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Phil Collins

Phil Collins

I Cannot Believe It's True - Live at Perkins Palace, Pasadena, CA 1982

The drummer turned chart-topping frontman who steered Genesis into the mainstream and built a solo career on heartbreak and rhythm.

APPLE MUSIC

I Cannot Believe It's True - Live at Perkins Palace, Pasadena, CA 1982

Phil Collins

MUSIC VIDEO · Phil Collins

Face Value, 45 years later: Phil Collins in conversation with Steven Wilson

VIDEO · FROM APPLE MUSIC

About

MOODS · energetic · heartbreak-tinged · soulful · rhythmic · anthemic · nostalgic · dramatic · polished · radio-ready · emotive · percussive · wistful

BIOGRAPHY

Born January 30, 1951, Phil Collins started drumming at five and later took over lead vocals for Genesis after Peter Gabriel's 1975 departure, guiding the band through hits like Duke (1980), Abacab (1981) and Invisible Touch (1986) before leaving in 1996 and returning for reunion tours in 2007 and 2021-2022. His solo run began with Face Value (1981), yielding three UK and seven US number-one singles between 1982 and 1990; combined with Genesis and collaborations, he logged more US top-40 hits than any other artist in the 1980s. Collins has been candid about his own catalog, telling a 2024 web documentary he wasn't the biggest fan of some Genesis material even as other songs stood out.

WHY THEY'RE COOL

Collins turned drum fills into hooks, fusing gated-reverb rhythm with soul-inflected songwriting across Face Value and Genesis's pop-rock peak. He holds eight Grammy Awards, six Brit Awards and Ivor Novello Awards, two Golden Globes and an Academy Award for the music of Tarzan, and is one of only three artists, alongside Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson, to sell over 100 million records both as a solo artist and as a band member. Rolling Stone ranks him among the 100 greatest drummers of all time, and he's been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Genesis, with a solo induction set for 2026.

ON WOKE-1

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