Phil Collins has faced a decline in mobility over the past decade due to a severe neck injury that resulted in significant nerve damage. He now relies on a cane for support and, at times, uses a wheelchair.

In the new documentary, Phil Collins: Drummer First, the Genesis star discusses how years of drumming has affected his hands, legs, and overall physical health.

The 73-year-old, who previously confessed to difficulties in playing the instrument he once mastered, poignantly shares with viewers: “If I wake up one day and I can hold a pair of drumsticks, then I’ll have a crack of it. But I just feel like I’ve used up my air miles. It’s still kind of sinking in a bit.

“I’ve spent all my life playing drums. To suddenly not be able to do that is a shock. If I can’t do what I did as well as I did it, I’d rather relax and not do anything.”

He states: “I’m not a singer that plays a bit of drums; I’m more of a drummer that sings a bit,” reports the Mirror.

In the same episode, Phil’s son Nic, who now performs with Genesis as Phil is unable to, shared that his father needed “big surgery on his neck that stemmed from all those years playing drums and bad posture”.

He also disclosed that Phil suffers from drop-foot, a condition where one of his feet has lost sensation.

Phil bid his fans farewell at his final gig with Genesis at London’s O2 Arena in March 2022. Despite appearing frail and needing to sit for the performance, he humorously told the crowd he will now have to get a “real job”.

The tour was Genesis’s first series of live performances in 14 years. Phil opened up to The Guardian about the adjustments they had to make due to his declining mobility, saying: “Of course, my health does change things, doing the show seated changes things.

“But I actually found on my recent solo tours, it didn’t get in the way; the audience were still listening and responding. It’s not the way I would have written it, but it’s the way that it is.”

In an honest reflection shared on the official Genesis website, Phil delved deeper into his ongoing health battle, revealing: “Somehow, during the last Genesis tour, I dislocated some vertebrae in my upper neck and that affected my hands.

“After a successful operation on my neck, my hands still can’t function normally. Maybe in a year or so it will change, but for now it is impossible for me to play drums or piano.”

Collins also bravely disclosed his past struggles with alcohol, which nearly spiralled out of control, culminating in acute pancreatitis. Recounting this dark period during a 2016 press conference, he confessed: “Within months you’re drinking vodka from the fridge in the morning and falling over in front of the kids, you know.”

He further remarked: “It was something I lived through, and I was lucky to live through it and get through it. I was very close to dying.”