The Alamo Will Never Forget Phil Collins

Phil Collins' lifelong fascination with the Alamo has just paid huge dividends for the state of Texas -- and he's being repaid with a $100 million museum named in his honor.

As previously reported, Collins recently made headlines when he agreed to bring his world-renowned collection of memorabilia back to the historic mission, donating his massive assortment of Alamo artifacts directly to the Alamo rather than following through on previous plans to build a museum to house it all. The goods changed hands on Oct. 28 in a public ceremony that, as Collins told reporters, "completes the journey for me."

"When I got older and became successful, I decided to spend my money on original items from the Alamo rather than on Ferraris," added Collins. "These artifacts are coming home."

Work is scheduled to shortly begin on a new $100 million museum, named after Collins, that will stand in honor of the collection; the Texas legislature reportedly also plans to pass a measure honoring Collins as an "honorary Texan." The state's land commissioner, Jerry Patterson, was on hand to accept the donation and seemed suitably grateful, saying, "God bless you, Phil Collins."

Despite the many years (and dollars) Collins poured into building his collection, he insisted he isn't the slightest bit sad about parting ways with the vast majority of his pieces (he's hanging onto a few for his young son, who's also been bitten by the Alamo bug). "I would have some sadness and maybe thinking it was a mistake if it were going to a museum that didn’t have any emotional contact … with the Alamo," he pointed out. "This is the best thing that could happen to it."