Phil Collins Says He’s Been ‘Sick, I Mean, Very Sick,’ Describing His Disinterest in Recording Since Genesis’ Final Tour

It’s been established for years that Phil Collins won’t be returning to the drum kit, as he spent the final Genesis tour several years ago singing from a seated position and letting his son handle percussion duties. But in a new interview with Mojo magazine, Collins makes it clear that he has no inclination to return to a recording studio in any capacity, due to physical limitations that have taken away the desire to create new music.

“I keep thinking I should go downstairs to the studio and see what happens. But I’m not hungry for it anymore,” he tells the magazine, before pausing and adding: “The thing is, I’ve been sick, I mean, very sick…” The writer says Collins’ voice “tails off” before he elaborates any more on his condition.

A spinal injury in 2007 caused Collins to undergo severe nerve damage, and after a back operation he was subsequently described as suffering from from “drop foot,” a condition which makes it difficult to walk. He further suffered a head injury in 2017. His son Nic played drums when Genesis did a final tour that ended in 2022.

Peter Gabriel, who preceded Collins as the frontman for Genesis, says he went to see his former bandmates bow out as a band three years ago, in their final performance at the O2 Arena in London. “Phil wasn’t in as great a shape as he used to be, but they did a great job,” Gabriel told Mojo. “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.”

Collins does have a project to talk about with the British magazine, but it’s a retrospective one. The just-published cover story on Genesis includes interviews with all of the group’s “classic lineup” members — Collins, Gabriel, Mike Rutherford, Tony Banks and Steve Hackett — talking about a lavish new boxed set commemorating the 50th anniversary of “The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.” It was the group’s last to have been recorded with Gabriel as frontman before he quit the group and was replaced by Collins in the lead singer role.

In 2021, Collins let the world know that he would not be drumming on the group’s farewell tour, telling an interviewer, “I can barely hold a stick with this hand. I’m kind of physically challenged a bit, which is very frustrating.” In a documentary filmed after Genesis’ final shows that just came out last year, “Phil Collins: Drummer,” he said: “It’s still kind of sinking in a bit. I’ve spent all my life playing drums. To suddenly not be able to do that is a shock. … If I wake up one day and I can hold a pair of drumsticks, then I’ll have a crack at it. But I just feel like I’ve used up my air miles.”

Collins last released an album, the covers collection “Going Back,” in 2010. His last album of original material, “Testify,” was released in 2002.

Collins looks back at Gabriel’s resignation 50 years ago and his misassumptions about how it might be possible for Genesis to go on, prior to the realization he had frontman chops himself. “I honestly thought we could just carry on and be an instrumental group,” Collins says of the transitional period. “Of course, the others didn’t!”

Genesis became the rare band to actually become more successful after the loss of an accomplished lead singer and visionary: “People often imply that we planned to go more commercial. We didn’t. We just couldn’t write hit singles before…”

The members of Genesis have apparently not been the most emotionally demonstrative musicians over the years. Physical displays of affection among the remaining members were apparently unheard of, over the years… until the final show, when there was at least a modicum of a PDA among the very reserved Brits.

Although Collins had previously left immediately after the show on every other night of the farewell tour, after that final gig at the O2, Collins admits that he lingered “and 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 laughs when told of Collins’ fondness for that moment. “Well, I’m a repressed public schoolboy,” he tells the magazine. “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.” Turning to the subject of Collins, Banks says, “I’m not totally comfortable with it, but it’s nice if Phil remembers that one time.”