Phil Collins has revealed that he came close to death in 2024, a consequence of a relapse into alcohol use that led to organ failure and a lengthy hospital stay.
Speaking to The Sunday Times, the Genesis frontman said his kidneys and other organs began shutting down while he was in intensive care, largely unconscious, as loved ones gathered at his bedside.
“My kidneys were packing up, my organs were just seizing up,” Collins said.
“People were coming to say goodbye. But I don’t remember them coming, I didn’t have no idea this was going on. They were all worried that they wouldn’t see me again. It could all have gone so terribly wrong.”
According to the account, Collins was first admitted to a hospital in Switzerland in November 2023 in connection with his alcohol use, discharged before Christmas, then readmitted weeks later in far worse condition.
His five children rushed to be with him, uncertain whether he would survive, and doctors raised the possibility of withdrawing life support.
“There were some decisions to be made about ‘Do we keep Phil on life support?’ kind of thing,” he said.
Collins ultimately spent seven months in the hospital recovering. “I was very lucky to have come out of that,” he said. “Needless to say, I haven’t had a drink since.”
Collins had previously given up alcohol in 2012 following a hospitalization for acute pancreatitis, writing candidly in his 2016 memoir about drinking becoming a nightly habit during a difficult period.
He fell off the wagon again in 2023, telling the Sunday Times that he’d taken to having wine first thing in the morning before the relapse caught up with him.
Alongside the alcohol-related crisis, Collins has continued to manage long-term health issues stemming from a 2007 spinal injury that caused severe nerve damage, along with five separate knee surgeries in recent years.
Despite the ordeal, he struck a hopeful note in a recent BBC Breakfast interview, saying he feels “healthier now than I have been for quite a while” and that he often thinks about returning to his home studio.
Collins is set to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist on November 14 at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.
