At an age when most rock legends are long retired, Phil Collins is facing the fight of his life — and refusing to give in quietly.
In a deeply candid world-exclusive interview with Zoe Ball for BBC Two’s Eras – In Conversation, recorded to mark his 75th birthday, the Genesis icon laid bare the full scale of his health battle — revealing five knee operations, kidney failure brought on by years of heavy drinking, and the reality of living with a 24-hour live-in nurse.
Yet, despite it all, Collins insists there is still “life in the old dog yet.”
The musician, who has long lived with Type 2 diabetes and severe spinal damage stemming from a 2007 injury, admitted that everything seemed to collapse at once. Hospital stays stretched into months as complications piled up, including contracting COVID while already critically unwell.
“I had everything that could go wrong with me,” he said. “And it did.”
Phil Collins detailed his health issues in a new interview with Zoe Ball as he said: ‘I’ve had five knee operations, I have a 24-hour live in nurse and my kidneys packed up through boozing but there’s life in the old dog yet’
Phil pictured performing at London’s Hyde Park in 2017 – his son Nic filled in for him on the drums due to the musician’s agonising spine and knee conditions
Collins revealed that his kidneys “packed up” after years of daytime drinking — a habit he says crept up on him once touring ended. “I was never drunk,” he insisted. “But I had too much of it. And it all caught up with me.”
Phil recalls auditioning for Genesis with little prior knowledge of the band, saying: ‘By the time I came in to audition, I already knew the stuff. Apparently Peter thought the way I sat down at the drums said, “this guy can play”‘ (Pictured: Phil, Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks)
Phil pictured with his daughter, Emily In Paris star Lily Collins back in 2009
Phil with his daughters, Lily and Joely (behind Lily), while kneeling down by his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1999 – he told Zoe: ‘My kids are amazingly well adjusted considering some of the things that they’ve been through, you know?’
Now reliant on medication schedules carefully monitored by round-the-clock nursing care, Collins says walking is only possible with assistance, following multiple knee reconstructions.
Despite the physical toll, his reflections are strikingly free of bitterness. Instead, Collins spoke emotionally about fatherhood, expressing pride in all five of his children — including actress Lily Collins and drummer son Nic, who famously stepped in for his father during Genesis’ Hyde Park show in 2017 when Collins was in visible agony.
“I’m very proud of them,” he said. “They’re amazingly well-adjusted considering some of the things they’ve been through.”
Perhaps most moving of all was Collins’ quiet hint that music may not be finished with him yet. He revealed there are unfinished tracks — ideas left half-formed — waiting to be revisited, if his health allows.
“You don’t know if you can do it until you try,” he said softly. “So… watch this space.”
For a man who once filled stadiums and defined generations, the battle is no longer with critics or charts — but with his own body. And still, against the odds, Phil Collins refuses to call time.
