Phil Collins is getting candid about his health. During an appearance on BBC’s Eras podcast, the Genesis singer discussed the many health challenges he’s faced over the last few years.
“It’s an ongoing thing,” Collins said of his health. “I have a 24-hour live-in nurse to make sure I take my medication as I should do… I had everything that could go wrong with me, did go wrong with me.”
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One of Collins’ top concerns was that of his knee. The drummer has had five surgeries on his knee, and is now left with only one “that works.”
“I can walk, albeit with assistance, you know, crutches or whatever,” he said.
In addition to problems with his knee, Collins said that, during the height of his troubles, he got COVID in the hospital and had issues with his kidneys.
“Everything seemed to converge at the same time,” he noted.
The kidney issues, Collins admitted, stemmed from “drinking too much.”
“I guess I had too much of it,” he said of alcohol. “I 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.”
In the wake of his health issues, Collins quit drinking. He recently celebrated two years of sobriety.
“It’s just been a difficult, interesting, frustrating last few years,” he said. “But it’s all right now.”
Phil Collins’ Health Troubles
Collins has been struggling since he suffered a spinal injury in 2007. He retired from touring in 2022, a decision he opened up about in the 2024 documentary, Phil Collins: Drummer First.
“If I can’t do what I did as well as I did it, I’d rather relax and not do anything,” he said. “If I wake up one day and I can hold a pair of drumsticks, then I’ll have a crack of it. But I just feel like I’ve used up my air miles.”
The following year, Collins told Mojo that his days as a musician were likely behind him.
“I keep thinking I should go downstairs to the studio and see what happens,” he said. “But I’m not hungry for it anymore. The thing is, I’ve been sick, I mean very sick.”
Photo by Dave J Hogan/Dave J Hogan/Getty Images
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