[1] As a guitarist, Gabrels is recognized for his virtuosity and versatility, and been praised for his ability to "explore sonic extremes with a great, adaptive intuition for what each song needs most.
His mother Claire was a typist, and his father Carl was a part-time jazz musician and worked as a deckhand on tugboats in New York Harbor.
Gabrels started playing guitar at age 13, and the following year his father arranged for lessons with his friend Turk Van Lake.
[5] During the 1980s and early 1990s, Gabrels was a member of bands including The Dark, Life on Earth, The Atom Said, Rubber Rodeo, The Bentmen, Deaf School, Too Happy, and Modern Farmer.
[8] Gabrels's first project with Bowie was a re-imagining and rearrangement of the song "Look Back in Anger" for live performances combining dance, music, and video as part of a benefit for London's Institute of Contemporary Arts in 1988.
Gabrels first met Robert Smith of The Cure during rehearsals for Bowie's 50th Birthday Concert on January 9, 1997 at Madison Square Garden.
[6] Gabrels, Smith, and Cure drummer Jason Cooper then formed the side project COGASM in 1998 to record the song "Sign From God" for Orgazmo, a film directed by Trey Parker.
[14] Gabrels has released six solo albums on which he served as singer, guitarist, and principal songwriter, starting with The Sacred Squall of Now in 1995.
[23][24] Gabrels is an in-demand session and touring musician, starting in 1993 with Paul Rodgers,[25] and later with artists such as Jeffrey Gaines[26] and Los Duran.
[28] After moving to Nashville, Tennessee in 2006, Gabrels often collaborates informally with local musicians for live performances in small venues.
[5] Gabrels also frequently serves as a guest musician for artists in a variety of genres, such as gODHEAD, The Mission, Deaf School, Sandie Shaw, The Rolling Stones, and Ozzy Osbourne.
He has often chosen lesser-known makers, explaining in interviews that he prefers a guitar without a set history and with which he is free to create sounds from his own imagination.