ROCK veteran Phil Collins has admitted he was days from death after secretly relapsing into alcoholism.
The 75-year-old Genesis legend was , including his kidneys, started to shut down.
Phil Collins performing while seated in France four years ago Credit: Getty
Collins and his third wife Orianne in Miami in 2018 Credit: Getty – Contributor
Collins said his five children — including actress Lily, 37 — were even summoned to a hospital in to say goodbye during the drama two years ago.
Now sober again, the eight-time Grammy award winner said: “There were some decisions to be made about, ‘Do we keep on life support?’
“My kidneys were packing up, my organs were seizing up. People were coming to say goodbye.
“They were all worried that they wouldn’t see me again.”
— whose 13 solo hits include You Can’t Hurry Love, Easy Lover and Groovy Kind Of Love — first opened up about his struggle with in his 2016 book Not Dead Yet.
He said he started drinking while having too much time on his hands and stopped only after being hospitalised with acute pancreatitis in 2012.
Now he has told how he went on the drug Antabuse, which triggers severe sickness if used while drinking alcohol.
Yet, despite this, in November 2023 he was back in hospital because he had hit the bottle again.
He was discharged almost a month later, then readmitted in early 2024, spending seven months in hospital. In January he blamed the stay on contracting Covid.
But, speaking to The Sunday Times’ Decca Aitkenhead, he admitted that it was down to years of alcohol abuse.
He explained: “Something happened and I stopped taking the Antabuse. I resented the fact that I couldn’t drink.
“I’d have when I woke up. That was what I’d want for breakfast — a glass of wine. But I didn’t drink into the night.
“I wasn’t really aware of having a problem, to be honest.”
Then an 18-hour bender saw him admitted to intensive care in Switzerland, where he lives. A doctor asked his loved ones: “Is Monsieur Collins’ will in order?”
Looking back, Collins continued: “There were times I would just collapse. One time, I remember getting up to give the kids a cuddle and I lost my balance.
“I left two teeth marks in the tiles in the living room.
“Another time, I was walking upstairs too quickly and I fell down. There was a pool of blood around my head.
“There were various low moments that I’m not proud of.”
He said he had not touched a drop since leaving hospital, but confessed that the effects of boozing have permanently damaged his body.
Over the past decade he has had multiple operations on his knees and his spine, and he has Type 2 .
Brit Collins on stage back in 1983 Credit: Getty
Phil, right, with Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks Credit: News UK Ltd
who ensures he takes the medication he needs and helps him walk six laps daily around his home.
A physiotherapist visits three times a week.
He passes the time watching TV, including and re-runs of panel show Shooting Stars. He also watches documentaries about serial killers on , along with Piers Morgan’s show.
In the wide-ranging interview, which he carried out with nothing to promote, he said: “I’ve had my run-ins with Piers, but I watch his show every Saturday morning. I really look forward to it, because I find I agree with him.”
Recalling the past year, which saw him reuniting with his children at to celebrate his recovery, Collins said: “I was very lucky.”
He said his illness had brought him closer to Lily, saying she “was sitting beside me in tears telling me, ‘I never thought I’d get these moments’.
“We had an incredible time. I can’t overemphasise how fantastic it was.” Collins also used his Sunday Times Magazine interview to address the end of his to his third wife, Orianne Cevey.
He was previously married to Andrea Bertorelli and Jill Tavelman and met Orianne in 1994 when she was working as a translator.
They wed five years later.
Orianne, 52 — mum of two of Collins’ three sons, Nicholas and pro footballer Mathew — divorced him in 2008 and Collins had to pay a £25million settlement, the largest in celebrity history at the time.
The pair reunited in 2016 but in the autumn of 2020 it was revealed she had secretly married 36-year-old jobbing guitarist Thomas Bates in .
She moved him into Collins’ £30million mansion in Miami, and he even flew to the UK to work with Genesis.
Devil Wears Prada. star Lily Collins wrote an open letter to her dad in 2017 Credit: Getty
Lily and dad Phil after their rift was healed Credit: Instagram
Collins later took Orianne to court to evict her from the house, a move that saw Bates branding him “petty and vindictive” in an interview with The Sun.
Speaking publicly about the marriage bust-up for the first time, Collins said he found out about the couple’s wedding only when Orianne introduced Bates to him.
The singer and drummer said: “She’s not in my best books.
“I’d love to go into detail, but I can just see this coming back to bite me.
“And she’s admitted that she f***ed up big time. She’s aware of what she did wrong, and how wrong it was, and how it must have affected me. But I can’t quite forgive yet.”
Collins said he was still in touch with Orianne but admitted he tried to limit contact, explaining: “I don’t think it’s a good idea right now.
“Just because I know what I’m like. I would probably fall again, maybe. I mean, we were very much in love.”
Collins will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for a second time this November.
In 2010 he was recognised for his work with Genesis and this time will be honoured for his solo work.
Phil will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for a second time this November Credit: APA-PictureDesk GmbH GENESIS OF GREATNESS
MUSICIAN Phil Collins is one of only three artists to have sold more than 100million records both as a soloist and in a band.
Since joining Genesis in 1970, the drummer-turned-singer has had ten number one albums, numerous hit singles and won eight Grammys, six Brits, two Golden Globes and an Oscar.
He was also the only performer to play both UK and US Live Aid Shows in 1985.
Only the late Michael Jackson and Sir Paul McCartney, 84, match him for record sales.
The Sun understands he will try to attend the ceremony if his permits it.
He is also working with Lily’s mother Jill, 70, on a auction due the same month. It will feature items from his archive between 1980 and 1995.
All proceeds from the sale will go directly to The King’s Trust, with whom Collins has worked for 44 years after becoming its first celebrity ambassador
Opening up about why he had decided to speak up now, Collins said he wanted to set the record straight on his life and career. And he said he was keen to find someone to settle down with again.
He added: “I’d love to be in love again. I would love a relationship. I think it’s probably too late for that. I’m not a very social person. I don’t go out.”
- Interview by Decca Aitkenhead for The Sunday Times
DAUGHTER RIFT IS NOW HEALED
By
PHIL Collins has addressed falling out with his actress daughter Lily.
The Emily in Paris star, 37, wrote an open letter to him in 2017, where she credited previous eating disorders to the pair’s troubled relationship.
She wrote at the time, in her autobiography Unfiltered: “I forgive you for not always being there when I needed, and for not being the dad I expected.
“I forgive the mistakes you made. And although it may seem like it’s too late, it’s not. There’s still so much time to move forward.”
She continued: “I’m learning how to accept your actions and vocalise how they made me feel. I accept and honour the sadness and anger I felt toward the things you did or didn’t do, did or didn’t give me.”
Addressing the words in his Sunday Times Magazine interview, Phil said: “I was quite shocked and a little bit sad.
“But she’s told me why now, and she takes it all back.
“She wished she’d never done it. I have a wonderful relationship with Lily now. So everything has a happy ending, most of the time.”
The Genesis rocker also said he has a close relationship with adopted daughter Joely, 53, and his 49-year-old son Simon from his marriage to first wife Andrea.
His youngest children, footballer Mathew, 21, and drummer Nicholas, 25, are also in close contact with him.
Phil added: “There’s been a lot thrown at them over the years, and I dread to think what that’s been like.
“But all of us are good now and have been for a while.”
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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