Phil Collins has revealed he’s “totally mobile and healthy” following a “difficult, frustrating few years”.
In an interview with the BBC Eras podcast, Collins told host Zoe Ball that he’s in much better physical shape following a series of painful surgeries on his knee, and he’s thinking about new music.
Due to five separate surgeries on his knee, Collins shared that he had a 24-hour live-in nurse “to make sure I take my medication”.
“I had everything that could go wrong with me, did go wrong with me,” he mused.
Over the past 15 years, the drummer has dealt with severe nerve damage stemming from injuries he sustained on the 2007 Genesis reunion tour. Surgeries to correct the matter resulted in the loss of feeling in his fingers, leaving him unable to play drums.
He’s also suffered from a gait abnormality dubbed foot drop. As a result, he was unable to walk without assistance. On his last few tours, he sang from a seated position. And throughout the ordeal, Collins has confessed that he self-medicated with alcohol.
In the BBC interview, Collins revealed that he’s now been sober for two years.
“I was never drunk, although I fell over a couple of times,” he said. “But it is just one of those things that happened and it all caught up with me, and I spent months in hospital.”
He’s also considering a return to the studio, saying he’d like to “have a fiddle about and see if there’s more music. You’ve gotta start doing it to see if you can do it.”
The In The Air Tonight singer hasn’t released an album of original songs since 2002’s Testify. His last studio LP was the 2010 Motown covers collection, Goin’ Back.
