Phil Collins Says He Is Not Close to Coming Back
Over the past few years, we've seen a lot about Phil Collins wanting to record and perform again. However, he reveals in a new interview that we shouldn't hold our collective breath because he hasn't even started writing the first song and is not planning on mounting a tour.
"Well, I’ve got loads of bits," he tells Consequence of Sound, "undeveloped bits that I will probably visit. My studio is being set up next week. So I’ll turn it on and sit down at a piano and see what happens."
Collins recently moved to Miami and says that his younger kids are the reason why he's going back to work. "[W]hen I’m not doing something and they’re at school, I’ll sit and start writing and see what goes on," he continued. "I mean, I haven’t written in such a long time that I need to get back into the groove of it, the rhythm of it. And I’ve got lots of ideas. I’ve got lots of bits that I haven’t developed that are just sitting there, and I’ve even got some lyrics that need music, so I’ve got things to start on."
As for touring, it's been blown way out of proportion. "I have said that I would like to do a few shows," he added, "and now people are saying, 'You’re going back out on tour,' but I’m not going to go back out on tour [....] Same thing with the record. People are saying I’m making a record, and I’m not. I haven’t written a song yet. I’m putting things with you in perspective. It’s not exactly as you read it. Things have kind of been elaborated upon to make a better story, but I’m not sure how that will take shape yet."
Collins announced that he was officially ending his retirement towards the end of 2013. Six months later, he sang "In the Air Tonight" and Genesis' "Land of Confusion" with the band from his kids' middle school. In December 2014, he was set to perform a mini-set as part of a benefit for the Little Dreams Foundation, which he founded in 2000 with his then-wife, Orianne, with whom he has reconciled. But his portion of the evening was canceled due to “some sort of neurological affliction that he said strikes every now and then.” Collins has not played a full-length concert since 2010, when he toured in support of his covers album, Going Back.
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