Phil Collins Performs Final Concert With Genesis In London

On Saturday night, famed drummer and singer Phil Collins, and some members of Genesis performed the band’s farewell concert at London’s O2 Arena.

Collins was joined by some founding Genesis members, guitarist Mike Rutherford and keyboardist Tony Banks for the performance. Collins performed lead vocals while spending the show seated on a chair due to his health issues, and his son Nic performed drums for the concert.

“It’s the last stop of our tour, and it’s the last show for Genesis. After tonight we have to get real jobs,” Collins joked onstage during the set. This tour has been pushed several times due to COVID-19, and the band hasn’t had a full tour altogether since their 40th-anniversary tour in 2007.

Collins first injured himself in 2007 when he dislocated a vertebra in his neck and has had to use a cane for mobility since 2015 after going through back surgery. He said he now has difficulty holding drum sticks and added, “I don’t practice singing at home, not at all. Rehearsing is the practice.”

Collins joined Genesis as their drummer and backup vocalist in 1970, after gaining an interest in music in his childhood by performing in West End musicals. When Peter Gabriel departed the band in 1975, Collins stepped in as the new lead vocalist for the band after considering hundreds of hopefuls for the position.

Collins’ work on Genesis, along with his solo career, has been lauded as extremely influential in the world of rock drumming, and in rock music in general.

Collins recently served an eviction notice to his ex-wife who was living against his wishes in his Florida mansion.