Frail-looking Phil Collins is making an emotional return to the drums after being forced to retire due to long-standing neck and back problems.
The 73-year-old former Genesis frontman, known for his iconic drumming and powerful voice, appears in a new documentary, Phil Collins: Drummer First.
The documentary, which premieres next week, will see the music icon tell his life story in his own words, focusing on his passion for drums rather than his singing career.
“I’m not a singer who plays drums,” Phil said in a clip from the trailer.
“I’m more of a drummer who sings a little.”
In an emotional scene, Phil is seen walking towards his drum kit with the help of his son Nic, 23, who took over as Genesis’ drummer during their farewell tours.
Frail-looking Phil Collins is making an emotional return to the drums after being forced to retire due to long-standing neck and back problems.
The 73-year-old former Genesis frontman, known for his iconic drumming and powerful voice, will open up in a new documentary, Phil Collins: Drummer First (pictured with son Nic).
The documentary, which premieres next week, will see the music icon tell his life story in his own words, focusing on his passion for drumming rather than his singing career (pictured in 1980).
Holding the drumsticks for the first time in years, a visibly overwhelmed Phil admitted: “It feels very strange to hold a pair.
“If one day I wake up and I can hold a pair of drumsticks, then I’ll try it,” he said.
“I feel like I’ve used up my airline miles.”
The documentary, created by online drum education platform Drumeo, features tributes from other drumming legends, including Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith and Dream Theater’s Mike Portnoy.
While Chad praised Phil for his unique sound, saying that ‘Phil Collins’ drumming has such a unique sound and style that you immediately recognize him when you hear him’, Mike claimed that he is ‘really criminally underrated as a progressive icon.’
But the most striking tribute comes from the late Dom Famularo, who poignantly said before his death: “The fact that we are living in the time of Phil Collins is almost the same as it was when people lived in the time of Mozart.” .’
Phil’s health problems began in 2009, when a serious vertebrae injury sustained during a performance caused debilitating nerve damage.
In 2009 he told the Daily Mail that he was unlikely to play drums again, revealing: “After playing drums for 50 years, I had to stop.” My vertebrae have been crushing my spinal cord because of the position I drum in.’
Holding the drumsticks for the first time in years, a visibly overwhelmed Phil admitted: “It feels so strange to hold a pair.”
The documentary, created by online drum education platform Drumeo, also features tributes from other drumming legends.
‘This comes from years of playing. I can’t even hold the clubs properly without it hurting, I even used to tape the clubs to my hands to get through,” he said.
Despite your struggles, and after two breakups and a reunion tour, did you manage to reunite with Genesis for The Last Domino? tour in 2022, marking a bittersweet chapter in the band’s history.
And in August, a close friend of Phil revealed that the musician has been working on new music, despite his ongoing health problems.
Phil last released original music for the 2003 Disney film Brother Bear, and his last solo album of original material was Testify in 2002, followed by an album of covers of R&B standards in 2010, Going Back.
Phil Collins: Drummer First will be available to watch on Drumeo’s YouTube channel starting Wednesday, December 18, 2024.