Rolling Stone traces the long live history of Genesis’s “The Carpet Crawlers” through 12 performances and recordings spanning five decades. Although it was not a hit on release, the song became a durable part of the band’s repertoire and a notable link between its different line-ups.

– Originally released on Genesis’s 1975 concept album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.
– Written largely by Peter Gabriel and tied to the album’s surreal story of Rael.
– The 1974–75 tour performed the album in full across 104 shows.
– No complete filmed performance from that tour exists, though concert recordings have surfaced.
– Phil Collins continued singing the song after replacing Gabriel as frontman.
– Genesis reportedly played it 411 times after Gabriel’s departure.
– Ray Wilson’s short-lived 1997–98 line-up also retained it in the set.
– It closed both Genesis’s presumed final concert in 2007 and its final show in 2022.