Take a good look at him now: After more than 40 years and 150-million-plus records sold, Phil Collins is retiring from music at age 60.
The “Against All Odds” singer and former Genesis frontman gave the bad news in a recent interview with FHM magazine (via British paper The Telegraph.)
Collins explained that health problems brought on by his lifelong drum-playing — hearing problems, a dislocated vertebra and nerve damage in hands hands — led to his decision.
“It’s a good time to stop,” Collins said.
The Grammy winner and dad also admitted he feels out of step with the current music industry.
“I look at the MTV Music Awards and I think: ‘I can’t be in the same business as this’,” said the vet, who now lives on his own in Switzerland after divorcing his third wife in 2007. “I don’t really belong to that world and I don’t think anyone’s going to miss me. I’m much happier just to write myself out of the script entirely.”
One of the downfalls of Collins’ huge success? His omnipresent songs made folks “want to strangle” him, he says. “It’s hardly surprising that people grew to hate me. I’m sorry that it was all so successful. I honestly didn’t mean it to happen like that.”
His priority now: Caring for his sons Nicolas and Mattew with third wife Orianne Cevey.
“I’m not worried about not being able to play the drums again, I’m more worried about being able to cut a loaf of bread safely or building things for my kids,” he says.
“My doctors tell me it’s a work in progress, that it will take about a year for me to recover.”
