Brit Music Scene

Phil Collins Announces His Retirement

by Dave Parrack on April 26th, 2008

There I was surfing the b5 Music Channel, when my eye was drawn to a headline on The Rock Relic - Phil Collins QUITS??

Well, I hadn’t heard anything about that, so I read Chuck’s article before tracing the source back to the original story. And yes, it’s true, Phil Collins has announced his retirement from both recording new material and touring old material.

This story hasn’t really been picked up in many places, I suppose because Phil Collins is hardly current or cool, but I still think his retirement deserves a mention. It could also be because Collins was so casual in announcing the news, dropping it in to conversation in an interview with The Times.

Collins started drumming when he was five, and is still, at 57, regarded as one of the best to this day. He drummed for legendary British alternative rockers Genesis, until the lead singer, Peter Gabriel, left, and Collins took over.

He also had a massively successful solo career, having a string of hits during the 1980s. He joined the rest of Genesis for a reunion world tour last year, but now says he will no longer do anything but write, and that’s only because he doesn’t know how NOT to write.

While most of the current generation probably know him best for being played by a gorilla in last year’s Cadbury’s Dairy Milk advert, those of us over a certain age will appreciate what he did back in the day.

He’s an ultra talented musician, and deserves a happy retirement, even though some will feel it has come too early. And if Genesis decide to carry on regardless, I suppose Peter Gabriel should be expecting a call.

[Photo Source: Amazon.co.uk]

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POSTED IN: Announcements, Interviews, News, Op Ed, Phil Collins, Pop