Phil Collins reveals he almost died in 2024 amid a battle with alcohol addiction
Phil Collins has revealed that he almost died in 2024 with his loved one told to come and say their final goodbye, amid a battle with alcohol addiction.
The legendary singer, 75, said that he was taken into hospital in November 2023 due to his heavy drinking.
He was discharged the following month, but then had to be rushed back into intensive care.
Collins spent seven months in hospital, and his loved ones were told to prepare for the worst.
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In a new interview with The Sunday Times, Collins said his manager of five decades had called up his five children - Lily, Joely, Simon, Nicolas and Matthew - to be at his bedside, while his doctor checked in with the family to see if his ‘will was in order’.
“Because there were some decisions to be made about ‘Do we keep Phil on life support?’ kind of thing,” Collins told the publication.
“My kidneys were packing up, my organs were just seizing up. 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.”
Collins says he was ‘very lucky’ to have come out of it.
“Needless to say, I haven’t had a drink since,” he added.
Earlier this year, Collins mentioned that his kidneys were ‘messed up’ due to his excessive drinking.
He also revealed that he’d spent ‘months’ in hospital, but didn’t share any further details until this weekend’s interview in The Sunday Times.
“I had everything that could go wrong with me, did go wrong with me," he told the BBC.
"It is just one of those things that happened, and it all caught up with me, and I spent months in hospital," he told the BBC.
"It's just been a difficult, interesting, frustrating last few years. But it’s all right now."
Collins, who has a string of hits including You Can’t Hurry Love, Easy Lover and In the Air Tonight, first opened up about his struggles with alcohol abuse in his 2016 autobiography Not Dead Yet.
“Night after night I find myself lying on the bed, staring out of a skylight at grey Swiss skies, rueing my life,” he wrote.
“I’m all alone, save for my good friends Johnnie Walker and Grey Goose.”
He’s also been open about his other ongoing health issues, which include nerve damage, knee problems and type 2 diabetes.
Collins now needs a 24-hour nurse who ensures that he takes his medication when he should and helps him go on short walks around his home to keep him active.
He also sees a physiotherapist several times a week.
Following his terrifying brush with death, Collins said he met up with his family at the Mandarin Oriental in Knightsbridge where they spent days bonding and catching up.
Collins said his daughter Lily, 37, ‘was in tears’ and told her famous dad: “I never thought I’d get these moments.”
“We had an incredible time. I can’t overemphasise how fantastic it was,” he added.
Claire Reid