A few months ago, rock star sensation Phil Collins revealed that he could no longer play the drums. The singer, who is seventy-one years old, broke the news to disappointed fans as his bandmates were planning to join forces again to go on a Genesis tour. Now, Collins has appeared on stage in various venues across the world but was unable to stand during his performance in Berlin, which has made many fans worry about the singer’s health.
During the engaging event in Berlin, Collins performed alongside bandmates Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks. Although he did an excellent job with his vocal performance, fans could not help but notice that his health was failing him. Throughout the performance, Collins was unable to stand, so he remained seated, gripping the microphone to his chest as his life depended upon it.
Although fans who gathered to see Genesis perform at the Mercedez Benz Arena were delighted to see Collins in action on the stage, they could not help but be reminded that the singer is not the man he once was.
Because Collins was pictured sitting throughout the performance in Berlin, he became a trending topic on Twitter. Some fans went so far as to compare the British singer to his former bandmate Peter Gabriel.
Fans quickly turned to social media to defend Collins and argue that he is not looking too bad despite the health setbacks he has faced during the last few years.
“I’m not a Genesis diehard, but if I had a choice between Genesis as fronted by Peter Gabriel and the band with Phil Collins as lead singer, I’m definitely going with Phil Collins,” one Twitter user wrote on Tuesday.
“Phil Collins is trending because he’s still around for us to tell him we love him,” another person using the social media platform tweeted.
One fan optimistically added: “I saw him back in 2019 as just Phil Collins, then a few weeks ago during the Genesis tour. He looked exactly the same. Trust me, he’s fine, despite the vertebrae issue.”
Collins suffered a spinal injury in 2007 that has been affecting his health ever since. He has sometimes appeared in a wheelchair because of the injury and admitted back in September 2021 that he could no longer play the drums like he once did. During a conversation on the BBC Breakfast show, Collins confessed that his son Nick would be taking over the drums for the 2021-2022 Genesis tour.
The hosts of the talk show directly asked Collins if he still gets behind the drums to pound the sheepskin. He replied:
“No. I’d love to, but you know, I mean, I can barely hold a stick with this hand… There are certain physical things that get in the way.”
Although Collins can not perform on drums like he wishes he could, he is glad that he is able to give Genesis one last go. This tour will be their last, and he’s glad to be along for the ride.
“Yes, well, you know, you say things. I mean, we’re all men of our age, and I think to some extent yeah, I think it probably is putting it to bed,” the singer said. “I think, yeah, just generally for me, I don’t know if I want to go out on the road anymore.”