Phil Collins's 15 best songs, ranked

15 May 2025, 14:48

Phil Collins - his best sonogs. Picture: Alamy

By Mayer Nissim

Away from Genesis, Phil Collins notched up hit after hit after hit.

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Phil Collins joined Genesis as their drummer in 1970 – and when Peter Gabriel left in 1975 he took over as the group's frontman.

Genesis powered on through the decades with Collins at the helm, and from the start of the 1980s he also launched his parallel solo career.

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That was the decade that Genesis released some of their best-selling albums – Duke, Acab, Genesis and Invisible Touch – but Phil's solo hits were even bigger still.

Over the albums Face Value, Hello, I Must Be Going!, No Jacket Required and ...But Seriously, Phil Collins became an era-defining star.

Below, we round up Phil Collins's biggest and best solo singles.

That's Just The Way It Is

Phil Collins - That's Just The Way It Is (Official Music Video)

Nothing to do with Bruce Hornsby's 'The Way It Is', though we bet Phil could do a storming version of that if he fancied it.
Instead, this single from ...But Seriously was a top 30 single in the UK on its release in 1990, showing that Collins wasn't going to disappear after owning the 1980s.
The anti-war song tackled the complexities of The Troubles and featured veteran protest-singer David Crosby on backing vocals.
"It's about Northern Ireland as far as I am concerned," Collins said of the song in 1989.
"I just thought someone somewhere, and it's got to be from both sides, has got to say 'Hang on, life means more than this. This has got to stop'."
I Wish It Would Rain Down

Phil Collins - I Wish It Would Rain Down (Official Music Video)

Another hit single from ...But Seriously featuring an absolutely massive special guest.
This time – as well as a gospel choir – it was Eric Clapton, who plays guitar throughout.
"I said 'Eric, have I never asked you to play? Come on, I've got a song right up your street'," Phil said of the hookup.
The song went to number 7 in the UK chart, number 3 in the US and number one in Canada, helped along by a funny video starring Jeffrey Tambor.
Separate Lives (featuring Marilyn Martin)

Phil Collins feat. Marilyn Martin - Separate Lives (Official Music Video)

Marilyn Martin has been a backing vocalist to superstars like Stevie Nicks, Don Henley, Tom Petty and Kenny Loggins, and also released a pair of albums in the 1980s.
Her crowning glory was this duet with Phil Collins, which topped the US chart on the back of its appearance in the movie White Nights, which featured Helen Mirren and Isabella Rossellini alongside stars Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gregory Hines.
Written by Stephen Bishop, the song was nominated for an Oscar in 1986, missing out to Lionel Richie's 'Say You, Say Me' from the very same film.
Dance Into The Light

Phil Collins - Dance Into The Light (Official Music Video)

The title track from Phil's 1996 album, 'Dance into the Light' fell outside the US top 40 but reached number nine back home.
The song was written by Collins and helped along not just by Phil's continued collaboration with long-time producer and creator of the 1980s sound Hugh Padgham, but also ex 10cc-man Kevin Godley, who directed the music video.
Two Hearts

Phil Collins - Two Hearts (Official Music Video)

Phil Collins was always an absolutely massive fan of Motown (more on that later), so it must have been quite the thrill to co-write and co-produce a song with Lamont Dozier, one third of the Holland-Dozier-Holland songwriting trio behind hits by Martha and the Vandellas, The Supremes, The Four Tops, and The Isley Brothers.
Taken from the soundtrack to Buster, the Great Train Robbery comedy drama that starred Phil in the title role, 'Two Hearts' went to number six in the UK and number one in the US.
The song won a Grammy and Golden Globe, and also picked up an Oscar nod.
Both Sides of the Story

Phil Collins - Both Sides Of The Story (Official Music Video) [HD Upgrade]

The lead single from 1993's Both Sides, 'Both Sides of the Story' charted at number 25 in the US and number 7 in the UK.
It was written and produced by Phil and, like the rest of the album, Collins pretty much played every instrument on it.
That meant not just lead and backing vocals and drums, but also keyboards, guitars, bass and drum machines.
A Groovy Kind of Love

Phil Collins - A Groovy Kind Of Love (Official Music Video)

In Genesis and as a solo star, Phil Collins was a key songwriting figure, but he was also more than capable of putting his own spin on existing hitts.
Based on a classical melody from Muzio Clementi, 'Groovy Kind of Love' was written by Toni Wine and Carole Bayer Sager and recorded by Diane & Annita in 1965.
The same year it grabbed more attention when The Mindbenders took it to number two in both in the UK and the US.
Phil did one better, taking it to number one on both sides of the Atlantic with a little help from co-producer Anne Dudley when he covered it for the Buster soundtrack in 1988.
True Colours

Phil Collins - True Colors (Official Music Video)

'True Colours' was written Tom Kelly and Billy Steinberg as a soaring, string-laden ballad, but Cyndi Lauper stripped it right back for her number one US single in 1986, with the song also giving her second album its name.
Cyndi's song was released at the height of Phil's solo fame in the mid-1980s, which made it an interesting choice of cover for the ex-Genesis man when he was rounding out his ...Hits compilation in 1998.
Phil's version was produced by and featured backing vocals from Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds.
One More Night

Phil Collins - One More Night (Official Music Video) [HD Upgrade]

