"I'm not dead yet" Phil Collins' "constant battle" with health, but he still has a few songs up his sleeve
Phil Collins has been battling serious health problems for years. The ex-Genesis frontman has retired to his home on Lake Geneva. Shortly before his 75th birthday, he speaks openly about pain, withdrawal - and saying goodbye to the limelight.
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- Phil Collins lives in seclusion on Lake Geneva and struggles with numerous health problems, including knee pain, kidney failure and the consequences of alcohol abuse.
- He has been abstinent for two years, is cared for around the clock by a nurse and remains combative and confident despite his ailments.
- The former Genesis singer is not ruling out a musical comeback - he still has unreleased songs in the works.
"It's a constant battle," says Phil Collins on the BBC podcast Eras. A nurse lives with him around the clock in Féchy VD and ensures that he takes his medication regularly. "My knee is giving me problems - everything that could go wrong has gone wrong."
"The last few years have been frustrating," says Phil Collins, who has lived in Switzerland for years. After the last tour, the British-born musician actually wanted to enjoy life - but hospital stays and operations followed instead.
"I thought: now I'm going to do all the things I couldn't do before." Instead, he had to undergo five knee operations. "But now I have a functioning knee - I can walk again, even if only with crutches."
Not touched alcohol for years
But it wasn't just the knees that Phil Collins had to deal with. "The last few years have been difficult, interesting and frustrating," says the musician openly. During a stay in hospital, he contracted Covid, and shortly afterwards his kidneys began to fail.
«Everything seemed to come crashing down on me at the same time.»
What led to his kidney problems and severe pancreatitis? "I drank too much," Phil Collins admits openly. He has been sober for two years. Despite all his health setbacks, he remains confident: "I'm not dead yet." His goal: to become mobile and healthy again.
And maybe even make a comeback musically? "I still have a few things in the drawer - some unfinished, some almost finished," Collins reveals. "Maybe there's still music in me. Never say never."
