Phil Collins reveals that he nearly died in 2024: "People were coming to say goodbye"

3 August 2026, 13:29

Phil Collins opens up about his recent health struggles.

Phil Collins has been open in the past about his health issues and alcoholism, and has now revealed that he nearly died a couple of years ago.

The Genesis drummer, singer and solo superstar told The Sunday Times that his children came to his hospital bed thinking he was going to pass away.

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“My kidneys were packing up, my organs were just seizing up,” Collins said.

"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: "There were some decisions to be made about ‘Do we keep Phil on life support?’ kind of thing. I was very lucky to have come out of that. Needless to say, I haven’t had a drink since."

Collins suffered hearing loss back in 2000, before later recovering. He later had surgery on his neck to fix problems that arose during the Genesis tour in 2007.

He lost feeling in his fingers and could only drum with the sticks affixed to his hands, and later had spine surgery in 2015.

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He later revealed that he had been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, around the time he opened up about his struggles with alcoholism and depression.

A fall in 2017 resulted in some stitches and show cancellations, and on his solo Not Dead Yet tour from 2017 to 2019 and for the Genesis The Last Domino? farewell reunion tour 2020 to 2022, he would sit in a chair while performing and use a stick as a walking aid.