Music legend Phil Collins has opened up about his heartbreaking health struggles in a rare and candid interview.
The 73-year-old Genesis frontman has become increasingly immobile over the past 15 years while dealing with the debilitating effects of nerve damage caused by injured vertebrae in his upper neck.
As a result, he relies on a cane or wheelchair to get around. In a poignant new documentary, Phil Collins: Drummer First, available on YouTube's Drumeo channel, Phil shares the devastating impact decades of drumming has had on his body, the Mirror reports.
With drumming now a significant challenge, Phil confessed: "If I wake up one day and I can hold a pair of drumsticks, then I'll have a crack of it. But I just feel like I've used up my air miles.
"It's still kind of sinking in a bit. I've spent all my life playing drums. To be suddenly not be able to do that is a shock. If I can't do what I did as well as I did it, I'd rather relax and not do anything."
The documentary, filmed in 2022 and released this week, reveals Collins' self-perception as a drummer first, despite his global hits like Against All Odds, Easy Lover, In The Air Tonight, Another Day In Paradise and Sussidio. He states: "I'm not a singer that plays a bit of drums; I'm more of a drummer that sings a bit."
In the one-off episode, Phil's son Nic, who now performs with Genesis as Phil can't, shared that his father needed "big surgery on his neck that stemmed from all those years playing drums and bad posture."
He also disclosed that Phil suffers from drop-foot, where one of his feet has no sensation. Phil performed his last ever gig with Genesis at London's O2 Arena in March 2022, bidding farewell to his fans and humorously suggesting he'll now have to get a 'real job'.
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Despite appearing frail and needing to sit for the performance, it was still an iconic moment. The band, which includes
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