Born on January 30, 1951, Philip David Charles Collins LVO is an English drummer, singer-songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is most recognized for his work as the lead singer and drummer for the rock band Genesis as well as his solo career, which started in 1981.
Between 1982 and 1990, Collins achieved seven US number-one songs and three UK number-one successes as a solo artist. When his work with Genesis, his partnerships with other musicians, and his solo career are combined, he had more US top 40 singles than any other musician in the 1980s.
His most well-known songs at the time included “In the Air Tonight,” “Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now),” “One More Night,” and “Another Day in Paradise.”
Collins has battled health issues over the previous 10 years, beginning in 2009 with broken vertebrae in his upper neck.
He sustained the injury while performing, which caused irreversible nerve damage in his hands.
After surgery to realign his vertebrae, he was only able to hold a drumstick using tape since he had lost feeling in his fingers.
He quickly lost the ability to play the drums that had made him renowned.
Collins claimed in a statement published at the time on the Genesis website: “Somehow, during the last Genesis tour, I displaced some vertebrae in my top neck, and that harmed my hands.
Despite a successful neck operation, my hands are still unable to function normally.
“Maybe in a year or so everything will change, but right now I can’t play the piano or the drums,” he said.
After retiring and divorcing his third wife, Collins admitted in his 2016 book that he battled alcoholism, but that he had been sober for three years.
The following year, after developing a diabetic abscess on his foot that became septic and required treatment in a hyperbaric chamber, he revealed that he is a type 2 diabetic.
After falling asleep in his hotel room and hitting his head on a chair, the singer had to postpone two shows in 2017 because a terrible gash next to his eye required stitches.
Collins’ fall was brought on by “foot drop,” a problem for which he now wears orthopedic shoes after developing it after back surgery.
He now uses a cane to walk and sits in a chair to perform on stage.
Collins also suffers from acute pancreatitis, which quickly enlarges and inflames the pancreas.
At a news conference on the illness in 2016, he remarked, “Within months, you’re drinking vodka from the fridge in the morning and falling down in front of the kids, you know.”
But I was fortunate enough to withstand it since it was something I went through.
“I thought I was going to die.”
