Phil Collins Explains Why He Can’t Play the Drums After Health Issues: ‘I’ve Used Up My Air Miles’

Phil Collins will always love playing the drums, but years of rocking and rolling has taken its toll on his hands.

“I’ve spent all my life playing drums. To suddenly not be able to do that is a shock,” Collins, 73, confessed in the Phil Collins: Drummer First documentary, which was released by Drumeo on Wednesday, December 18.

The musician explained that after playing drums in concert with Genesis for five decades and on solo tours since the ‘80s, it impacted his hands and legs. The strain on his body led Collins to retire from drumming in March 2022 after his last performance with his band Genesis.

“If I can’t do what I did as well as I did it, I’d rather relax and not do anything,” he said. “If I wake up one day and I can hold a pair of drumsticks, then I’ll have a crack at it.”

“I just feel like I’ve used up my air miles,” Collins continued, noting that not being able to play was “still kind of sinking in a bit.”

The Oscar winner got his first plastic drum at the age of 3, which started it all. Two years later, Collins was playing music for his family. “It was something I could sit at, and I thrashed along to the TV set,” he recalled.

Looking back on his career, Phil’s son Nic Collins said his dad was like many musicians of his time and didn’t think about what drumming would do to his muscles.

“Musicians, people in bands in general had this thought that they were invincible,” Nic, 23, explained. “I think that’s really what it is with my dad is just this kind of sense of you’re a drummer, you’re invincible, you do what you do. But you don’t know it’s gonna take a toll in the long run.”

In 2015, Phil underwent neck surgery that “stemmed from all those years playing drums and bad posture,” according to Nic. Phil also suffers from drop-foot, which is when one of your feet has no sensation. That ailment led to the singer using a cane.

Ahead of Genesis’ reunion, Phil announced that Nic would be taking over for him at the drums because of his health. He remained on as the lead vocalist.

“I’d love to, but you know, I mean, I can barely hold a stick with this hand. So there are certain physical things that get in the way,” Phil told BBC Breakfast in September 2021. “I’m kind of physically challenged a bit which is very frustrating because I’d love to be playing up there with my son.”

Phil hinted at the time that the tour could be his last. “We’re all men of our age, and I think to some extent, I think it probably is putting it to bed,” he teased. “I think, yeah, I think just generally for me, I don’t know if I want to go out on the road anymore.”

Phil joined Genesis in 1970 as the drummer. The band consisted of bassist Mike Rutherford, keyboardist Tony Banks, guitarist Steve Hackett and singer Peter Gabriel. The group went on hiatus in 2000 but reunited in 2006 for the Turn It On Again Tour.

Phil headed out on The Last Domino? Tour with Genesis in September 2021. His last show with the band took place in March 2022 with Nic on the stage with him and his daughter Lily Collins in the crowd.

“Tonight marks the end of an era. To have witnessed this last show was truly the memory of a lifetime and an event I shall hold in my heart forever,” Lily, 35, wrote via Instagram after the show in London.

She continued: “Endlessly grateful doesn’t begin to do it justice. So much love was left on that O2 stage and an even bigger amount shared between an audience who didn’t want it to end. Thank you @genesis_band for the memories, thank you dad for being such an inspiration and thank you @nic_collins for making me the proudest sister there is. 50 years of songs later and still generations more to celebrate you long after this tour has finished…”

Phil shares son Simon, 48, and adopted daughter Joely, 52, with first wife, Andrea Bertorelli, whom he divorced in 1980 after five years of marriage. He shares Lily with Jill Tavelman, whom he was married to from 1984 to 1996. The musicians also shares Nic and son Matthew, 20, with ex-wife Orianne Cevey. The exes were married from 1999 to 2008.