Phil Collins

Phil Collins is a British musician, songwriter, and actor from England. He was the former drummer and backup singer for a band called Genesis during the 70's up. If you ask anyone on the street who Phil Collins was, I guarantee you that more often than not, someone would be able to tell you that he is a singer or "that singer that did the songs for Tarzan." However, Phillip David Charles Collins has his musical roots set deep into the history of British Rock music and the pop culture of the seventies.

Family

Phillip David Charles Collins was born on January 30, 1950 in Chiswick, London, England to Greville Phillip Austin and June Collins. His mother was a Theatrical Agent and his father was an insurance agent.

Early Life

Phil showed an early interest in music after getting a drum set from his uncle when he was five. Later on, his uncle had given him a make shift drum set, but as he got older, his parents bought him full sets of drums. He practiced playing the drums by listening to the radio and the television, never learning how to read or write musical composition. Instead, he came up with his own musical scores.

Early Career

He started his musical career with a not so well known band called Flaming Youths before moving on to the more well known band called Genesis in 1970. However, before that, Phil joined the Barbara Speake Stage School, where he started out as a child actor and model. His first role was being the Artful Dodger in a play of Oliver Twist before making an appearance in the Beatles’ music video of It Was a Hard Day’s Night. He also had a role in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, which was cut.

Despite starting out with an acting career, Phil grew closer to music. He started his first band, The Real Thing during his time at Chiswick Community School and later joined The Free Hold, in which he wrote his first song, “Lying Crying Dying.”

He received his first record deal as a drummer with a band named Hickory, which had change their name to Flaming Youth by the time their first album, Ark, came out. Following the failure of commercial success, the band broke up and Phil went on to answer an ad in the newspaper for Genesis. He played the percussion for “The Art of Dying” by George Harrison, which landed him the role of the drummer of Genesis, and thus his true fame would begin.

Time With Genesis

Phil answered an ad calling for a drummer sensitive to acoustic music and acoustic twelve-string guitarist. The ad was placed after Genesis lost three drummers. Everyone that auditioned played pieces from the album, Trespass at the home of Peter Gabriel’s parents. Phil had remembered his audition piece by arriving early and listening closely to the performances of others that were auditioning before him.

A year after winning the role of drummer, the first album with Phil as both backup singer and the drummer for Genesis, Nursery Cryme, was released. For the next five years, Phil’s primary role was being the drummer and providing backup vocals to Peter Gabriel but he sang lead vocals in More Fool Me and Absent Friends.

While recording the album, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway in 1974, Collins took on an extra gig for Brian Eno’s band. He was sent to play the drums for Eno’s band’s album, Taking Tiger Mountain (by Strategy).

After the final tour of The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. Peter Gabriel left Genesis, and was replaced by Phil. It wasn’t until much persuasion from the remaining members and a long search for a replacement for Gabriel, that Phil took on the role of front man.

With Phil now the lead singer, Genesis recruited Yes and King Crimson drummer, Bill Bruford to play the drums during the live shows. Afterwards, former Frank Zappa Drummer, Chester Thompson became the permanent replacement for Phil to this day.

Over the years, the members of Genesis had dwindled down to three, with only two of the longest running members remaining, one being Phil and the other being Bassist/Guitarist, Mike Rutherford.

Phil Collins has gained much success during his time with Genesis, especially as the Lead Vocalist during the late seventies, the eighties, and the ninties up until today.

Solo Career

While performing with Genesis, Phil has also established a solo career as a singer, pianist, and song writer. Many of his songs from his solo career often placed in the top 40’s and he provided vocals and instrumentals on the solo albums of former Genesis member, Steve Hackett.

Genesis Reunion

Phil finally left Genesis in 1996 to officially persue his own solo career, but reunited with Peter and the rest of Genesis in 1999 to re-record Carpet Crawlers for Turn It On Again: The Hits.

In 2007, Phil reunited with Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks for the Turn It On Again Tour.

Works With Disney

Phil has done some close work with Disney, his biggest feat having written the entire musical score and entire sound track to Tarzan in 1998 and performing all the songs himself. He also did the entire sound track to Brother Bear as well.

Marriages

Phil has been married three times. He had one son, Simon Collins, and a stepdaughter, by Canadian actress, Andrea Bartorelli, From his second marriage to Jill Tavelman, his daughter, Lily Collins was born and had two sons from his third marriage.

Up until this day, Phil has retired from his musical career due to health problems, the main one being an operation to replace a broken vertebra in his neck. This had put a hold on his ability to play the drums indefinitely.