Phil Collins

Community biography from

Phil Collins emerged from a background position as the drummer of 70s prog-rockers Genesis to take over from frontman Peter Gabriel and move the band from the left-field of rock to firm middle-ground. His solo career as a soft rock superstar saw him achieve estimated sales of 100 million records.

Collins got his start on stage when he won the lead part of the Artful Dodger in a London production of Oliver!. Although Collins continued to act, it was music that captured his soul and launched him to fame and fortune. His big break came in 1970 when he answered an ad for a drummer in the British music newspaper Melody Maker. The band Genesis had gone through two drummers in two albums and needed a permanent fixture, someone who would be "sensitive to acoustic music, and an acoustic twelve-string guitarist". Collins joined the prog-rock band and its line-up of Peter Gabriel (vocals), Mike Rutherford (bass and guitar), Tony Banks (keyboards) and Steve Hackett (guitar).

With Genesis he released 12 studio albums and had numerous hit songs in the early years, including "Follow You, Follow Me", "I Know What I Like (in Your Wardrobe)" and "Counting Out Time". In 1974 after the release of their epic concept album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway and the subsequent tour, Gabriel left Genesis to pursue a solo career, and even though many thought of Gabriel as the artistic heart of the band, Genesis decided to go on without him. After two more releases the band was down to the trio of Collins (lead vocalist and primary songwriter), Rutherford and Banks, and they released their first platinum-selling album, ...And Then There Were Three.... After this, due in no small part to Collins' influence, the band made a shift from art-rock to pop-rock with their next release Duke in 1980. This release was followed shortly by Collins' first solo album Face Value, which spawned arguably his most memorable single "In the Air Tonight". This album reflected the anger, frustration and emotional upheaval that he was experiencing in the midst of his recent divorce.

Collins' own first No.1 one came with the release of Hello, I Must be Going, and its single "You Can't Hurry Love", a cover of the No.1 one hit by The Supremes. After this he had two further smash hit singles, "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" and "Easy Lover"; the first was the theme song for the film Against All Odds, the second a duet for Philip Bailey's album Chinese Wall which Collins produced and co-wrote. In 1985 Collins released his most successful solo album No Jacket Required, which spawned the hit singles "Sussudio", "One More Night", "Don't Lose My Number" and "Take Me Home". The next year Genesis released its most commercially successful album Invisible Touch, which produced the hits "Invisible Touch", "In Too Deep", "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight", "Land Of Confusion" and "Throwing it all Away". These releases marked the high point in Collins' career. He released one more album with Genesis before leaving the band amicably in 1996, continuing to record and tour alone. Although he has released four studio albums and one movie soundtrack album (Tarzan: An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack) since, he has never seen his previous heights again.

In 2007 Collins, Rutherford and Banks reunited as Genesis for Turn It On Again: The Tour.