For years now, it has been understood that Phil Collins would not be returning to the drums. The Genesis farewell tour, which saw the legendary musician performing from a chair while his son, Nic, handled percussion duties, marked a poignant farewell to that chapter of his career. But in a recent interview with Mojo magazine, Collins makes it clear that it is not just drumming he has left behind—his days in the recording studio may also be over.
“I keep thinking I should go downstairs to the studio and see what happens. But I’m not hungry for it anymore,” he confesses. Then, after a pause, he adds, “The thing is, I’ve been sick, I mean, very sick…” His voice trails off, leaving the weight of those words hanging in the air.
Collins’ health struggles are well-documented. A spinal injury in 2007 led to severe nerve damage, and after a subsequent back operation, he was left with “drop foot,” making walking a challenge. Further complications arose following a head injury in 2017. It was Nic Collins who took up the drumsticks for Genesis’ final tour, a tour that concluded in 2022, and it was from that vantage point—seated, no longer drumming—that Collins bid farewell to live performance.
Among those in attendance at the band’s last show, at London’s O2 Arena, was Peter Gabriel—the very man Collins had replaced as Genesis’ frontman all those years ago. “Phil wasn’t in as great a shape as he used to be, but they did a great job,” Gabriel recalls. “Me going was a rite of passage, really. I’d been part of the creation of Genesis, so I wanted to be there at the end.”
Despite stepping away from music-making, Collins does have a project to discuss. Mojo’s latest issue features an in-depth conversation with all of Genesis’ classic-era members—Collins, Gabriel, Mike Rutherford, Tony Banks, and Steve Hackett—on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. The landmark album, the last to feature Gabriel before he left the group, is now being celebrated with an elaborate boxed set. Collins reflects on that moment in Genesis history, admitting that at the time, he underestimated the magnitude of Gabriel’s departure: “I honestly thought we could just carry on and be an instrumental group. Of course, the others didn’t!”
In retrospect, the loss of their lead singer proved to be anything but the death knell some expected. “People often imply that we planned to go more commercial. We didn’t. We just couldn’t write hit singles before…”
Collins’ last solo album, the covers collection Going Back, was released in 2010, with his last set of original material, Testify, dating back to 2002. But even though the hunger to create may have faded, his reflections on the final days of Genesis remain vivid. The farewell tour was, in many ways, a typically British affair—reserved, professional, largely devoid of sentimentality. And yet, on the last night, something unexpected happened.
“After every show, I’d usually leave straight away. But after that final gig at the O2, we all had some drinks and a curry. As I was going to leave, Tony Banks hugged me, and I don’t think he’d ever done that before. I remember thinking how sweet that was.”
Banks, ever the quintessentially understated Englishman, chuckles when reminded of Collins’ fondness for the moment. “Well, I’m a repressed public schoolboy. We didn’t do a lot of hugging, so it’s not a totally natural gesture. A few years after he left the group, Pete (Gabriel) met me and gave me a hug but it was like a sideways hug, as if he couldn’t quite commit.” And as for Collins? Banks grins. “I’m not totally comfortable with it, but it’s nice if Phil remembers that one time.”
