Phil Collins has revealed he nearly died in 2024 after his alcohol addiction left him in intensive care, with his family “coming to say goodbye”.
The former Genesis singer and drummer has opened up about the personal ordeal in a new interview with the Sunday Times, in which he said he was first admitted to a hospital in Switzerland in connection with his alcohol use in November 2023.
He said he was discharged three days before Christmas, but was rushed back to hospital weeks later, eventually spending seven months receiving treatment.
When he became critically ill in April 2024, Collins was unconscious and his manager contacted his five children, who travelled to be at his bedside.
“There were some decisions to be made about, ‘Do we keep Phil on life support?’ Kind of thing,” Collins 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,” he continued. “It could all have gone so terribly wrong.”
Collins said he felt fortunate to have survived the ordeal, adding: “Needless to say, I haven’t had a drink since.”
He went on to say he reunited with his children for four “fantastic” days at a hotel in London, where his daughter, the actor Lily Collins, became emotional and told him, “I never thought I’d get these moments”.
Earlier this year, he revealed he requires a 24-hour live-in nurse to help manage his medication after what he described as a “difficult, interesting, frustrating” period. “I had everything that could go wrong with me, did go wrong with me,” he said, while also revealing he has undergone five operations on his knee.
More recently, he said he was feeling “healthier” than he had for some time, but still ruled out performing at his upcoming Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame induction later this year.
“You’ve got to be match fit to do something like that,” he explained. “You can’t just go onstage – you have to rehearse, and by that point, if you’ve not been singing then your voice is going to be shot.”
He added, however, that he would “contemplate” performing live again in the future.
Collins will be inducted as a solo artist in November, having already gone in as a member of Genesis in 2010. Oasis, Iron Maiden, Billy Idol, Sade, Luther Vandross, Wu-Tang Clan and Joy Division/New Order are the other inductees.
The musician is also preparing to mark the 45th anniversary of his debut solo album ‘Face Value’ with an expanded reissue titled ‘Face Value (Full Value)’. The 4LP box set with half-speed versions, demos, outtakes and unreleased live recordings will be out on September 18, and you can pre-order it here.
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