Phil Collins isn’t “hungry” to make new music due to his ongoing illness.
Back in 2022, the legendary musician revealed he could no longer play the drums because it was too difficult to pick up his drumsticks.
Now, Collins is shedding light on the current state of his health — and it hasn’t been much better.
The singer-songwriter and longtime Genesis member has considered making new music, but he doesn’t have the drive to do so anymore.
“I keep thinking I should go downstairs to the studio and see what happens. But I’m not hungry for it anymore. The thing is, I’ve been sick. I mean very sick,” Collins said in an interview with Mojo.
The most recent original work Collins did was in 2002 for his solo album, “Testify.” In 2010, he released “Going Back,” which consisted of covers from Motown, but he has not released any material since.
Genisis went on tour in 2022 and Collins joined. He sat in a chair to sing during the performances and his son Nic played the drums.
At the end of the final show of the tour, Collins announced that it would be the last performance for Genesis.
“Tonight is a very special night. Of course, we’re playing in London. It’s the last stop of our tour, and it’s the last show for Genesis,” he said during the show. “It’s difficult for us to believe that you still came out to see it. I guess after tonight we’ve all got to get real jobs.”
In December, Collins released the documentary “Phil Collins: Drummer First,” in which he discussed how difficult it was for him to continue to play.
“It’s still kind of sinking in a bit. I’ve spent all my life playing drums. To suddenly not be able to do that is a shock,” Collins said in the documentary, which was filmed in 2022.
The star, who has been playing drums since his early childhood, believes playing for so long has “taken its toll on my hands, legs.”
He added, “If I can’t do what I did as well as I did it, I’d rather relax and not do anything. If I wake up one day and I can hold a pair of drumsticks, then I’ll have a crack at it. But I just feel like I’ve used up my air miles.”
Collins has not shared any additional information about his health condition, but a post on Facebook in 2017 said that he suffered from drop foot “as a result of a back operation which makes it difficult to walk.”
According to the Mayo Clinic, drop foot, or foot drop, “is a general term for difficulty lifting the front part of the foot. If you have foot drop, the front of your foot might drag on the ground when you walk. Foot drop isn’t a disease. Rather, it is a sign of an underlying neurological, muscular or anatomical problem.”
Collins has had more than one injury over the years that has affected his drum playing. In 2007, he suffered a spine injury that left him with nerve damage. “My vertebrae have been crushing my spinal cord because of the position I drum in,” Collins told the Daily Mail in 2009.
“It comes from years of playing. I can’t even hold the sticks properly without it being painful, I even used to tape the sticks to my hands to get through,” he continued.
Collins talked again about his health struggles during a 2021 interview on “BBC Breakfast.”
“I can barely hold a stick with his hand, so there are certain physical things, which get in the way,” he said.
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Collins joined Genesis in 1970, when the band was fronted by singer-songwriter Peter Gabriel. In 1975, Gabriel left the band, and Collins took over as the lead singer and face of the band.
In 1996, Collins officially left the band to pursue a solo career, although he had had massive solo success in the 1980s. His first solo hit was the tune “In the Air Tonight,” which is still one of his most famous songs.
