‘Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong’

Phil Collins has been struggling with his health over the past few years. In a new podcast appearance, Collins, 74, shared a rare health update, revealing that he’s experienced numerous issues that require him to live under the care of a nurse. 

Collins was featured on the BBC’s “Eras” podcast, where he discussed his health and what he wants in the future with host Zoe Ball. “It’s an ongoing thing,” he said. “I have a 24-hour live-in nurse to make sure I take my medication as I should do. 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 the hospital. My kidneys started to back up. Everything seemed to converge at the same time,” he continued. Collins has undergone five knee surgeries and now has only one that works. He can walk with assistance or “with crutches.”

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He revealed that the issues with his kidneys are related to his drinking, a habit that he’s since stopped. He’s been sober for the past two years. 

“I enjoyed coming off tour. Coming off the road, I thought, right, I’m gonna do all those things that I couldn’t do,” he shared. “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 the hospital.”

“It’s just been a difficult, interesting, frustrating last few years,” he said. “But it’s all right now.”

Last year, Collins discussed his health, specifically how its ups and downs had affected his creativity and musical output. “I keep thinking I should go downstairs to the studio and see what happens. But I’m not hungry for it anymore,” he said in an interview with MOJO magazine. “The thing is, I’ve been sick. I mean very sick.”

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Collins future with music

In the podcast, Collins opened up about his future and what he wants to do once he gets better. While his health remains an issue, he believes he’s getting better and is on his way back to mobility. 

“The things that are ahead for me would be, apart from just being back to being totally mobile and healthy, to maybe go in there and have a fiddle about and see if there’s more music,” he said. 

“You tend to sort of feel, That’s it. I’ve done that. But you’ve got to start doing it to see if you can do it. Otherwise, you don’t do it. So that’s something on my horizon.”