Phil Collins is one of the most unassuming musicians of our time. He started out his musical career with the now Hall of Fame group Genesis. He is also only one of three artists to ever sell more than 100 million albums (Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney are the others). Earlier this month Phil Collins announced that he was retiring from the music industry. For his contribution to music, we are proud to name Phil Collins as our Legend for the month!
When you close your eyes and imagine a pop star, who do you picture? Do think of Lady Ga-Ga? Beyonce? How about Justin Beiber? Does anyone think of their high school teacher or college professor? When you look at Collins, he looks like teacher or some type of world scholar, not someone who has sold more albums than Led Zepplin. But Collins has, and when you look at his body of work, you begin to realize what a great singer/songwriter he was (and still is).
Collins was born in London, England and began playing the drums at the age of 5. As a teen he began to act, but he also kept his love for music. His first taste of success began as the drummer for a short-lived band named Flaming Youth. The band Genesis was having trouble holding a drummer, so placed an ad in the paper looking for a drummer. Obviously, we know how the story continues.
Collins’ break came in 1975, when Genesis front-man Peter Gabriel left to pursue a solo career. As the 70’s closed, Genesis’ sound began to become more pop friendly, and they began to get more radio airplay. In the 80’s Collins’ began his juggling act. Genesis was still making albums and Collins was releasing his solo work.
In 1981, Collins released his debut solo album, Face Value, which was largely influenced by his divorce in 1978. The album featured one of Collins’ most popular and successful tracks “In The Air Tonight.” With the success of his solo album, Collins quickly released his sophomore album, Hello, I Must Be Going, a year later. The album had several tracks Collins had left over from his debut album, which talked about his divorce. The album did well on the charts, scoring Collins a hit with his cover of the Supreme’s song “You Can’t Hurry Love.”
Although Collins was making a name for himself as a solo artist, his name sky-rocketed in 1984 with the release of his song, “Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now).” The song was recorded for the movie by the same name, and as you can tell, the song was more popular than the movie. This song opened the door for Collins as a producer and writer. He began getting more press, radio and notoriety because of this song.
The rest of the 80’s saw Collins release the albums No Jacket Required and …But Seriously. He also released another album with the band Genesis. Collins was one of te most successful acts of the 80’s, which is pretty impressive since stars like Madonna, Prince, Culture Club and Michael Jackson were prominent in that era.
After the 80’s, Collins continued to make music. He officially left the band Genesis in 1996. He and Peter Gabriel are close friends, with each of them usually appearing on each other’s albums. Genesis briefly reunited to record a song for their greatest hits album, and to perform at their Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction.
Gabriel released several albums in the 90’s and 00’s, but many of them were commercial failures. Although, in 1999, Collins released the track “You’ll Be In My Heart,” for the Disney movie Tarzan. That song won Collins an Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Original Song. Collins’ discography is an impressive list that most musicians would die for. Most people connected to Collins’ music because he left himself vulnerable. He put his life on record for the whole world to hear. Collins officially retired on March 7th, 2011, citing health issues. This month we tip our hat to one of the most unassuming mega-stars in the music industry!
Top 5 Songs
5. Sussudio
Useful Links
Response from Phil regarding his recent retirement
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