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... in 1978).

[1] His father, William Francis Henry Crawford Rutherford (1906-1986)[6] was a Royal Navy Captain (awarded the DSO and CBE)[7] who became a manager in industry (including for aircraft manufacturer Hawker Siddeley) upon his retirement from the service and married his mother Anne.

[10] Anon played one last concert in this trio configuration in December 1966, after which they split and Rutherford and Phillips started writing songs together during the Christmas holiday.

[10] They formed Genesis in 1967 with fellow Charterhouse pupils, keyboardist Tony Banks, vocalist Peter Gabriel, and drummer Chris Stewart.

In concerts during the first half of the 1970s, Rutherford often played a double-necked instrument, custom built from a separate Rickenbacker hollowbody 12-string and 4001 bass.

He later had a custom Shergold double-neck made, with the body modified so that each neck could be detached and played as a standard single-neck instrument, or swapped out in favour of alternate halves (allowing the 12-string half to be switched to a 6-string when needed).

Mike + The Mechanics' biggest hits are "All I Need Is a Miracle", "Word of Mouth", "The Living Years", "Silent Running" and "Over My Shoulder".

[citation needed] Rutherford also collaborated with other artists, including associates Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins, on the Against All Odds soundtrack, offering the song "Making A Big Mistake".

Rutherford played at the Strat Pack Concert in 2004 along with Brian May, David Gilmour, Joe Walsh and many other guitarists, in a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Fender Stratocaster electric guitar.

[19] He developed the idea behind the M-Series Steinberger guitar with the help of English luthier Roger Giffin and he used this extensively in the 1980s and during The Invisible Touch Tour with Genesis.

In the earlier years of Genesis he played a Dewtron Mister Bassman and, starting in 1976, Moog Taurus bass pedal synthesisers.

[20] Through the early 1970s live tours, Rutherford often used a custom built Rickenbacker double-neck that combined a 12-string semi-hollow-body guitar with a 4-string bass (now on display at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum).

For The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway and the first part of the Trick of the Tail tours, he incorporated a Rickenbacker 12-string solid-body guitar and a 6-string Micro-Frets Signature Baritone, equipped with 6-string short scale bass strings.

For the 2007 tour with Genesis, Rutherford continued to use double-neck instruments when the arrangements demand quick switches between bass and twelve-string guitars.

[21] Rutherford currently divides his time between Loxwood, West Sussex,[22] England, and Cape Town, South Africa with his wife Angie.

The first book about Rutherford's solo career, called Silent Runner by journalist Mario Giammetti, was published in Italy (Edizioni Segno) in 2011.