Phil Collins has shared an update on his health — which has for years made playing drums difficult — and unfortunately, the 73-year-old Genesis icon still isn’t in fighting shape.
In a snippet from a recent interview with Mojo, Collins disclosed that he’s thought about getting back behind the drum set, but hasn’t been able to, due in large part to his condition. “I keep thinking I should go downstairs to the studio and see what happens,” he told the publication.
“But I’m not hungry for it anymore,” he continued. “The thing is, I’ve been sick. I mean, very sick.”
The rock star’s health issues stem from a 2007 spinal injury that left him with severe nerve damage and limited mobility, complicating his ability to play the instrument. He went into further detail about his condition in a December documentary titled Phil Collins: Drummer First, in which he revisited his drums for the first time in years.
“It’s still kind of sinking in,” Collins says in the project, which premiered on Drumeo’s YouTube channel. “I’ve spent all my life playing drums. To suddenly not be able to do that is a shock.”
The composer’s son, Nic Collins, explained in the doc how years of playing such a physically demanding instrument also took its toll on his father’s body. In 2022, Nic played drums instead of the “Against All Odds” musician during Genesis’ farewell tour, while Phil sang sitting down.
“If I can’t do what I did as well as I did it, I’d rather relax and not do anything,” the star added in Drummer First. “If I wake up one day and I can hold a pair of drumsticks, then I’ll have a crack at it. But I just feel like I’ve used up my air miles.”
