Watch Phil Collins Revisit His Classic Drum Kit from Over Ten Years Ago

Phil Collins Reconnects with His Drum Kit

Phil Collins reconnected with his classic Gretsch drum kit and tried it out for the first time in over a decade.

In a newly released Drumeo video, the 73-year-old legendary drummer and son of former Genesis singer Nick Collins and Drumeo host Brandon Toews put together the “Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now)” singer’s Gretsch kit that had been in storage for over a decade. “He could definitely use a little upgrade on his setup,” Nick joked as he opened the drawers.

After assembling the kit, Nick recognized how low it was set. “No, there is no way. May be. I refuse to believe it was that bad,” he said as he began drumming on the air, noting how intense the low positioning of the drum kit actually was, meaning it caused Phil to lean over a lot. This potentially contributed to his poor posture and in some parts contributed to the drummer’s physical limitations.

Phil’s Health Challenges

Phil underwent major spinal surgery back in 2007 and currently suffers from foot drop and chronic neck pain. He uses a cane to help him walk.

Nick then began testing out the kit, playing Phil’s iconic drum pattern from the musician’s legendary 1981 debut single, “In The Air Tonight.” The Gretsch kit is the same one Phil used during Genesis’ 1992 “We Can’t Dance Tour”, but not the one used during the recording of the track.

At the end of the video, Phil is brought into a room where his kit has been fully assembled and he says, “It looks fine” after being asked about the setup. Nick helps him sit down at the drum kit, and when he sits down, he picks up the drumsticks and says, “It just feels weird to hold a pair of sticks in your hands.” He then took the stick in his left hand and tried it on a few drums before putting it down and saying, “That’s enough.”

Drumeo’s video about the creation of Phil’s drum kit is an accompanying video to an interview with the legend on the online drumming platform. The discussion originally took place in 2022 but has just been released as part of a new documentary. Phil Collins: First and foremost a drummer.

During this interview, Phil opened up about his poor health and spoke of the “shock” of no longer being able to play the drums.

“If one day I wake up and can hold a pair of drumsticks, then I’ll try it. But I feel like I’ve used up my flight miles,” he said. “It’s still getting a little bit deep into it… I spent my whole life playing drums. To suddenly not be able to do that is a shock.”

Back in 2021, Phil revealed that he was “barely able to hold a stick” due to health problems.

“I have some physical disabilities and it’s very frustrating because I would have loved to have played there with my son,” he said during the Genesis reunion shows, where his son Nick filled in for him. “I would love to, but, you know, I mean, I can barely hold a stick with this hand, so there are certain physical things that get in the way.”

Elsewhere, Genesis played their final concert in March 2022, which featured the icon performing in a chair.

In March 2023, Phil’s bandmate Mike Rutherford shared an update on Collins’ condition, saying: “As you know, Phil… is much more immobile than he used to be, which is unfortunate. Now he is happy at home and enjoying life. He has worked so hard over the years. I think he’s enjoying his time at home.”

However, things seem to have improved recently, with reports earlier this summer that Collins may be working on new music for the first time in over two decades.
He hasn’t released an album of original music since his Disney days. Brother Bear soundtrack in 2003. The year before, he released his latest solo studio album, Testify.

In a post on Facebook by producer and journalist Simon Napier-Bell, he explained that Collins is “in great shape” and has recently refurbished his studio. “Of course we’ll be hearing new music very soon,” he continued.

At the time of writing, no plans for new material have been announced.