{"id":388145,"date":"2026-01-24T14:53:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T14:53:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/388145\/"},"modified":"2026-01-24T14:53:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T14:53:10","slug":"phil-collins-says-its-been-a-difficult-frustrating-few-years-in-rare-new-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/388145\/","title":{"rendered":"Phil Collins says it\u2019s been a \u2018difficult, frustrating few years\u2019 in rare new interview"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Phil Collins<\/a> has opened up about his health challenges <\/a>in a rare interview for the BBC<\/a>\u2019s Eras podcast.<\/p>\n

Speaking to presenter Zoe Ball<\/a>, the legendary musician, who turns 75 on 30 January, spoke about being sober for the past two years, as well as the multiple operations he has undergone on his knee. <\/p>\n

The former Genesis<\/a> frontman and solo artist played his final live concert in 2022, having previously told fans he could \u201cbarely hold a drumstick\u201d <\/a>following a serious spiral injury in 2007. The injury damaged vertebrae in his upper neck and caused lasting nerve damage.<\/p>\n

Asked by Ball if he had come to terms with the health conditions that prevented him from playing music, he explained that it was \u201can ongoing thing\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, I have a 24-hour live-in nurse to make sure I take my medication as I should do,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve had challenges with my knee\u2026 I had everything that could go wrong with me, did go wrong with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Collins revealed that he has undergone five surgeries on his knee and now has one \u201cthat works\u201d and \u201cI can walk, albeit with assistance, you know, crutches or whatever\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"Phil<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Phil Collins opened up about his life, career and health in a new interview with Zoe Ball (Will Ireland\/Concord Music Group)<\/p>\n

The \u201cIn the Air Tonight\u201d singer admitted he\u2019d \u201cprobably been drinking too much\u201d, which affected his kidneys: \u201cI enjoyed coming off tour,\u201d he said. \u201cComing off the road\u2026 I thought, right, I\u2019m gonna do all those things that I couldn\u2019t do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Collins began drinking during the day, apparently stopping around 6 o\u2019clock: \u201cI guess I had too much of it,\u201d he said. \u201cI was never drunk, although I fell over a couple of times. But it is just one of those things that happened and it all caught up with me, and I spent months in hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n

Collins also revealed that he recently celebrated two years of sobriety, after his assistant observed the date that he\u2019d stopped drinking: \u201cIt\u2019s just been a difficult, interesting, frustrating last few years\u2026 but it\u2019s alright now.\u201d<\/p>\n

In July last year, a representative for Collins had to assure fans that he was not in hospice care, after social media rumours claimed he was on his deathbed<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Instead, the musician was in hospital recovering after his latest knee surgery, his spokesperson confirmed to The Independent.<\/p>\n

Collins was the subject of a documentary about his life and work in 2024, in which he was filmed visiting his drum kit for the first time in years<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Phil<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Phil Collins was the subject of a documentary in 2024, which saw him return to his drum kit (Drumeo)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s still kind of sinking in,\u201d he said, while sitting down at the kit. \u201cI\u2019ve spent all my life playing drums. To suddenly not be able to do that is a shock.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I can\u2019t do what I did as well as I did it, I\u2019d rather relax and not do anything. But if I wake up one day and I can hold a pair of drumsticks, then I\u2019ll have a crack at it. But I just feel like I\u2019ve used up my air miles.\u201d<\/p>\n

Collins, who began playing drums when he was five years old, has achieved huge success both as a member of the rock band Genesis and as a solo artist behind hits such as \u201cIn the Air Tonight\u201d, the lead single from his 1981 debut, Face Value.<\/p>\n

\"Collins<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Collins rehearsing at the Rainbow Theatre, London, UK, January 1977 (Getty)<\/p>\n

He won a Grammy for Album of the Year thanks to his third solo record, No Jacket Required \u2013 one of the best-selling albums of all time \u2013 which was released in 1985 and featured collaborations with Peter Gabriel, Helen Terry and Sting.<\/p>\n

The interview with Ball was released as the fifth and final episode of the new series of the BBC Eras podcast.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere during the conversation, Collins and Ball discussed his famous career, his audition for Genesis, and the professional and personal challenges he has faced over the years.<\/p>\n

Asked what life had taught him, Collins said there was part of him that was trying to make up for things \u201cthat I\u2019ve either done or have made people feel. Or affected the kids in any kind of negative way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Collins has five children from his three marriages: son Nic, a drummer, 24; musician Simon, 48; actor Joely, 52; football player Mathew, 21, and Emily in Paris star Lily Collins. <\/p>\n

\"Collins<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Collins with his daughter, actor Lily Collins (Getty)<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a very happy family life,\u201d he continued. \u201cMy kids are amazingly well-adjusted considering some of the things that you\u2019ve been through, you know? And as I\u2019ve said before, I\u2019m very proud of all of them. They\u2019ve all stood on their own and done what they believe in.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel very lucky about that. But I couldn\u2019t have wished for a more varied and eventful playing career, and I don\u2019t have periods where I kind of dig me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Collins said that aside from being back to being \u201ctotally mobile and healthy\u201d, he would like to go into the studio and \u201chave a fiddle about and see if there\u2019s more music… you\u2019ve gotta start doing it to see if you can do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ball, who last interviewed Collins on the Radio 2 Breakfast Show in 2020, said in a statement: \u201cPhil Collins\u2019 music is woven into all our lives, those songs are time machines, full of heart, drama and joy. I\u2019ve been a lifelong fan ever since discovering Genesis as a young teenager, and their Wembley gig in \u201987 is still one of the best nights of my life.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been lucky enough to chat with Phil a few times over the years, but to dive into his extraordinary story for\u202fEras\u202fand sit down with him again for such a special, intimate conversation about music, family and everything in between is an absolute dream. I can\u2019t wait for everyone to hear it.\u201d <\/p>\n

The first four episodes of BBC Eras: Phil Collins are available now on BBC Sounds. The visual fifth episode will be released on Monday 26 January on BBC Sounds and BBC iPlayer at 6am, and also air on BBC Radio 2 on Sunday 1 February from midnight.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":388146,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[6491,96,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-388145","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-celebrities","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=388145"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388145\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/388146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=388145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=388145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=388145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}