Phil Collins says he can't make music due to his health

Yahoo

28-02-2025

Phil Collins' ongoing health challenges have led the musician to press pause on his career.
In a new interview with MOJO, the 74-year-old gave an update on the mobility challenges he's faced in recent years and explained how they've impacted his work as a performer.
'I keep thinking I should go downstairs to the studio and see what happens,' he said. 'But I'm not hungry for it anymore. The thing is, I've been sick, I mean very sick.'
Collins has faced a series of health setbacks over the years and has spoken openly about the toll they've taken on him. Below, we're recapping everything he's shared about his condition.
Known for his killer drumming and smooth vocals, Collins has amassed a loyal following of fans throughout his successful career. But all that drumming did a number on his body.
'The drumming has taken its toll on my hands and legs,' he said in a 2024 documentary titled "Phil Collins: Drummer First."
It's a sentiment that Collins' son Nic echoed in his own interview during the documentary while referencing the "injuries" his father had experienced as a result of drumming.
'I know he wishes he could sit behind a (drum) kit and just play the way he could. It is what it is. And what I can do with that is just learn and even when I set up the concert kit, I have to set it up differently because I'm like, 'I can't go down that road. No, there's no way,'' he said.
During the documentary, Collins explained why he has stepped back from drumming.
"If I can't do what I did as well as I did it, I'd rather relax and not do anything. If I wake up one day and I can hold a pair of drumsticks then I will have a crack at it. But I just feel like I've used up my air miles," he said.
While drumming on the 2007 reunion tour for his band Genesis, Collins experienced a dislocated vertebra in his neck. As he recalled in an interview with Rolling Stone, the injury resulted in nerve damage in his hands and prevented him from playing the drums.
The interview was conducted just days after Collins underwent back surgery in 2015.
'The doctor had to go in there, work on the sciatic nerve and take my back apart and unscramble the mess,' he said.
Following the procedure, Collins' doctor told him that his "vital signs were all there."
'He said to me, 'If you want to play drums again, all you have to do is practice,'' he recalled.
In a 2016 interview with Jools Holland, Collins described how his finger dexterity had 'clammed up over the last few years' and said he needed to regain strength in them.
The singer also noted that years of drumming had "messed up" his hips in addition to his back.
When Collins underwent back surgery to address issues with his back and hips, the procedure led to complications, the singer recalled in his interview with Holland.
'It's left me with what they call dropped foot, which (means) my right foot doesn't have any up and down (and) doesn't have any feeling. That, I'm hoping, in time will get better as nerves regenerate," he said.
Collins' son addressed his father's condition in the "Phil Collins: Drummer First" documentary.
'He had a big surgery on his neck that stemmed from all those years playing drums and just bad posture and stuff. (This) caused him to have drop foot, which basically means that in one of his feet he has no sensation, which is why he can't really play drums and why he has to walk with a cane because he just doesn't have that control that he used to anymore, which sucks,' he said.
Collins didn't let his decreased mobility prevent him from going on one last tour with his band Genesis in 2022. He even invited his son Nic to play the drums in his place as he sang.
While promoting the tour in a 2021 interview with the BBC, Collins addressed his mobility saying, 'I'm kind of physically challenged a bit which is very frustrating because I'd love to be playing up there with my son.'
When asked if he can play the drums at all anymore, Collins replied, 'No. I would love to but, you know, I mean I can barely hold a stick with this hand, so there are certain physical things which get in the way.'
In a 2022 interview with Rolling Stone, Nic applauded his father for still performing, despite his physical limitations.
"The way we did it proved that despite his struggles health-wise, he was still able to sing brilliantly and we're able to put on a good show and people can come and celebrate the music that they've either grown up with or haven't been able to hear live if they're from a newer generation," he said.
Nic elaborated on the matter, explaining how he ended up being involved in the tour.
"The big factor for a Genesis thing going ahead was my dad being able to play drums. Since he wasn't, the fact that I was made the situation better. If my dad was just sitting there and there wasn't that kind of bit to it where I'm doing it, I don't think it would come across as well. I know that my dad misses playing the drums, and I know the fans wish they could see him. I wish he could play as well," he said.
When asked if his father would ever tour again, Nic offered the following response: "I think at the moment, he's definitely retired. If you ask me on a serious level, I think that show in London was my dad's last show. But then again, he said that in 2004 and we wound up doing a tour in 2018."
While speaking with Rolling Stone in 2010, Collins opened up about some of the mental health challenges he's faced in the past and revealed that he'd experienced suicidal thoughts in recent years.
'I wouldn't blow my head off,' he said. 'I'd overdose or do something that didn't hurt. But I wouldn't do that to the children. A comedian who committed suicide in the Sixties left a note saying, 'Too many things went wrong too often.' I often think about that,' he said at the time.
Collins opened up to Rolling Stone about his drinking in a 2015 interview, explaining that his divorce with Orianne Cevey left him in a difficult place.
'It left me with a lot of time on my hands to think about what happened,' he said. 'I went through a few bits of darkness; drinking too much. I killed my hours watching TV and drinking, and it almost killed me. But I haven't had a drink in three years.'
This article was originally published on TODAY.com