Phil Collins Tickets
Early Life
Philip David Charles Collins was born on January 30, 1951 in Chiswick, West London, England. His love for music began at a very early age when he was given a toy drum set as a present. He practiced playing the drums all the time and also got into acting when he was a teenager. When Collins was 13 years old he transferred to the Barbara Speake Stage School to focus on acting. That same year he was casted in the London stage production of Oliver! as the Artful Dodger. He was also casted as an extra in A Hard Day’s Night (1964), Calamity the Cow (1967), and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968).
Beginnings of Career and Genesis
Despite his involvement in acting, Collins’s career path became more music focused. His first record deal happened when he was the drummer for a band called Hickory. The band later renamed themselves as Flaming Youth. Flaming Youth was never entirely successful, but is known for being the first band Collins had a record deal with. The band broke up in 1970 and from there Collins received his first big break.
Collins saw an advertisement in the newspaper for a band in need of a drummer. The band was called Genesis and was fronted by lead singer Peter Gabriel. Genesis loved Collins work and almost immediately accepted him into the band. Between 1970 and 1975, Collins was the drummer and backup vocals for the band. During that time the band released 4 studio albums. The first album Collins recorded with the band was Nursery Cryme (1971), which was followed by Foxtrot (1972), Selling England by the Pound (1973), and The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.
Peter Gabriel left the band in 1975 to pursue his solo career and Collins stepped up to be the new face of the band. He was now the lead singer and drummer. The change for Genesis was a positive one as their next studio album, A Trick of the Tail, was their most popular album yet. It peaked at number 3 on the UK charts and 31 in the US. Guitarist Steve Hackett left the band shortly after the next Genesis album, Wind & Wuthering (1976), was released. Genesis did not replace Hackett and continued to perform and record music as a trio. The next album, appropriately name …And Then There Were Three…, was released in 1978 and was very successful in the UK and US. The album featured a single called “Follow You Follow Me” which became a UK Top 10 and U.S. Top 40 single. In 1978, Genesis decided to take a break. During this break Collins went to British Columbia, Canada to focus on his family. Unfortunately, he and his wife could not salvage their relationship and the couple ended in divorce. Going through these personal issues prompted Collins to produce his first solo studio album entitled Face Value. Face Value was released in February 1981 and was an international success. The album reached number 7 in the U.S and number 1 in seven other countries. It eventually went on to sell 5 million copies. The album featured hit single “In The Air Tonight” which is arguably Collins most popular song.
Genesis returned from its hiatus with the albums Duke (1980) and Abacab (1981). Even though Collins was still involved with Genesis, he continued to release his solo work. His second solo studio album, Hello, I Must Be Going!, was released in 1982. This album reached number 2 on the UK charts and number 8 in the U.S. where it sold 3 million copies. Collins continued to record with Genesis as the band released their 12th studio album in 1983 self-titled Genesis. Collins was producing music right and left.
1984-1996
In 1984, Collins released the theme song for the 1984 film Against All Odds. The song, which had the same name as the movie, became Collins first solo single to be number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The single also earned Collins his first Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. A year later, Collins success did not slow down with the release of the solo studio album No Jacket Required. This piece of work became Collins most successful album of all time. It is Diamond-certified by the RIAA and contained two number 1 hits called “One More Night” and “Sussudio”. The album featured many other popular artists including Sting, Helen Terry, and ex-Genesis member Peter Gabriel. No Jacket Required won three Grammy Awards including Album of the Year. Collins was balancing his solo work and his work with Genesis exceptionally well. In 1986, Genesis released Invisible Touch which gave the band their first and only number 1 song in the U.S. One of the singles on the album, “Land of Confusion”, received a Grammy Award and a nomination for the MTV VMA’s Video of the Year.
In 1988, Collins made his big screen debut in the film Buster. His role as Buster Edwards received positive reviews and he also contributed music to the soundtrack. The single “Two Hearts” earned Collins an Academy Award nomination and a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song. Another single on the soundtrack, entitled “A Groovy Kind of Love” (originally by the Mindbenders) was the only single in Collins career to reach number 1 in the UK and the U.S. After the success Collins received from Buster, he began to work on his fourth studio album …But Seriously. It was released in November of 1989 and spent 15 weeks at number 1 in the UK. It is listed as one of the best-selling albums in UK history. The album’s lead single “Another Day In Paradise” won a Grammy Award for Record of the Year in 1991 and became the U.S. number one single of the 1980s. The fifth studio album released by Collins was nowhere near as successful. Entitled Both Sides, this piece of work had a different sound from Collins’ other albums. He used no other musicians or vocals except for himself.
Genesis had not released an album since 1986 so the band got back together after a five year break to record the album We Can’t Dance (1991). This was the last album Genesis released with Collins as part of the band. It was Genesis’s fifth consecutive number 1 album in the UK. Collins most likely wanted to part with Genesis on a high note and therefor in 1996 he officially left the band.
Dance into The Light, Disney, and Testify
Dance into The Light (1996) was Collins sixth studio album. It sold less copies than any other Phil Collins album to date. Regardless, the album still achieved Gold status in the U.S. Then three years later in 1999, Collins recorded the lead single for the animated Disney movie Tarzan. The single, “You’ll Be in My Heart”, was number 1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart for 19 weeks in a row. It won Collins an Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song. Collins continued to produce more and more music. In 2002 he recorded and released his seventh studio album, Testify. Testify ended up being Collins’ worst reviewed album of all time even though the album featured a single that was a number 1 Adult Contemporary hit.
Genesis Reunion – Present
Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford, and Collins got Genesis back together in 2006 to do a reunion tour. The tour kicked off in the summer of 2007 and took place in countries across Europe and North America. In 2009, it was rumored that Collins was to record a Motown covers album. It was released in September of 2010 and was titled Going Back. It reached number 1 on the UK Album Chart, boosting Collins’ record sales since his last two albums had not done so well. Also in 2010, Collins was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Genesis. A year later he announced that he would be retiring due to health problems and a desire to focus on his family life. In January of 2014, Collins stated in an interview that he was writing songs with Adele but by the end of the year the projects had fallen through.
October of 2015, Collins announced he was coming out of retirement and was planning to go on tour and release a ninth solo album. To promote his upcoming work, he wrote an autobiography called Not Dead Yet which was released in October 2016. That same month Collins announced his tour, which would be called the Not Dead Yet Tour. The tour was set to kick off in Europe in June 2017. Then in May 2018, Collins announced there would be a North American leg to his tour, which is now scheduled to kick off in October of this year. Make sure to get your Phil Collins tickets to see the legend live in concert!
