Camilla Jessen
Phil Collins says his health has worsened as he now needs round-the-clock care.
Phil Collins stepped back from music in 2022 due to health issues.
He has now appeared on the BBC’s Eras podcast ahead of his 75th birthday, where he spoke about health challenges that now require full-time assistance.
“I have a 24-hour live-in nurse to make sure I take my medication as I should do,” Collins said. “I’ve had challenges with my knee. I had everything that could go wrong with me, did go wrong with me.”
The former Genesis frontman said he has undergone five knee surgeries, leaving him with only one functioning knee.
Mobility struggles
Despite the setbacks, Collins said he is still able to move with help. “I can walk, albeit with assistance, you know, crutches or whatever,” he said.
He has also lived for years with drop-foot, a condition caused by nerve damage that left one foot numb following a spinal procedure in 2007. Since 2015, he has relied on a cane.
After neck surgery in 2009, Collins lost sensation in his fingers. He previously explained that he could only grip drumsticks if they were taped to his hands.
Final performances
Collins played his last show in 2022 at London’s O2 Arena during Genesis’ The Last Domino? tour. He performed seated while his son Nic, then 24, took over drumming duties.
He said his condition worsened further after contracting COVID and developing kidney problems, which he linked to past alcohol abuse.
“I’d probably been drinking too much, and so my kidneys were messed up, you know,” Collins said.
Long recovery
The singer said he has now been sober for two years.
Reflecting on life after touring, he said: “I enjoyed coming off tour. Coming off the road … I thought, right, I’m gonna do all those things that I couldn’t do.”
“I guess I had too much of it,” he added. “But it is just one of those things that happened and it all caught up with me, and I spent months in hospital.”
Collins described recent years as “difficult, interesting, [and] frustrating,” before adding: “It’s all right now.”
He first found fame as a child actor before joining Genesis in 1970. Five years later, he became the band’s lead singer, helping define one of the most successful eras in rock music.
Sources: BBC Eras podcast, Newsner
