Phil Collins shares health update: “I feel like I’ve used up my air miles”

Phil Collins has taken part in a rare interview, and shared a health update with fans.

The drum icon and former Genesis member, now aged 73, spoke openly about his health during an interview with Drumeo. The discussion originally took place in 2022, but has only just been shared as part of the new documentary Phil Collins: Drummer First.

During the interview, Collins recalled how he is still adjusting to not being able to drum anymore, and said that he’d rather take time away from the kit than be unable to play like he did before. “If I can’t do what I did as well as I did it, I’d rather relax and not do anything,” he said (via Music News).

“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,” he added. “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.”

Elsewhere in the documentary, his son Nic – who took over his duties in recent Genesis live shows – elaborated further on his father’s well-being. According to him, his father required a “big surgery on his neck that stemmed from all those years playing drums and bad posture.”

He also added that the drumming legend has also suffered drop-foot – a condition where “one of his feet has no sensation,” meaning he now needs to use a cane. You can watch the full interview below.

This isn’t the first time that Phil Collins has shared an update with fans and revealed his ongoing struggles to perform. Back in 2021, for instance, he revealed that he could “barely hold a stick” due to health issues.

“I’m kind of physically challenged a bit which is very frustrating because I’d love to be playing up there with my son,” he said amid the Genesis reunion shows, which saw his son Nic stand in for him. “I would love to but, you know, I mean I can barely hold a stick with this hand, so there are certain physical things that get in the way.”

Collins has experienced issues with his health since suffering a spinal injury in 2007, which damaged vertebrae in his upper neck and also left him with nerve damage. The injury has impacted his ability to perform, and at Genesis’ last ever show in March 2022, he performed in a chair.

In 2017, bandmate Mike Rutherford hinted that Genesis could return once again in celebration of their 50th year, though no plans materialised. Collins and Rutherford, however, did reunite onstage in 2019 during the former’s solo show in Berlin. The pair played Genesis’ hit ‘Follow You Follow Me’, lifted from their 1978 album ‘…And Then There Were Three…’.

In March 2023, Rutherford shared an update on Collins’ condition, saying: “As you know, Phil is… much more immobile than he used to be, which is a shame. He’s fine now at home, enjoying life. He’s worked so hard over the years. I think he’s enjoying his time at home.”

Things do seem to have improved in recent times, however, as earlier this summer it was reported that Collins may be working on new music for the first time in over two decades.
He hasn’t released an album of original music since Disney’s Brother Bear soundtrack in 2003. One year prior to that, he released his last solo studio album ‘Testify’.

In a post shared on Facebook by record producer and journalist Simon Napier-Bell, he explained that Collins was “in top form” and recently had his studio revamped. “For sure, before too long we’re going to hear some new music,” he continued.

At the time of writing, no plans for new material have been shared.

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