Phil Collins, both drummer and voice of the group Genesis gave Saturday March 26 in London, the last concert of his last tour at the O2 Arena. The show ended with a long ovation from the audience: the two other members of the group, Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks, literally, physically supporting their sidekick for a last salute.
It’s that Phil Collins, 71, can no longer rely on his back, his legs, or the strength of his arms, and that’s why he quits. Too many health problems: dislocation of a vertebra in 2007 caused by his position behind the drums for years, then deterioration of the nervous system in the wrists… He had surgery in 2009, played again then relapsed: dislocation of the vertebrae, total loss of feeling in the fingers.
In 2015, he underwent a new operation, and asked the doctor if he could go back on stage. Phil Collins never wanted to stop. He wanted to decide for himself how the story should end and not be forced into it by a body that no longer wants to. So, even if it means making a final decision, and seeing that his voice is not failing him yet, he has chosen the date of his retirement: March 26, the epilogue of half a century of career. “Which is very frustratingexplained the singer a few months ago to the BBC, it’s that i really wish i could play, but in reality i can barely hold a wand, i’m caught up in the physical constraints, that’s how it is, i’m a man of my age and it’s time for Genesis to go to sleep.“
What an amazing first night at @TheO2! Thank you so much to everyone who was there Two more shows to go!
Photos by:https://t.co/OErKFrRA6Xhttps://t.co/5cfAkffmjmhttps://t.co/ZMC0cmIsJw@Horace_Austin pic.twitter.com/OhLxZNr9vB
— Genesis (@genesis_band) March 25, 2022
It’s because we don’t always foresee everything. In 1970, when he joined the group as drummer, he had not planned, as he told franceinfo, to become the singer five years later, when Peter Gabriel, the vocal leader, left. In 1980, he also didn’t foresee that his worst depression would spawn his biggest hit: In the air tonight.
In 2022, Phil Collins had not planned to stop like that, performing his songs sitting on a chair. But casually, it’s a feat, physical and artistic. And above all a passing of the baton, since the one who played the drums on Saturday is his son Nick, 20, his father’s first fan. That too was not planned.