Phil Collins suffering from health problems, can 'barely hold' drum sticks

It looks like he's aged 25 years in the last 5 years. That isn't normal aging. He sounds out of breath just sitting and talking in the recent interview.

 

Sorry to hear about Phil Collins heath problems getting the best of him. It was about 10 or so years ago that he first mentioned his back problems and it was discussed here on the forum. I hope he can just retire and relax and enjoy the remainder of his life and look back on his legacy. Everybody has to stop sometime. Good luck Phil.

 

A lot of concern trolling in this thread. He’s earned the right to do exactly what he wants.

 

This is what you get for growing old. I don't recommend doing it.

Failing the alternative, of course.

As many drumheads as that man has struck, and as many people as he has delighted with his prowess at doing so...and as hard as it may be to get the words out, keep a melody and lyric in mind, as painful as it may be to face a keyboard, knowing it may not go well for him today as it did yesterday, and as often as he has picked up a microphone and entertained hoards of fans, casual audiences and worldwide listeners, and as much as he has been wrongfully pilloried for the sin of not having been born Peter Gabriel...

He has earned every bit of sympathy, love and respect as any of us can hope to accrue, for a life lived as boldly as he has made for himself; touched the people in his life, and made a strangers day better just for hearing something he recorded.

 

I just looked at those interviews and the documentary. I didn’t see any guns pointed at Phil’s head to make him do any of this.

Maybe they’re always standing just out of frame?

Or — and hear me out — Phil Collins is a grown-ass man doing his final bows the way he wants to do them, and anyone who doesn’t want to be a part of that can go piss up a rope. All I’m seeing from you and the Dutch guy is concern troll ********.

 

Ugh. I cant even watch this.

Damn.

 

I love the guy and respect that he is a legend and has every right to go out how he wants but, as someone who has had this band in his life for over 40 years, that recent BBC video absolutely breaks my heart.

 

Sometimes decline is rapid. Hands of Fate...

 

Just saw this for the first time. THIS is how I want to remember Phil. It's a rehearsal so no-one is 'performing' much but PC's vocals are top notch and he seems to be genuinely enjoying himself and very relaxed. I've seen better performances but this one just struck me - because it's new to me - with how effortlessly great the band, and Phil, were back then.

It's just a shame, that's all.

 

I'm concerned. This is Robin Williams (actor/comedian) all over again. Phil seems to not appreciate what he has over what he's lost or doesn't have. I suppose we're all like that.

 

After all these years Mama tour is still my favorite visual representation of the band, 76 is cool too but I hate the truncated aspect of it.

 

‘But Dad! I don’t want to be a drummer! I want to be a human rights attorney!’

‘You’ll go into the family business and became a coke-snorting, groupie-shagging, alcoholic druummer like your dear old dad and that’s final!’

 

Well said.

The general public at large will probably just think of Phil Collins as the singer, but (and I do not mean this to sound snobby at all) the serious music fans around the world who know what he brought to the table over the years know that he is one of the best and influential rock drummers of all time, bar none. His legacy is intact with those fans (and there are a lot of them).

 

I'm sorry you feel that way, but if you can't stand the exchange of different views and opinions, then you've stumbled into the wrong place. Nothing I have posted here is trolling, or remotely like trolling. You're apparently offended that I'm not jumping up and down out of excitement for Phil Collins performing with Genesis. Well, I can't do that. The guy is clearly in a lot of pain. From what I heard, he's a pale shadow of what he once was. The pain is such that he can't play drums, and he can't even stand for a performance. The pain is written in his face. How could anyone enjoy that, or encourage it for their own jollies?

But as I've said, if Genesis fans want to see it, then that's okay. As you say, Phil can make up his own mind. That doesn't mean every decision he makes is a good one, or the correct one. In his mind I'm sure he wants to carry on, but his body is giving out. We all end up at that spot, but we don't usually do it with an audience. That's all.

 

Well, he kinda did. He passed on a day after he released an album, remember?

 

His end should have come a lot later.

 

I watched The Last Domino? documentary and I don't see what some have described. I see a happy person who still enjoys the process and act of performing but merely realistic with his abilities.