Face Value turned Phil Collins into an instant solo sensation. Hello, I Must Be Going! didn't flop at all, but it's fair to say the success of third album No Jacket Required blew it out the water.
'One More Night' was its lead single in the US ('Sussudio' got the nod in the UK), and became his second American charttopper, only being knocked off the summit by 'We Are the World'.
It's a story of an on-off couple who are always fighting ("like we're going to war") and getting back together for "one more night" (until the next time... and the time after that... and that).
You Can't Hurry Love

Phil Collins - You Can't Hurry Love (Official Music Video)

Look. Phil Collins's version of 'You Can't Hurry Love' is not as good as The Supremes' classic. Not at all. Not nearly. But it's still pretty good.
'You Can't Hurry Love' was written by Holland-Dozier-Holland (as we've noted, Collins would later collaborate with Dozier on 'Two Hearts').
Phil Collins' cover was the standout from his second solo LP Hello, I Must Be Going! and earned him his first UK number one single (it's worth mentioning that The Supremes actually only got to number three over here).
"The idea of doing 'Can't Hurry Love' was to see if Hugh Padgham and I could duplicate that Sixties sound," Collins said.
"It's very difficult today because most recording facilities are so much more sophisticated than they were back then.
"It's therefore hard to make the drums sound as rough as they did on the original. That's what we were going after, a remake, not an interpretation, but a remake."
Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now)

Phil Collins - Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now) (Official Music Video)

Yes, it's schmaltzy, but there's nothing wrong with a bit of schmaltz when it's done as well as this.
Taken from the soundtrack go the movie Against All Odds, 'Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now)' saw Phil take a brief break from producer Hugh Padgham, with Arif Mardin taking the reins instead.
It was Phil's first US number one. In the UK it stalled at number two, but two different covers topped the charts: first with the dream team of Mariah Carey and Westlife, and then by first X Factor winner Steve Brookstein.
Another Day in Paradise

Phil Collins - Another Day In Paradise (Official Music Video)

As with 'That's Just The Way It Is', 'Another Day in Paradise' was proof that Phil Collins was more than capable of turning his pen towards weightier issues than the usual love/break-ups/reconciliations.
Homelessness and rough sleeping was a massive, serious problem in the UK in the mid-1980s (and still is today), and Phil explored that in this heartbreaking song, which opens with a man ignoring a woman on the street ("He walks on, doesn't look back").
It went to number one, won Grammys, Brits and went Gold in the US and Platinum back home in the UK.
Sussudio

Phil Collins - Sussudio (Official Music Video) [HD Upgrade]

What does Sussudio mean, then?
Absolutely nothing at all. It's a completely made-up phrase Phil came up with during practice that fit the melody he'd put together, and it stuck.
"I kinda knew I had to find something else for that word, then I went back and tried to find another word that scanned as well as 'sussudio,' and I couldn't find one, so I went back to 'sussudio'," he explained.
That didn't stop the song being absolutely massive. It went to number 12 in the UK and was another number one in the US
Phil is the sole credited writer and he co-produced the song with Hugh Padgham, but David Frank of The System deserves plenty of credit for providing the synth, rhythm arrangement, sound design and programming.
Easy Lover (with Philip Bailey)

Philip Bailey, Phil Collins - Easy Lover

For his third solo album, Chinese Wall, Earth, Wind & Fire man Philip Bailey joined forces with a possibly unlikely collaborator in the form of Phil Collins.
As well as producing the record, Collins played drums, keyboards and co-wrote large portions of the album. He sang backing vocals on some songs and shared co-lead on its biggest track, 'Easy Lover'.
That song was co-written by Bailey with Collins and Nathan East and was an instant, timeless classic.
"So we just started having a jam one night, and went round and round and turned it into a verse and a chorus," Phil said years later.
"We recorded it that night so we wouldn't forget it. That song doesn't sound like any particular era. It's just fantastic."
It went to number one in the UK and in the US was only kept off the top by Foreigner's all-conquering 'I Want to Know What Love Is'.
In The Air Tonight

Phil Collins - In The Air Tonight (Official Music Video)

Phil Collins' most enduring solo single was his very first.
Genesis were on a break and Phil's first marriage, to Andrea Bertorelli, was coming to an end, when he went off on his own to work out his feelings.
Fortunately enough, he did it on record, coming up with the Face Value album and this absolute stunner of a lead single.
"I don't know what this song is about," Collins said. "When I was writing this I was going through a divorce.
"And the only thing I can say about it is that it's obviously in anger. It's the angry side, or the bitter side of a separation."
He admitted he found it "comical" that an urban legend had grown up about the song being about a real-life incident where Phil Collins saw someone ignore a drowning man.
In some crazy versions Phil spots the person at one of his concerts (huh?) and gets the spotlight on him during the song (what?) to publicly shame them. The legend was even immortalised in Eminem's own classic 'Stan'.

Cadbury's Gorilla Playing Drums - Advert Commercial

Well, it's obviously a load of old nonsense, not least because the lyric ("Well, if you told me you were drowning / I would not lend a hand") is quite clearly metaphorical.
Anyway, that urban legend faded over the years, replaced by the song being very well known for its use in a brilliant advert for Cadbury's Dairy Milk that featured... a drumming gorilla.
The original song itself went to number 19 in the US, number 2 in the UK, only kept off the top by John Lennon's 'Woman', which was released weeks after The Beatles legend was assassinated.
It was the song that cemented the fledgling relationship between Collins and producer Hugh Padgham that would be keenly felt in the decade that followed and beyond.