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Phil Collins Opens Up About Health Battle in Rare Interview: “I Suffered Kidney Damage”
Phil Collins Reveals He Suffered Kidney Damage After Alcohol Addiction
Phil Collins has been very candid about his health problems as he works on his recovery.
On the Jan. 19 episode of BBC’s Eras podcast, the ex-Genesis frontman— who called it quits in music in 2022—revealed that his usage of alcohol in the past had caused him kidney malfunction.
“I’d probably been drinking too much, so my kidneys were messed up,” Phil said to The Daily Mail. “I wasn’t one of those guys that sort of stayed up all night drinking. I’d drink during the day, but I guess I had too much of it.”
The 74-year-old also stated that although he claims to have “never been drunk,” it certainly had a very destructive effect. “Although I fell over a couple of times,” he remarked. “It is just one of those things that happened. It all caught up with me and I spent months in hospital.”
Moreover, Collins disclosed that he noticed pain in his knee joints some time ago, an issue which fueled speculation in July of last year that he had been receiving hospice care. He and wife Orianne Cevey are parents of Nic, 24, and Matthew, 18, while Lily, 36, is from his former relationship with Jill Tavelman.
Phil Collins Reveals Health Continues to Be Affected by Multiple Operations and Nerve Damage
Last summer, after the rumors about Phil Collins receiving hospice care leaked, the singer’s team came out to dispel the rumors stating that he was just in the hospital after a knee operation.
On the BBC’s Eras podcast, Collins said, “If there were things that could go wrong, they did go wrong, with me, that is. I’ve had five operations on my knee so far. I have a knee that functions and I am able to walk, though I still need the help of crutches.”
However, the “Another Day in Paradise” singer further revealed that on top of recovering his knees, he is still battling with the aftermath of severe nerve damage in his hands.
Back in 2007, after a spinal injury sustained during Genesis farewell tour, the problem started.
Besides that, Collins is a proud father of Joely Collins, 52, and Simon Collins, 48, whom he shares with ex Andrea Bertorelli.
Phil Collins Reflects on Nerve Damage, Retirement, and Letting Go of Drumming
Phil Collins opened up about how the nerve damage in his hands was first experienced during the Genesis touring years. “We’d play a drum duet every tour,” I remembered one time. “That evening, I started to lose power and grip in my left hand. I just assumed things would get better, but they never.”
Eventually, the neuropathy meant that Collins could no longer drum at the concerts. Nevertheless, he was determined to go through reunion with Genesis for the Last Domino? tour 2021 despite his condition. To not lose the drum solo scenes at the concerts, his son Nic was the one who played the drums.
Even though Collins reveals that he is still struggling with the idea of not performing, he feels lucky that he got to retire his way.
“If I am not able to perform at the level that I did, then I’d rather take it easy and not do anything,” he told in his documentary Phil Collins: Drummer First, released in December 2024.
“If one day I get up and I can still hold a pair of drumsticks, I will try again. But I really feel like I have used up all my air miles.”
