Phil Collins Tribute Act: Philip David Charles Collins (born January 31, 1951 in London), better known as Phil Collins, is an English rock/pop musician. He was the 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. Phil Collins has collaborated with such well known musicians as George Harrison, Paul McCartney, Robert Plant, Eric Clapton, Mike Oldfield, Sting, John Cale, Brian Eno, Peter Gabriel and Ravi Shankar. Collins' ambitions to wield the sticks started at the age of five when he was given a toy drum for Christmas. He instantly harbored ambitions to drum properly and professionally, and as he got older, his uncle made him a makeshift kit for him to practice on. By the time he was a teenager he was a fully accomplished drummer. His performance career began early, as a child actor and model, highlights of which included appearing on stage in Oliver! as the Artful Dodger and as an extra on The Beatles’ A Hard Day's Night, though he jokes “Paul McCartney doesn’t believe me!” From Genesis to Revelation In 1970 Phil Collins answered a Melody Maker classified ad for “..a drummer sensitive to acoustic music and twelve-string guitars”. The ad was for an up and coming rock group called Genesis. During the audition, prospective candidates were asked to play pieces from the group’s sophomore album Trespass. After arriving early, Collins was asked to wait for the other drummers to have their turns. Collins listened and spent his time in the family pool learning the pieces before he sat down at the drum kit. By the time he was to audition, he knew all the parts and was quickly hired by the band. Phil Collins gained acclaim as a “technically sound drummer” and sang lead vocals on “For Absent Friends ” (from Nursery Cryme) and “More Fool Me” (from Selling England by the Pound). Collins was also Genesis’ primary backing vocalist up until 1975. Genesis gained acclaim as a major progressive rock outfit with compositions such as the 23 minute "Supper's Ready", from their 1972 album, Foxtrot. In 1975, following the final tour supporting Genesis’ ambitious, concept album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, frontman Peter Gabriel left the group. After an unfruitful search for a new singer, Collins took over as lead vocalist. The group also recruited former Yes Drummer Bill Bruford and later Chester Thompson to play drums during live shows, although on some longer pieces Phil would play drums as well. The follow up album A Trick of the Tail outsold all previous Genesis albums combined. However, Genesis began to stear away from their progressive rock roots and more toward pop as the decade closed. Although their 1978 album, "And Then There Were Three", still contained progressive rock influences, it is best known for the group's first UK Top 10 and US Top 40 single, "Follow You, Follow Me". During the 1970s Collins also played drums for the jazz fusion band Brand X and appeared on albums by Brian Eno, Robert Fripp and John Cale. In the 1980s he did session drumming for such high-profile artists as Adam Ant, Robert Plant, Howard Jones and Tears for Fears. In the 1980s, Genesis moved further from progressive rock and became more pop oriented. With Phil Collins as lead singer, the group scored a string of successful albums, including the 1986 Invisible Touch, which was their first UK top hit. The album's title track was the only Genesis song to reach number one on the American Billboard charts. The group also received an MTV “Video of the Year” nomination in 1987 for “Land of Confusion”, also from the same album. Phil Collins parted ways with Genesis in 1995 after a massive world tour. Collins and Gabriel reuntied with Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford and Steve Hackett in 1999 to re-record "Carpet Crawlers" ("The Carpet Crawls") from The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway for Genesis’ Turn It On Again: The Hits. The last studio album with Collins as the lead singer was 1991's "We Can't Dance". Recently, there has been talk that Phil Collins is open to reuniting with Genesis [1]. However, Collins has stated that he would only return if Peter Gabriel took the vocals and Collins performed as drummer. There have been no official plans announced of a reunion. 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 and writing the song about the incident. Collins then invites the man to the song's debut and sings 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. Another urban legend has it that Collins performed on "The Secret Policeman's Other Ball" with a can of paint on top of his piano. This was allegedly because the man for whom his wife left him was a painter. While the piano incident really did happen, Phil denies that it happened on purpose. Phil Collins continued to record as a solo artist and with Genesis in 1983 releasing a UK 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. He wrote and performed the award-winning title song to the movie Against All Odds in 1984. The song would become the first of Collins' seven American number one songs as a solo artist. He also appeared as drummer at the Band Aid recording at the end of the year. 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. The same year, Collins released his most successful album No Jacket Required, which contained hits like "Sussudio", "One More Night" and "Take Me Home". The album 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 and an American number 1. Collins first starring film role came in 1988 in the movie Buster playing train robber Buster Edwards. Phil Collins’ rendition of “A Groovy Kind of Love”, originally a 1960s single by The Mindbenders, 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. 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 was a millionaire and yet he was asking others to give money. Collins' record sales dropped after the 1993 release of Both Sides, a largely experimental album which, according to Collins, is his finest. This is despite that he abandoned the winning formula that had brought him so much success in the 1980s. Two of its singles, "Both Sides of the Story" and "Everyday", were minor successes. Both Sides and its subsequent releases never reached the levels of his 1980s albums. Phil Collins' 1996 album Dance Into the Light included the songs, "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. It also featured several Beatles-inspired songs, including "It's In Your Eyes". 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. Although the album was not successful, its subsequent tour played sold out arenas across the US in 1997. His latest studio album, 2002's Testify met with a similar fate. Adored by fans, the album failed to make much impact on the mainstream charts 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.) 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. In 1999, the CD "A Hot Night In Paris" was released including Big Band versions of "Invisible Touch", "Sussudio", and the more obscure "The Los Endos Suite" from the progressive era of Genesis. Collins 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, and had some airplay with the song "Look Through My Eyes". 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. He is married to his third wife, Orianne, 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. Beginning in 2004, Collins embarked on his so-called "First Final Farewell Tour", a nod to the many farewell tours of other popular artists. Given a prognosis of an viral ear infection, Collins wanted to complete one last large-scale tour internationally and spend more time with his family. He is expected to continue touring through 2006, while working with Disney on the completion of a Broadway production of Tarzan.
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