About Peter

Peter Himmelman is a Grammy and Emmy-nominated artist whose incredible career spans not just decades but disciplines… a wild rollercoaster of a life for a contrarian polymath. 

For some people, music is a passion they discover later in life, perhaps stumbling into it serendipitously, almost as if their fate could have taken another turn at the crossroads. But Peter was predestined for the staff and clef.

Born in the St. Louis Park suburb of Minneapolis, Peter grew up in a house filled with music. His dad owned an 8-track music store and would bring home Hendrix and Joplin, his mom enjoyed Ahmad Jamal and Thelonious Monk, and his uncle introduced him to John Lee Hooker’s Endless Boogie, a track Peter played time and again. His older siblings, meanwhile, played tracks like The Animals’ House of the Rising Sun, which hypnotized Peter and connected with him on a deeply visceral level.

And so, at 12, Peter embarked on the rock n’ roll journey, getting his first guitar, a Fender Duo Sonic. He convinced a group of high school friends to skip college and instead focus on their band, Sussman Lawrence, in which Peter was the lead vocalist and guitarist with a stage presence both magnetic and undeniable. 

In 1985, Peter pursued a solo career, scoring a record deal and moving to LA, where his music videos were in regular rotation on MTV, and he continued his ascent with releases such as From Strength to Strength. He would go on to release 24 studio albums, including five award-winning children’s albums, and nearly 20 greatest hits compilations, live albums, and rarities releases. 

However, having lost his dad at a young age and his sister to a car accident, he knew that fame was not the end goal. His priorities centered around what mattered – family and faith – and utilizing every second. This would require limiting his tour schedule and focusing on other projects, which he pursued with his usual enthusiasm.

So then, why a polymath?

Well, among other projects, Peter has scored shows like Bones, Judging Amy and ER, and nearly two dozen movies. He is a bestselling author, a professional speaker with a captivating TEDx talk, a visual artist, streaming pioneer (his show Furious World started in March 2008), Ivy League lecturer, and the CEO and Chief Dream Enabler of Big Muse, a consultancy that helps organizations unlock their teams’ latent creative talent.

Ironically, as someone who may not have sought the limelight, Peter has been rightfully recognized for his contributions, winning over a dozen awards in addition to his Emmy and Grammy nominations, and being featured as the subject of the documentary Rock God.

A man of principle, Peter is an observant Jew who once turned down the Tonight Show because the taping would conflict with the Jewish holiday Sukkot. Perhaps he inherited this trait from his grandmother, Mrs. Mildren (Min) Himmelman, a beloved community member and activist who was the first Jewish woman to run for the St. Louis Park… City Council. Or, perhaps, it was his father David, the “Jewish Marine” who loomed large in Peter’s life story and whose untimely passing pushed Peter to rebuild his own family. 

And rebuild he did. Married for over three decades, Peter and wife Maria were connected by her father, Bob Dylan – as good a matchmaker as he is a songwriter – and their hearts are full with their children and grandchildren, one of whom graced Peter’s album Press On.

Books

Red Cavalry