 

True dat. Sometimes that's just how the dominoes fall, to link this thread with Bowie.

 

The last two years of Elvis' life, he was a train wreck. And shouldn't be touring that much or on stage at all. With a worthless manager thinking only for himself, things turned out bad. Elvis himself is also to blame. But we can't change history.

And yes, the voice was there to the very end from Elvis. With Phil its another different story. He is 70 years old , but act and sings like a 85 year old. His health and personal life is the cause for his present condition. Phil has total control about his career, while Elvis didn't.

Many can not watch the footage from Elvis in 1977. It hurts me more to watch Phil Collins struggling this very day. Maybe because i saw Genesis (1992, 2007) twice and Phil Collins (1994 solo) once, live. His enthusiasm, power, drumming. All gone. Again, it will be a hard task to going on the road again.

 

Didn't he just had an interview on 20/20 him saying that he went drinking after being absent in music. Anyone in his position would be bored too. He's born to be a studio musician and helped a lot of artist along the way.

 

Reading some of the posts has put a different angle on it for me. I'm beginning to think there's an element of selfishness. We all want to see the greats play live, we all want them to go on forever. We can't imagine what it will be like once they're gone. But all of that is a pretty self-centered view. At the heart of it is a musician who might well be something of a hero or favorite, but they're real people and we tend to dismiss that in order not to spoil the little fantasy party we've got going on inside our heads.

Watching the videos, hearing him speak, it's clear to me that Phil Collins is in a lot of physical pain, and I'm guessing mental stress as well. He's a man facing the end of his career, where all the things that have sustained him throughout his life have fallen away. He literally can't physically do them any more. Listening to his voice, as little as I heard, suggests he can't sing any longer. That's got to be heartbreaking for him. Yet he wants to go on. He knows nothing else.

Faced with this, do we rock on like it's 1985 all over again, pretend it's all good and relive our past? Or do we acknowledge that it's not, we're all older, and that we can't draw pleasure from seeing someone struggle on stage for our entertainment? I've voiced similar sentiments earlier in the thread, and was called out for "trolling". Which is odd, because I'm simply explaining what I see and hear in my own terms, and turning the mirror on others. Phil Collin is a very sick man. What you see today isn't simply age, it's a disease or two, it's a body that is damaged. It's not a matter of whether he should or shouldn't, because only he can know that. it's his decision to make. But just know that the guy you will see on the stage isn't simply delivering hits, he's fighting through anguish and pain.

We're going to see a lot more of this as the old stars get to this point. As fans of the music, let's give a thought or two to the reality of life.

 

It's his decision to do that. Simple as.

(Btw, no interest in seeing this or any Genesis/Collins tour, only a casual fan at best. Just think your constant refrain of "Look at what you all are making this poor critically ill man do against his will!" is both asinine and, yes, concern-trolling. Phil has chosen to do this tour, and if you have specific, concrete proof that he is doing this tour under duress, then let's see it. Otherwise, you have made your point. Repeatedly.)

 

I agree with most of what you have to say, but I don't know how anyone comes to the conclusion that he can't sing any longer. If that was true, he literally couldn't be on the tour.

I'm not sure how he'll do to kick the tour off, five gigs in six nights, but again, his decision. He wants to be out there. As you say, it's all he knows, and he's never done anything else.

I seriously doubt I'll catch a 2021 Genesis gig. I don't have a ticket, and have no plans to get one. If it happens, it's clear the band, including his son, will carry Phil this time, maybe that will be helpful for him in some way, and it has nothing to do with nostalgia from fans, misguided, morbid, or whatever.

 

I don't think it's that dramatic. He can sing, he can write songs, he can probably play piano. His last solo tour sold out in most places, so the audience is there-- If he wanted to hire a producer and make a pop album that would sell, he could do that.

He is also capable of touring with Genesis, with the limitations in place. That's what he apparently wants to do, and he's doing it. If you have many zillion-selling songs that you've written, you don't need to tour for money.

 

But he's also one of the most successful singers ever. Heck, he could've recorded a holiday album or some standards. I don't know.