For all his talents, Phil Collins is often seen as a drummer first and foremost. He started his career behind a kit, and his reputation as a player has followed him to modernity, even though he has given up his life as a drummer. While many factors contributed to that decision, one show with fellow rock giant Eric Clapton was the catalyst that led him to put his sticks away.
The Show That Made Phil Collins Not Want to Be a Drummer
When you’re as talented as Collins was at the drums, you likely couldn’t imagine losing that talent. That’s, unfortunately, what has happened to the ex-Genesis member. After all the years of playing the kit, Collins suffered significant injuries to his spinal cord, rendering him unable to play his chosen instrument anymore.
There was one show with Eric Clapton at The Royal Albert Hall that put things into perspective for Collins. He realized that his life as a drummer was coming to an end.
“I played with Clapton at Albert Hall for one song, and I had that feeling of ‘This isn’t happening,’” Collins once said. “That kind of scared me. The one thing I could rely on in life was that I could sit down at the drums and it would sound good, and suddenly I couldn’t pull it together.”
Collins teased picking his drums back up at some point, saying, “If I wake up one day and I can hold a pair of drumsticks, then I will have a crack at it. But… I just feel like I’ve used up my air miles.”
Unfortunately, Collins ultimately retired from touring altogether several years ago. His chronic health issues made it impossible for him to continue. However, in the place of a lively touring life, Collins left a rich catalog in his wake. It may not commiserate the fact that fans can no longer see Collins play the drums live, but he put enough energy into his recordings that you get a taste of what seeing him in his heyday must have been like.
Fans can take solace in knowing that retiring from touring offered a much-needed reprieve for Collins.
“I felt as though I owed myself the opportunity to do nothing,” Collins once said. “Touring has changed a lot since I was out there with Genesis, you know, you went out on the road, and it was like going to war. When you came back, your kids were driving, and someone else had moved in.”
(Photo by David Wolff-Patrick/Redferns)