Phil Collins

Phil Collins has married three times in his lifetime. His first marriage was to Andrea Bertorelli. The couple got married in 1975. However, the marriage lasted only for five years and ended in 1980. The aftermath of this divorce had a serious impact on Phil’s mental health and he plunged into a depressive state for some time.

He then went on to marry Jill Tavelman in 1984, and this union lasted for 12 years. Phil’s third wife was Orianne Cevey. They married in 1999 and divorced in 2008. The divorce settlement of 25 million pounds was the biggest in British history.

Collins went through depression for the next few years. However, Collins and Cevey got back together in 2016 and have been living together since.

Phil Collins was born Philip David Charles Collins, on January 30, 1951, in Chiswick, London, England. His father, Greville Philip Austin Collins, was an insurance agent, while his mother, Winifred June Strange, was a theatrical agent.

While his father worked a mundane job, it was his mother’s job that interested Phil, as a kid. He would accompany her to the theaters and watch actors perform on stage. This inspired him and led to an increased interest in the performing arts, as he grew up.

He received a drum kit from his parents on his birthday, as a five-year-old kid. The kit, though a mere toy, delighted him and grabbed his attention. He spent hours practicing it, and as he grew up, he started getting more professional kits as gifts. Slowly, he acquired enough interest to start taking professional training for the same.

His professional training in acting and singing began at the tender age of 14 in ‘Barbara Speake Stage School.’ Music was just another hobby for him at that time, and acting was the thing that he loved the most. Learning acting from professionals had him falling in love with it and just a couple of years later, he began playing lead roles in various theatrical productions, along with several films and TV series.

He listened to ‘The Beatles’ and was inspired by their ‘no-nonsense’ approach to music, which further fueled his desire to be a musician. Their drummer, Ringo Starr, was his personal hero. Phil was also fond of the drummer of the lesser known British band ‘The Action.’

Phil began acting as a child, and his mother’s contacts with the talent agencies helped him in bagging his initial roles in theatrical productions. He played a few small roles in ‘Calamity the Cow’ and ‘A Hard Day’s Night,’ but somewhere deep down, acting did not satisfy him. Hence, he gravitated toward music during his high school days.

In the mid-70s, the rock band ‘Genesis’ posted an advertisement for the requirement of a drummer, and Collins became the band’s new drummer in August 1970, after an audition. For the next five years, Collins toured with the band and played drums and percussions in their albums. Their first album, ‘Nursery Cryme,’ released in 1971.

In the mid-70s, the band’s lead singer quit and before the band could hire a suitable singer, Collins filled in as the lead singer, for a while. ‘A Trick of the Tail’ was the first ‘Genesis’ album for which Collins sang. The album became a roaring success in both the US and the UK. The chart-topping success of the album made ‘Genesis’ rethink the prospect of hiring a vocalist, as they already had Phil.

In 1978, the band took a break. Meanwhile, Phil tried to keep his personal life in check, but he failed to do so, and his relationship with his wife soured significantly. Meanwhile, he played drums on two albums, namely, ‘Grace and Danger’ and ‘Product.’ Although he was getting hired by many bands for their album productions, Phil was not ready to go solo yet.

By the 80s, Phil had finally started working on his debut solo album, titled ‘Face Value.’ At the time, ‘Genesis’ had reunited and had completed their work on the album ‘Duke,’ which was released in 1980. The album received huge commercial and critical response.