Phil Collins Says He Can No Longer Play Drums As Genesis Embarks On Reunion Tour

The 80s pop icon gave a health update during an appearance on BBC Breakfast.
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Pop music icon Phil Collins has sadly revealed he no longer feels able to play the drums.

“I’d love to but I mean, I can barely hold a stick with this hand,” the Genesis rocker told BBC Breakfast ahead of his Genesis band’s reunion tour. “There are certain physical things which get in the way.”

Phil will sing with Genesis as he reunites with fellow members Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks for the first time since 2007. But he’ll leave the drumming to his son, Nic.

“I’m physically challenged a bit, which is very frustrating because I’d love to be playing up there with my son,” he said.

“He plays a bit like me when he wants to,” Phil commented, per NME.

The 70-year-old star has undergone multiple back surgeries – one of them after falling in his bathroom in 2017. The musician, who also has diabetes, has been pictured using a cane and wheelchair in recent times.

During the same interview, Phil suggested the Genesis tour would be his last on the road as a performer in any capacity.

“We’re all men of our age, and I think to some extent, I think it probably is putting it to bed,” he said. “I think yeah, I think just generally for me, I don’t know if I want to go out on the road anymore.”

After a previous back surgery, Phil told Billboard in 2016 that he didn’t know if he could drum on tour again because of nerve damage to his left arm.

Last year, Phil won over a new generation of fans when two young men from Indiana went viral for gushing over his drum solo in the 1981 hit In the Air Tonight.

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