Phil Collins

Philip David Charles Collins (born January 30, 1951 in London), better known as Phil Collins, is a English rock/pop musician. He was the lead drummer for the jazz-fusion group Brand X and progressive rock band Genesis, and, after the departure of the latter's lead singer Peter Gabriel, lead singer of Genesis.

Solo career

Phil Collins vented frustrations in his marital life by composing new material which formed the bulk of his first solo album Face Value in 1981. The song “In the Air Tonight” launched Phil Collins as a solo artist and is now part of folklore. There are many stories around the song, but usually they have to do with Phil seeing a man let someone drown, writing the song about the man, then inviting him to its debut, and singing it while the man is in the spotlight. This is purely myth; Collins says the song, like the album, refers to his feelings about his divorce from his first wife, Andrea.

Related Topics:
Face Value - 1981 - In the Air Tonight - Folklore

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Another urban legend has it that Collins performed on "The Secret Policeman's Other Ball" with a paint can on top of his piano since the man for whom his wife left him was a painter. While this really did happen, Phil denies that it happened on purpose.

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Phil Collins continued to record as a solo artist and with Genesis in 1983 releasing a Number One hit rendition of The Supremes’ “You Can’t Hurry Love” and the Genesis self titled album which went to Number 9 on the Billboard Album Charts.

Related Topics:
1983 - The Supremes - Self titled album - Billboard

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He wrote and performed the award-winning title song to the movie Against All Odds in 1984 and appeared as drummer at the Band Aid recording at the end of the year.

Related Topics:
1984 - Band Aid

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In 1985, Phil Collins performed at Live Aid at both Wembley stadium in England and JFK Stadium in Philadelphia, United States. He accomplished the feat by performing early in the day as a solo artist and with Sting at Wembley. Immediately after his performance he boarded a Concorde to perform his solo material and drum for Led Zeppelin.

Related Topics:
1985 - Live Aid - Wembley - Philadelphia - United States - Sting - Concorde - Led Zeppelin

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The same year, Collins released his most successful album No Jacket Required, which contained hits like "Sussudio", "One More Night" and "Take Me Home" which featured ex-bandmate Peter Gabriel and Sting as backing vocalists. Phil also enjoyed another UK Number 1 with Easy Lover, a duet with Philip Bailey that same year. He also recorded the critically-acclaimed Separate Lives, a duet with Marilyn Martin.

Related Topics:
No Jacket Required - Sting - Philip Bailey

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Collins began 1988 by acting in the movie Buster, in which he played train robber Buster Edwards. Phil Collins’ rendition of “A Groovy Kind of Love” for that movie reached Number One on the charts. The film also spawned the hit single Two Hearts, which Collins wrote in collaboration with legendary Motown songwriter Lamont Dozier. He also played a cameo role in Miami Vice and guest starred in some sketches with The Two Ronnies.

Related Topics:
1988 - Buster - Train robber - Buster Edwards - Motown - Lamont Dozier - Miami Vice - The Two Ronnies

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In 1989, Collins produced another hugely successful album, ...But Seriously, which featured the anti-homelessness anthem Another Day In Paradise. The song went to Number 1 on the Billboard US Charts and won Phil Collins a Grammy for “Record of the Year” (1990). Other songs included Hang in Long Enough, Do You Remember?, and I Wish it Would Rain Down (the latter featured long-time friend Eric Clapton on guitar). Collins received some criticism for his anti-homelessness song Another Day In Paradise as he himself at the time was a millionaire and yet he was asking others to give money, people who were fairly poor themselves. Yet, he could have given millions as in his career he earned over £50,000,000.

Related Topics:
1989 - ...But Seriously - Another Day In Paradise - Grammy - Eric Clapton - Guitar

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Collins' record sales dropped after the 1993 release of Both Sides, a largely experimental album which ironically, according to Collins is his finest, despite the fact that he abandoned the winning formula that had brought him so much success in the 1980s. Subsequent releases never reached the levels of his 1980s albums. Collins' total worldwide album sales, including Genesis albums, are approximately 200,000,000.

Related Topics:
1993 - Both Sides - Album

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Phil Collins' 1996 album Dance Into the Light included songs like "No Matter Who", a rendition of Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changin" and the comical music video "Wear My Hat" which featured Danny DeVito. The album sold over 800,000 copies in the US going past Gold but sold less than previous albums, although stylistically it harked back to the sound of his 1980s smashes and its subsequent tour played sold out arenas across the US in 1997.

Related Topics:
1996 - Dance Into the Light - Bob Dylan's - The Times They Are A-Changin - Danny DeVito

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His latest studio album, 2002's Testify met with a similar fate, adored by fans but failing to make much impact on the mainstream charts as it was overrun by rap, hip-hop, nu-metal and teen pop. Testify featured the Leo Sayer cover Can't Stop Loving You, and Come With Me - a heartfelt father-to-child song originally written in 1990 but finally recorded for Collins' baby son Nicholas. (His son Matthew was born in December 2004.)

Related Topics:
2002 - Testify - Leo Sayer

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Collins' passion for Big Band music is well documented. In 1996, Phil formed the "Phil Collins Big Band", which, with Phil as drummer, performed jazz renditions of Phil Collins and Genesis hits. The Phil Collins Big Band also did a world tour in 1998 and performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival.

Related Topics:
Big Band - Jazz - 1998 - Montreux Jazz Festival

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Collins is a successful songwriter, and was asked by The Walt Disney Company to produce the score for the animated film Tarzan in 1999. His song "You'll Be in My Heart" won an Academy Award. Disney hired Collins in 2003 for the soundtrack to another animated feature film, Brother Bear.

Related Topics:
The Walt Disney Company - Score - Animated - Film - Tarzan - 1999 - Academy Award - 2003 - Soundtrack - Feature film - Brother Bear

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Collins does not read and write conventional musical notation but uses a system of his own devising. In recent years he has reportedly been losing his hearing in one ear, and in 2003 announced a farewell tour. The previous year he accepted an invitation to be the drummer in the 'house band' at the rock concert celebrating Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee. He played drums for the likes of Paul McCartney, Ozzy Osbourne and Cliff Richard.

Related Topics:
Losing his hearing - Ear - 2003 - Queen Elizabeth II - Golden Jubilee - Ozzy Osbourne - Cliff Richard

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He is married to his third wife and lives in Clayton House, Begnins Switzerland, overlooking Lake Geneva, about 20 miles east of the city of that name. He acquired the house from its former owner, Scottish F1 racing champ, Jackie Stewart of Dumbarton.

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