Phil Collins Under ’24-Hour’ Care amid ‘Ongoing’ Health Struggles: ‘It’s Been a Difficult, Frustrating Last Few Years’

Phil Collins is speaking openly about the health challenges that have defined the last few years of his life.

In a rare interview on BBC’s Eras podcast released Wednesday, Jan. 21, the Genesis icon discussed the complications that have piled up over time — and the round-the-clock care he now relies on.

“It’s an ongoing thing,” Collins told host Zoe Ball. “I have a 24-hour live-in nurse to make sure I take my medication as I should do. I’ve had challenges with my knee. I had everything that could go wrong with me, did go wrong with me.”

He said the situation escalated while he was hospitalized.

“I got COVID in hospital. My kidneys started to back up. Everything seemed to converge at the same time,” he explained.

Collins also revealed he has undergone five knee surgeries and now has only one knee “that works.”

“I can walk, albeit with assistance, you know, crutches or whatever,” he added.

Looking back on his recovery, Collins said his kidneys were “messed up” after he’d been “drinking too much.” He has since quit alcohol and recently marked two years of sobriety.

“I enjoyed coming off tour. Coming off the road, I thought, right, I’m gonna do all those things that I couldn’t do,” he said. “I guess I had too much of it. I was never drunk, although I fell over a couple of times. But it is just one of those things that happened and it all caught up with me, and I spent months in hospital.”

“It’s just been a difficult, interesting, frustrating last few years,” he added. “But it’s all right now.”

Last year, a representative for Collins said he was recovering from knee surgery after online rumors claimed he was in hospice care.

In February 2025, the eight-time Grammy winner addressed how his health has affected his relationship with music, telling MOJO that while he sometimes considers returning to the studio, he no longer feels the same drive.

“I keep thinking I should go downstairs to the studio and see what happens. But I’m not hungry for it anymore,” he said at the time. “The thing is, I’ve been sick. I mean very sick.”

Collins retired from playing the drums in 2022, saying his health made it difficult to hold a drumstick. That year, Genesis wrapped what was billed as the band’s final tour.