Gorby loves Peter Gabriel.

Peter Gabriel accepts the award alongside Lech Walesa.

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev's eponymous foundation bestowed its annual "Man of Peace" award on the renowned singer today, hailing the former Genesis frontman's work promoting human rights and world peace.

The 56-year-old Gabriel received the award in a ceremony on Rome's Capitoline Hill that marks the opening of the 7th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates, a meeting of Nobel Peace Prize laureates organized every year in Rome. Nobel Peace Prize winners Lech Walesa and Mairead Corrigan Maguire attended the ceremony, along with Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni. Gorbachev was absent for health reasons.

Other recipients of the award have included Live 8 organizer Bob Geldof, Italian actor-director Roberto Benigni, and Yusuf Islam, the singer once known as Cat Stevens.

Gabriel recently announced that he would not be joining his former Genesis mates for a reunion tour, telling the BBC, "There were conversations and I decided not to be a part of it. I'm very happy for them. It's not that I've ruled it out, but I've got some new material that I'll be working on."

Gabriel also recently wrapped an online remix contest of his 1982 classic "Shock the Monkey." In March, the singer posted vocals and other pieces of the original multitrack recording on his Web site and asked fans to submit remixes. The winner was submitted by a 38-year-old composer by the name of Multiman. Visit the contest's Web site for more details.