Phil Collins’ various health issues have prevented him from playing the drums for the past several years, but the iconic musician briefly tested out his classic Gretsch concert tom kit for the first time in more than a decade in a new video for Drumeo.
The 73-year-old Genesis legend endured a major spinal injury in 2007, and also suffers from drop foot (difficulty lifting the front part of his foot) and chronic neck pain from years of drumming. He currently uses a cane to walk.
Drumeo caught up with Collins for a recent two-hour documentary, detailing his history as a drummer and his current physical limitations. It features interviews with Collins and his son Nic, among others.
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In an additional video posted on Friday (December 27th), Nic Collins and Drumeo host Brandon Toews put together Phil’s classic Gretch kit that had been in storage for more than a decade.
At first, Nic tests it out, even playing Phil’s iconic drum fill from “In the Air Tonight.” The younger Collins notes how the positioning of the kit’s drums caused Phil to lean over a lot, leading to bad posture and likely contributing to his physical ailments.
Toward the end of the video, Phil walks out to see his old kit, and even sits behind it. He takes a stick in his left hand and tests out a few drums before saying, “That’s enough of that.”
The kit is the same one that Phil used during Genesis’ 1992 “We Can’t Dance Tour,” among other outings, but not the one on which he originally played the “In the Air Tonight” drum fill.
Watch Phil Collins’ testing out his old drum kit, as well as the full two-hour documentary in the Drumeo videos below.
