Phil Collins is facing a reality where everyday life now requires round-the-clock medical support, and the music legend is speaking plainly about how much his health has changed.
The 74-year-old drummer and singer from Phil Collins’ band Genesis recently shared that his long-running health challenges are still ongoing and now require 24-hour care. His condition traces back to a serious spinal injury in 2007 that damaged vertebrae in his upper neck and led to lasting nerve issues.
“You know, I have a 24-hour live-in nurse to make sure I take my medication as I should do. I’ve had challenges with my knee,” Collins said during the BBC’s “Eras” podcast series. “I had everything that could go wrong with me, did go wrong with me.”
Those complications have added up over time. After undergoing five knee surgeries, Collins explained that only one knee is fully functional. “I can walk, albeit with assistance, you know, crutches or whatever,” he said.
His health struggles intensified during a hospital stay when he contracted COVID.
“I got COVID in (the) hospital. My kidneys started to back up. Everything seemed to converge at the same time,” Collins said.
The Grammy-winning artist also opened up about how years of heavy drinking affected his kidneys, saying they were “messed up.” Now sober for more than two years, he reflected on that chapter of his life with honesty.
“I guess I had too much of it. I was never drunk, although I fell over a couple of times,” he said. “But it is just one of those things that happened, and it all caught up with me, and I spent months in hospital.”
Despite the physical toll, Collins said he has found peace stepping away from touring and focusing on life off the road.
“It’s just been a difficult, interesting, frustrating last few years,” he added. “But it’s all right now.”
Over a career spanning decades, Collins earned eight Grammy Awards, an Oscar for “You’ll Be in My Heart” from Disney’s “Tarzan,” and induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with Genesis in 2010. Even as his body slows down, his impact on music remains untouched.
