exercising and retained his extraordinary sharp mind full of facts, experience and history with an engineer’s passion for precision."
Read the whole of Peter Gabriel's statement.
Other musicians to have paid tribute to Carter include Heart's Nancy Wilson, who called him "an incredible bridge between policy and our humanity" and Drive-by Truckers, who said, "All our love and warm thoughts are with the great Jimmy Carter and his wonderful family and all of those who love and admire that greatest of great men. 98+ years of making this world a better place."
Jimmy Carter love of music was captured in the 2020 documentary Jimmy Carter: Rock & Roll President, which explored how this passion gave him an unlikely edge as a presidential candidate, when he would call on bands like the Allman Brothers Band, the Marshall Tucker Band, James Brown, Jimmy Buffet and the Charlie Daniels Band to raise campaign funds at benefit shows.
"It was The Allman Brothers helped put me in the White House," said Carter, "by raising money when I didn't have any money."
Once elected, Carter regularly invited musicians to the White House to perform, including Crosby, Stills, and Nash, Dolly Parton, Charles Mingus and Willie Nelson – who famously claimed to have smoked marijuana on the roof of the building – as well as Loretta Lynn, Conway Twitty, Dizzy Gillespie and Herbie Hancock.
