Anthony Edwin Phillips (born 23 December 1951) is an English musician, songwriter, producer and singer who gained prominence as the original lead guitarist of the rock band Genesis, from 1967 to 1970.

His departure from Genesis on the eve of the group's breakthrough to mainstream popularity has led him to be dubbed "the Pete Best of progressive rock" (though unlike Best, Phillips left voluntarily).

[5] He was not entirely a self-taught guitar player; he received some tuition in rudimentary chords from classical guitarist David Channon, who became a big source of inspiration for Phillips, and used sheet music to songs by the Beatles that his mother would send him.

[9] In the following month, he formed a band with fellow pupils Rivers Jobe, Richard Macphail, Mike Rutherford, and Rob Tyrell, naming themselves Anon.

They invited Charterhouse pupil Tony Banks, a member of Garden Wall, another disbanded school group, to play keyboards.

Phillips was particularly angry when King added string arrangements to their songs without their knowledge, since the limitations of the recording technology meant that everything else on the album had to be reduced to mono as a consequence.

[12] In September 1969, the 17-year-old Phillips chose not to pursue a university degree and instead reunite with Gabriel, Banks and Rutherford after they had decided to become a full-time band.

[9][8] However, early in 1970 the constant touring had become wearing on Phillips partly due to the lack of scope for solos in the band's set and the shortage of time to develop new material.

[17] Nursery Cryme, the next Genesis album, opens with "The Musical Box" which is based on a piece written by Phillips and Rutherford originally titled "F#" (pronounced "F Sharp").

He recalled listening to Jean Sibelius around the time of his departure and recognised his musical ability was "terribly limited", which encouraged him to become a more proficient musician.

"[2] Phillips began writing material with Andrew Latimer of Camel in 1981, and was a featured performer on that band's album, The Single Factor (released in 1982).

He later claimed that this project went "horribly wrong" as a result of commercial pressures, and would subsequently eschew mainstream success in favour of more specialised material.

The album's cover featured a picture of a woman and did not credit Phillips or Williamson, which led to it often being filed under "female vocalist" in record shops.