Phil Collins has said that he suffered life-threatening alcoholism in recent years.<\/p>\n
Speaking to the Sunday Times<\/a>, the pop and rock legend, 75, said that his drinking began after he stopped taking Antabuse, a drug that causes illness if alcohol is consumed, which he had been using since an earlier period of alcoholism.<\/p>\n Collins describes drinking wine at breakfast time, and says his extensive alcohol intake led to him being hospitalised in November 2023, for seven months, with damage to his pancreas and kidneys.<\/p>\n \u201cThere were some decisions to be made about \u2018Do we keep Phil on life support?\u2019 kind of thing,\u201d he said. \u201cMy kidneys were packing up, my organs were just seizing up. People were coming to say goodbye. But I don\u2019t remember them coming, I didn\u2019t have no idea this was going on. They were all worried that they wouldn\u2019t see me again. It could all have gone so terribly wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n He added: \u201cI was very lucky to have come out of that. Needless to say, I haven\u2019t had a drink since.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2015, Collins described a period of alcohol abuse after his 2006 divorce from third wife, Orianne Cevey. \u201cIt left me with a lot of time on my hands to think about what happened,\u201d he told Rolling Stone<\/a>. \u201cI 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\u2019t had a drink in three years.\u201d<\/p>\n Collins has experienced a series of other health issues in recent years, including problems with his neck and spine that required surgery, and which mean he is no longer able to play the drums: his role on the Genesis<\/a> reunion tour in 2021 was restricted to vocals. In 2016 he announced he had been diagnosed with diabetes.<\/p>\n