Phil Collins has given an extensive interview to The Sunday Times. Not because he has anything to promote or sell, but seemingly to put the record straight on a few things.
For a start, he reveals that he’s made up with Paul McCartney following a feud that seems to have developed from a misunderstanding a decade ago. Collins gave an interview back in 2016 saying that Macca had always treated him condescendingly. The ex-Beatle emailed Collins, “saying, ‘I’m a bit disappointed, blah blah’. He said don’t be so … ‘sacrosanct’ was the word he used. I’m not sure what that means, but anyway it kind of left a bad taste in my mouth and obviously left a bad taste in his.”
Later, when Collins was organising a charity auction of memorabilia, McCartney caught wind of it. He called to say he’d find something to donate and the pair managed to talk the whole issue out: “I said, ‘Thank God you’ve brought it up.’ Because he’s part of my life, you know? And I wish I hadn’t said it, although it did happen. But we’ve made up, he’s happy about the fact that we discussed it, and I’m happy we discussed it, so it was just really lovely that it’s gone full circle now.”
McCartney and Collins are, of course, in an elite group of artists who have sold over 100 million records as solo artists and as part of a group (Michael Jackson is only other person to have achieved this).
The most shocking revelation in the interview is that the ex-Genesis man almost died as recently as 2024. We’ve known about his knee problems and diabetes for some time, but it seems Collins returned to the booze big time just a few years ago.
“I’d have wine when I woke up," he relates. "That was what I’d want for breakfast, a glass of wine. But I didn’t drink into the night, you know. So I wasn’t really aware of having a problem, to be honest.”
He was rushed into intensive care in January 2024 and ended up spending seven months in hospital. At one point his five children were summoned to his bedside: ”There were some decisions to be made about ‘Do we keep Phil on life support?’ kind of thing. My kidneys were packing up, my organs were just seizing up. People were coming to say goodbye. But I don’t remember them coming, I didn’t have no idea this was going on. They were all worried that they wouldn’t see me again. It could all have gone so terribly wrong.”
The 75-year-old drummer and singer-songwriter will be honoured later this year for his solo work when he’s inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame but it’s unlikely, given his ongoing health problems, that he’ll make one last live appearance there. “I wish I could play still,” he adds touchingly towards the end of the interview. “It’s been my life since I was given a drum kit at three. I’ve always wanted to just do that.”
