In a candid conversation with Zoe Ball on BBC Two’s Eras – In Conversation, Phil Collins opened up about his ongoing health challenges as he celebrated his 75th birthday.

The renowned Genesis singer and drummer has long been vocal about his battle with type 2 diabetes and the repercussions of a spinal injury he sustained in 2007.

During the interview, Collins disclosed that he has undergone five knee surgeries, requires the assistance of a 24-hour live-in nurse, and confessed that his kidneys have failed due to excessive drinking.

Despite these hurdles, Collins remains optimistic, insisting there is still “life in the old dog yet.”

Reflecting on the convergence of his health issues in recent years, Phil shared insights into his path to recovery, emphasizing his commitment to self-care.

He said: ‘Yeah, it’s an ongoing thing. You know I have a 24-hour live-in nurse to make sure I take my medication as I should do.  

Phil Collins detailed his health issues in a new intereview with Zoe Ball as he said: ‘I’ve had five knee operations, I have a 24-hour live in nurse and my kidneys packed up through boozing but there’s life in the old dog yet’

Phil pictured performing at London’s Hyde Park in 2017 – his son NIc filled in for him on the drums due to the musician’s agonising spine and knee conditions 

‘I’ve had challenges with my knee, I had everything that could go wrong with me, did go wrong with me. I got COVID in hospital – my kidneys started to back up, you know, everything that started that could, all seemed to converge at the same time.

‘I had five operations on my knee now – I’ve got a knee that works and I can walk, albeit with assistance, you know, crutches or whatever. 

‘I’d probably been drinking too much, and so my kidneys were messed up, you know. I enjoyed coming off tour, coming off the road, but I thought, right, I’m gonna do all those things that I couldn’t do.’

He continued: ‘I wasn’t one of those guys that sort of stayed up all night drinking, I’d drink during the day, but I guess I had too much of it. I was never drunk, although I fell over a couple of times. But, it is just one of those things that happened and it all caught up with me and I spent months in hospital.’

Phil is the father of five children, including three sons and two daughters – one of whom is Emily in Paris star Liiy Collins and two of his sons, Simon and Nic, have gone on to become drummers, just like him.

Phil has had something of a chequered love life, with marriages to Andrea Bertorelli, Jill Tavelman and Orianne Cevey.

Phil was reported to have paid Orianne a record-breaking £25m after they split in 2008 after a nine-year marriage. They reconciled in 2016 for a short while but split for a second time.

Phil recalls auditioning for Genesis with little prior knowledge of the band, saying: ‘By the time I came in to audition, I already knew the stuff. Apparently Peter thought the way I sat down at the drums said, “this guy can play”‘ (Pictred: Phil, Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks)

Phil pictured with his daughter, Emily In Paris star Lily Collins back in 2009 

Phil with his daughters, Lily and Joely (behind Lily), while kneeling down by his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1999 – he told Zoe: ‘My kids are amazingly well adjusted considering some of the things that they’ve been through, you know?’

Zoe asked Phil: ‘What has life taught you? Do you think, through all the adventures you have had, the amazing bands that you’ve played with people you’ve performed with, when you look back at it or what has life taught? Your incredible family as well. Five amazing kids…’

He replied: ‘I guess there’s a part of me that’s trying to make up for things that I’ve either done or have made people feel. Or affected the kids in any kind of negative way. I mean, I had a very happy family life. 

‘My kids are amazingly well adjusted considering some of the things that they’ve been through, you know? And as I said before, I’m very, very proud of all of them. 

‘They’ve all stood on their own and done what they believe in. So I feel very lucky about that. But I think, you know, I couldn’t have wished for a more varied and eventful playing career. I don’t have periods when I kind of dig me. 

‘The things that are ahead for me would be, apart from just being back to being totally mobile and healthy, is go in there and have a fiddle about and see if there’s more music ’cause you know, you tend to sort of feel, that’s it, I’ve done that. 

‘But you’ve gotta start doing it to see if you can do it. Otherwise you don’t do it. So that is something on my horizon.’

Zoe said: ‘Watch this space. Oh, please get back in the studio. Just go and just go and have a little tinkle. I see how it goes, Phil.’

Phil answered: ‘I’ve got some things that are half formed or were never finished, and a couple of things that were finished, which I like, so you know. Maybe life in the old dog. Yeah. You’ll see.’

Phil’s drummer son Nic joined has been working with his dad and played with him in Hyde with Genesis in 2017, picking up some of the slack for his dad who was in agony at the time due to his knee and spine. 

Phil said: ‘I mean, he surprised the s*** out of me. I tell you. I mean,when I was living in Miami I guess Nic was 16. But I knew he’d been playing, I mean, him and Matthew actually, they’ve had two drum kits and my drum kit down in the playroom and we all used to play together and then they played together and Nic just got better and better. 

‘We talked about Genesis going out again. And, but we didn’t, we wanted to do something different, think it was at the Albert Hall when I saw Mike and Tony Banks. I saw, I said, “you saw Nic. He was very good, isn’t he?” I said, “yeah, he is. He’s fantastic.” So I think they eventually had the idea.’

Phil pictured with his third ex-wife Orianne Cevey 

Orianne divorced the Genesis star, with whom she shares sons Nicholas, 22, and Matthew, 18, (pictured) in 2008 after nine-years of marriage in a bitter split which saw her receive a reported £25m settlement – the pair reconciled in 2016 for a short while but split for a second time

Despite the challenges, Phil looks back on his career with gratitude rather than regret. He said: ‘I wouldn’t have missed any of it for the world.’

He recalled auditioning for Genesis with little prior knowledge of the band, saying: ‘By the time I came in to audition, I already knew the stuff. Apparently Peter thought the way I sat down at the drums said, “this guy can play.”

The interview explores Collins’ reluctant move from drummer to lead singer following Peter Gabriel’s departure. 

He describes the transition as psychologically difficult and far from seamless, saying: ‘Well, it wasn’t natural for me. I mean, I, it’s a psychologically….the drums are a safety blanket, you know, a security blanket. 

‘Yeah. It’s like you’ve got something between you and the audience. The first thing I had, that scared the life out of me was uh…having to go down the front and stand with just this microphone stand. 

‘Because there’s nothing, you know, you are just exposed, everyone’s looking at you “cause you are the singer, whereas they didn’t look at the drummer”.’

Discussing his most prolific years, when he balanced Genesis with a hugely successful solo career and multiple collaborations, Collins admits the criticism he received affected him. 

He revealed: ‘Yeah, I cared about it. Too much so, But at the time, gotta remember going back to the beginning, I said, I want you to play. I didn’t wanna sit around doing one gig a month. 

‘Yeah because I was playing well and I was good, people came to me to ask me to play for them, you know, and, and not only that, they were my heroes. 

‘I remember being at home at Guildford and picking up the phone, and it was Robert Plant and he said, “you don’t know me, Robert Plant,” but I’d seen the first Zeppelin gig, you know?

‘Yeah. At the Marquee. And I, he was one of my early heroes and he said, “you know, I’m doing a solo album. Do you wanna play, um, drums?” 

‘And of course he knew, yes. And Eric became a great friend of mine. And he’d asked me to produce an album. It might have been busy and it might have been everywhere, but for me as a musician, there were reasons.’

Episode 5 is currently available on BBC Previews ahead of release on 26th January. The full transcript for Ep 5 can be downloaded here.