Phil Collins’ representative spoke out to downplay concerns about his health, according to reports.
A spokesperson for the Genesis drummer, 74, told TMZ that Collins has been hospitalized to undergo knee surgery, but assured fans that there is no reason to worry. Speculation about Collins’ health had spread through social media following the deaths of three celebrities — The Cosby Show actor Malcolm-Jamal Warner, heavy metal icon Ozzy Osbourne and WWE superstar Hulk Hogan — over the past week.
Us Weekly has reached out for comment from Collins’ representation.
Collins largely retreated from public life following his final performances with Genesis in 2022. The musician had to perform while seated — and was replaced on drums by his son Nic Collins — for those concerts due the lingering effects of a spinal injury from 2007. (Collins is also a type 2 diabetic.)
Speaking to MOJO Magazine in February, the “In the Air Tonight” singer — who is the father of Emily in Paris star Lily Collins — disclosed for the first time that he’d faced additional private health battles in recent years.
“The thing is, I’ve been sick. I mean very sick,” Collins confirmed.
Asked whether he’d consider making new music, Collins admitted that his health issues had taken a toll on any career ambitions.
“I keep thinking I should go downstairs to the studio and see what happens. But I’m not hungry for it anymore,” he confessed to MOJO.
Collin initially went under the knife in 2009 to correct a spinal injury that occurred on Genesis’ 2007 reunion tour. Following the procedure, Collins experienced numbness in his fingers and could not grip a drumstick at all for an extended period.
Phil Collins in March 2022. Gina Wetzler/Redferns
Once the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee underwent a second spinal procedure in 2015, he regained some mobility but was still only able to drum with his right hand.
Collins recovered enough to reunite with Genesis bandmates Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks for their Last Domino farewell tour, which concluded with an October 2022 concert at London’s O2 Arena.
The 2024 documentary Phil Collins: Drummer First included candid comments from Collins about whether he would ever regularly drum again given his health concerns.
“If I can’t do what I did as well as I did it, I’d rather relax and not do anything,” he explained. “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. It’s still kind of sinking in a bit … I’ve spent all my life playing drums. To be suddenly not be able to do that is a shock.”
Collins got his start as a drummer at age 3 and joined Genesis in 1970. He eventually took over as Genesis’ frontman following singer Peter Gabriel’s 1975 departure, with the three-piece group going on to sell an estimated 150 million albums worldwide.
Genesis were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010, while Collins was voted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2003. He also received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1999.
