Phil Collins details serious alcoholism: ‘People were coming to say goodbye’

Pop and rock legend tells Sunday Times of drinking problem and ill health after final Genesis tour in 2021

Phil Collins has said that he suffered life-threatening alcoholism in recent years.

Speaking to the Sunday Times , the pop and rock legend, 75, said that his drinking began after he stopped taking Antabuse, a drug that causes illness if alcohol is consumed, which he had been using since an earlier period of alcoholism.

Collins describes drinking wine at breakfast time, and says his extensive alcohol intake led to him being hospitalised in November 2023, for seven months, with damage to his pancreas and kidneys.

“There were some decisions to be made about ‘Do we keep Phil on life support?’ kind of thing,” he said. “My kidneys were packing up, my organs were just seizing up. People were coming to say goodbye. But I don’t remember them coming, I didn’t have no idea this was going on. They were all worried that they wouldn’t see me again. It could all have gone so terribly wrong.”

He added: “I was very lucky to have come out of that. Needless to say, I haven’t had a drink since.”

In 2015, Collins described a period of alcohol abuse after his 2006 divorce from third wife, Orianne Cevey. “It left me with a lot of time on my hands to think about what happened,” he told Rolling Stone . “I went through a few bits of darkness; drinking too much. I killed my hours watching TV and drinking, and it almost killed me. But I haven’t had a drink in three years.”

Collins has experienced a series of other health issues in recent years, including problems with his neck and spine that required surgery, and which mean he is no longer able to play the drums: his role on the Genesis reunion tour in 2021 was restricted to vocals. In 2016 he announced he had been diagnosed with diabetes.

Ahead of the Genesis concerts in 2021, Collins told the Guardian : “Of course, my health does change things, doing the show seated changes things. But I actually found on my recent solo tours, it didn’t get in the way; the audience were still listening and responding. It’s not the way I would have written it, but it’s the way that it is.”

Collins is one of the most commercially successful musicians in British history. After taking over vocal duties in Genesis from Peter Gabriel, he helped to turn them from prog darlings to mainstream hit-makers, scoring five back-to-back UK No 1 albums in the 1980s and early 1990s. His solo career was just as illustrious, with another four UK No 1 albums across the same period, featuring his such as Against All Odds, Easy Lover and In the Air Tonight.

His most recent solo album is 2010’s Going Back. Collins retired for four years after its release, but returned in 2015, telling Rolling Stone: “My kids are now 10 and 14 and they want to see what their dad does. They were in nappies when I was last on the road. They love my music and I’d like to take them out so they can enjoy it.”