Phil Collins has given fans another health update as he continues to face a number of challenges, explaining that his issues are “an ongoing thing” in an interview with BBC’s Eras.
In the conversation dropping Jan. 26, the drummer was candid about the level of treatment he requires on a daily basis to keep him going after a 2007 spinal injury left him with myriad health challenges. “I have a 24-hour live-in nurse to make sure I take my medication, as I should do,” Collins said.
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“I’ve had challenges with my knee,” he continued. “Everything that could go wrong with me, did go wrong with me … I can walk, albeit with assistance — crutches or whatever.”
The update comes about six months after Collins’ rep confirmed that he was in the hospital for an operation on his knee, shutting down rumors at the time that the Genesis icon was in hospice. Collins has been battling medical challenges for nearly two decades now as a result of his spinal injury, which caused nerve damage and drop-foot.
Since 2015, he’s used a cane to walk and has had difficulty standing for long periods, much less getting behind the drumset. “It’s still kind of sinking in,” Collins said in the December 2024 documentary Drummer First. “I’ve spent all my life playing drums. To suddenly not be able to do that is a shock.”
But in the interview with BBC, Collins — one of the most influential musical pioneers of the 1980s with seven No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 — gave fans a flicker of hope. Noting that his recent knee surgeries and sobriety have him feeling “totally mobile and healthy,” Collins said he’s hoping to “have a fiddle about” in the studio soon to “see if there’s more music.”
He added, “You’ve gotta start doing it to see if you can do it.”
