Phil Collins, 74, Offers Heartbreaking Health Update

Phil Collins has offered a heartbreaking update on his health.

“The thing is, I’ve been sick. I mean very sick,” Collins, 74, told MOJO magazine in an interview published on Tuesday, February 18.

The legendary singer-songwriter, whose daughter is Emily in Paris star Lily Collins, has largely retreated from the public eye following the completion of his band Genesis’s The Last Domino? Tour in March 2022. A myriad of health problems meant Phil sat in a chair during those shows, while his son, Nic Collins, replaced him on drums.

In this new interview, Phil admitted that his health setbacks have dampened his interest in writing and recording new music.

“I keep thinking I should go downstairs to the studio and see what happens. But I’m not hungry for it anymore,” he conceded.

Collins is a type 2 diabetic and also suffered nerve damage from a spinal injury in 2007. He was unable to play drums at all for a period of time, before undergoing surgery in 2015. Following this procedure, Collins triumphantly announced in October 2015 that he was “no longer retired.”

The rocker reunited with Genesis bandmates Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks for their second and final reunion tour in 2020, but several Last Domino? concerts faced postponements in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Peter Gabriel, who fronted Genesis between 1967 and 1975, chose not to join his bandmates on stage but attended their final show at London’s O2 Arena to support Collins.

“Phil wasn’t in as great a shape as he used to be, but they did a great job,” Gabriel told MOJO. “Me going was a rite of passage, really. I’d been part of the creation of Genesis, so I wanted to be there at the end.”

During an appearance on BBC News in 2023, Rutherford revealed that Collins was “much more immobile” due to his health problems.

“He’s fine now at home, he’s enjoying life,” Rutherford said. “He’s worked so hard over the years. I think he’s enjoying his time at home.”

A more recent update came from the 2024 documentary Phil Collins: Drummer First, in which he spoke candidly about how his health problems have impacted his lifelong passion for drumming.

“If I can’t do what I did as well as I did it, I’d rather relax and not do anything,” he insisted. “If I wake up one day and I can hold a pair of drumsticks, then I’ll have a crack of it. But I just feel like I’ve used up my air miles. It’s still kind of sinking in a bit … I’ve spent all my life playing drums. To be suddenly not be able to do that is a shock.”

Collins got his first plastic drum at age 3. As a professional, he sold a staggering 33.5 million solo albums in the U.S. throughout his career, on top of the more than 100 million he sold with Genesis worldwide. Initially hired as the group’s drummer, Collins took over as lead singer as well following Gabriel’s departure in 1975.

He left Genesis in 1996 to focus strictly on his solo work, but the brand briefly carried on with Ray Wilson as new frontman until 2000. The 1980s lineup of Genesis reunited for the Turn It On Again Tour in 2007 and contributed to the BBC documentary Genesis: Together and Apart in 2014.

Collins has received numerous industry awards as well, including a Best Original Song Oscar for “You’ll Be in My Heart” from Disney’s Tarzan soundtrack. He has won eight Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Genesis in 2010.