Phil Collins’s children were summoned to say their final goodbyes to the singer after he nearly drank himself to death in April 2024, the 75-year-old has revealed.
Collins was lying unconscious in a Swiss hospital when his long-term manager called all five of his children to his bedside to make decisions about his care. His kidneys were failing and his organs were shutting down.
“Because there were some decisions to be made about ‘Do we keep Phil on life support?’ kind of thing,” Collins told The Sunday Times Magazine. “My kidneys were packing up, my organs were just seizing up. People were coming to say goodbye. It could have gone terribly wrong.”
Collins said he was unaware of how serious the situation was at the time. Despite drinking wine first thing in the morning, he said he did not recognise it as a problem.
“I’d have wine when I woke up. That was what I wanted for breakfast, a glass of wine,” he said. “But I didn’t drink into the night. So I wasn’t really aware of having a problem to be honest.”
Collins is father to Joely, 53, and Simon, 50, with his first wife Andrea Bertorelli; Lily Collins, 37, the Emily in Paris actress, with his second wife Jill Tavelman; and Nic, 25, and Mathew, 21, with his third wife Orianne Cevey.
He recalled that Lily sat beside him in tears, telling him she never thought she would get moments like that with him. Collins said the time with his family was fantastic.
Collins rang in 2026 with his family at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in London. He continues to deal with several health issues, including type 2 diabetes, nerve damage in his hands, and mobility problems following multiple surgeries on his spine and knees.
On his personal life, Collins said he would love to be in a relationship again but believes it is probably too late, describing himself as not a social person who rarely goes out.
