AB GhaylanePhil Collins: what disease does the Genesis singer suffer from?
The mythical group Genesis made its farewell during a final tour. Ill, Phil Collins appeared on stage despite his health problems.
Genesis retires. On the occasion of its farewell tour, called The Last Domino, the cult band gave its last concert in London on March 26. Genesis was in France, in Paris, on Wednesday 16 and Thursday 17 March 2022. Phil Collins, despite his health problems, was present on stage, in a wheelchair and supported by his bandmates.
At 71, the iconic singer of Genesis has a fragile health: after his two back operations in 2009 and 2015, plus diabetes and pancreatitis, he had confided that he could no longer play the drums. “I’m a bit physically challenged, which is very frustrating because I would love to play. I can barely hold a drumstick with this hand, so there are certain physical things that bother me…” he explained to British newspaper The Guardian in September.
He added to the BBC last September: “My vertebrae have crushed my spinal cord because of the position I play the drums in. This is from years of practice. I can’t even hold the drumsticks properly anymore without it being painful. I even used to tie the sticks to my hands to get to play.”
Phil Collins replaced by his son
Unable to play his favorite instrument, Phil Collins had to give up his place for the concerts of this farewell tour. His son, Nicholas, 20 years old, replaced him on the drums. Fans can rest assured that Phil Collins still has a voice, even though he is seated, and he played his last concerts with Genesis while sitting in a wheelchair.
Short biography of Phil Collins
Philip David Charles Collins, alias Phil Collins, was born on January 30, 1951 in London, UK. At the age of five, he already had a passion for music, especially drums. After having formed a first band, named The Real Thing and some small roles in the cinema, he joins in the early 1970s the band that will make him famous all over the world: Genesis.
Although he auditioned to become the band’s drummer, it was mainly as a singer that he made a name for himself on the international music scene by taking over from Peter Gabriel. “It was a long time for me to take the mic off the mic stand and walk around with it. To be honest and fair, it was never an ambition for me to be a singer. I only did it because I had no choice and in the end, it was the best solution for us to continue our career. But me, to confess, I had an idea of an instrumental band. Everything ended well, finally, “he confided to franceinfo in March 2022.
Parallel to the success of Genesis, Phil Collins began a solo career and released his first album, Face Value, in 1981. Everything succeeded to the artist, solo or with Genesis, the successes are linked. In total, he would have sold over 200 million albums worldwide. But since the 2000s, Phil Collins‘ career has been slowed down by numerous health problems.
Who are the women of Phil Collins?
Alongside a prolific musical career, Phil Collins has had a very full private life. The singer and drummer has been married three times, to Andrea Bertorelli, Jill Tavelman and Orianne Cevey. From his first marriage were born two children: a daughter, Joely Collins, born in 1972 and became an actress and a son, Simon Collins born in 1976, drummer and singer like his father.
With his second wife, Jill Tavelman, Phil Collins has a daughter, born in 1989 and named Lily Collins. She became famous thanks to the successful Netflix series Emily in Paris. With his third wife, Orianne Cevey, Phil Collins had two sons, Nicholas, born in 2001, also a drummer, and Matthew, born in 2004. After these three unions, the artist was in a relationship with the journalist Dana Tyler for a decade.
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