Phil Collins provides health update and reveals he has a live-in nurse: “It’s an ongoing thing”

Posted On January 21, 2026January 21, 2026

Phil Collins has discussed his recent health challenges and revealed that he has a live-in nurse to assist him.

Collins is the subject of a new podcast series, Eras: Phil Collins, the first four episodes of which are now available to listen to on BBC Sounds.

In the final episode of the series, which is set to air on January 26th, Collins sits down with presenter Zoe Ball for a candid conversation about his career, as well as the health challenges that have forced him to take a step back from the road.

Notably, Collins last performed on Genesis’ farewell tour in 2022. For the shows, Collins’ son, Nic, deputised on the drums because his father could no longer play the instrument to the best of his abilities amid his ongoing health issues, and he was also aided by a walking stick across the dates.

Since then, his issues continued to worsen, but now, the music icon has confirmed that things are starting to look up and his situation has improved.

In the upcoming episode, Collins revealed, “Yeah, it’s an ongoing thing. You know I have a 24-hour live-in nurse to make sure I take my medication as I should do. I’ve had challenges with my knee, I had everything that could go wrong with me, did go wrong with me.”

He solemnly shared, “I got COVID in hospital – my kidneys started to back up, you know, everything that started that could, all seemed to converge at the same time.”

Collins also revealed that he has had multiple operations on his knee, but thankfully his mobility has started to improve, adding, “I had five operations on my knee now – I’ve got a knee that works and I can walk, albeit with assistance, you know, crutches or whatever.”

The former Genesis frontman, who now hasn’t drank in more than two years, admitted that alcohol was likely the reason for his kidney issues, explaining, “I’d probably been drinking too much, and so my kidneys were messed up, you know. I enjoyed coming off tour, coming off the road, but I thought, right, I’m gonna do all those things that I couldn’t do.”

While Collins said he was “never drunk” or “one of those guys that sort of stayed up all night drinking”, he would “drink during the day” and says “it all caught up with me” which led to him spending “months in hospital”.

On a positive note, Collins has no regrets about his career. He proudly stated, “I wouldn’t have missed any of it for the world.”

He also didn’t rule out the prospect of making more music in the future, sharing, “The things that are ahead for me would be, apart from just being back to being totally mobile and healthy, is go in there and have a fiddle about and see if there’s more music.”

Collins elaborated, “I’ve got some things that are half formed or were never finished, and a couple of things that were finished, which I like, so you know. Maybe life in the old dog.”

This is a welcome change after Collins previously told Mojo that he didn’t plan on making any new music, admitting, “I keep thinking I should go downstairs to the studio and see what happens. But I’m not hungry for it anymore. The thing is, I’ve been sick, I mean very sick.”

The fifth episode of Eras: Phil Collins will be made available to listen to on BBC Sounds and watch on BBC iPlayer at 6am on January 26th.

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