January 30 - Phil Collins

On this day, in 1951, Philip David Charles Collins was born in Chiswick, Middlesex, England. Phil grew up in London, one of two sons (his brother Clive went on to become a well-known cartoonist and illustrator) of a pair of agents (his father was in insurance; his mother was theatrical). When he was five, he received a drum set as a Christmas present from an uncle and immediately took to it, as most five-year-olds do. The difference with Phil, of course, was that he stuck with it and became really, really good.

Music was clearly one of Phil's God given gifts. Supposedly as a young child, he entered a singing contest only to stop the orchestra halfway through his number to inform them they were playing in the wrong key. At the age of 14, Phil began attending the Barbara Speake Stage School for formal acting training. He also began studying drum rudiments under a Big Band style drummer, Lloyd Ryan. He found the rudiments extremely useful as they're used in every kind of music, but he never got the hang of notated music. He fell into the bad habit of using a system he devised himself (based mostly on the notion that if he could hum it, he could play it) and, to this day, is unable to read conventional notation.

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Phil fell under the influence of everything from the Beatles to Motown to jazz and big bands as he developed his own voice as a musician. He formed his first band while at Chiswick County School for Boys called The Real Thing. When he had switched to a band known as The Freehold, he wrote his first song Lying Crying Dying. But Phil's professional career actually began as a child actor. His first major role was in the London production of Oliver! as the Artful Dodger. He can also be glimpsed as one of the screaming teens in a concert scene of the Beatle's A Hard Days Night. Phil starred in a short British children's film called Calamity the Cow in 1967, but was already deciding that acting wasn't really his thing. He wanted to be a musician.

In 1969, Phil became part of the group Flaming Youth. They released once concept album, Ark 2, that got some good critical attention but failed to make money. After touring for a year, Youth flamed out. Phil played percussion on a song for George Harrison's first post-Beatles album, then came the gig that would change everything.

Image courtesy of udiscovermusic.com

The rock band Genesis was looking for a new drummer and a new guitarist. Phil and his former Youth mate, Ronnie Caryl, managed to wrangle auditions. Ronnie's didn't go well, but, in August 1970, Phil became the new percussionist for Genesis. Over the next five years, he played the drums and sang backup to Peter Gabriel. In 1975, when Peter left the group, Phil again sang backup for the almost 400 auditions the band held looking for a new lead vocalist. The end result was that Phil would get the job. The groups first album with Phil on vocals, A Trick of the Tail, was a smashing success.

Over the next two decades, Phil would lead dual lives, both highly successful. On the one hand, he played hard with Genesis, releasing seven studio albums and four live albums. On the other, he played hard as a solo act, releasing five studio albums and one live album. And none of that includes the numerous times he sat in on friends' recordings and live sets. But all good things must come to an end. Phil and Genesis parted ways in March 1996 so Phil could focus on his solo career. But Genesis fans didn't have to suffer too much. He still joined the group occasionally over ensuing years for both concerts and recordings.

Image copyright Disney

Phil joined the Disney family in 1999 when he composed and performed the songs for the studio's 37th animated feature, Tarzan. While some tunes, like Trashin' the Camp, would reveal his jazz side, it was the lullaby I'll Be In Your Heart that really struck a chord with audiences. Not only did Heart spend a record 19 weeks at number one on the Adult Contemporary chart, it also won Phil a Golden Globe and an Oscar. He was invited to perform Heart live at both the Academy Awards and that year's Super Bowl Halftime show. Tarzan was translated into a record number of languages (well, record for a Disney movie) for the world markets and Phil recorded his songs in several of them including German, French, Italian and Spanish. He would return to the jungle a few years later to help turn Tarzan into a stage show.

Image copyright Disney

On the heels of his Tarzan success, Phil was asked to once again write songs for Disney's 44th animated feature, Brother Bear. This time around he also co-composed the score but he had to forgo most of the singing. Brother Bear, while notable for being the last film produced at the Florida branch of Disney animation, wasn't particularly noted for much else. The only Oscar nod it received was a nomination for Best Animated Feature (which it lost to Finding Nemo, no surprises there). While most of his songs were sung by others this time around (although you really can't complain if you're bumped by Tina Turner), Phil did reach number five on the Adult Contemporary chart with Look Through My Eyes.

In the years following his work with Disney, Phil played less and less and fans noticed he couldn't grip his drumsticks very well. Rumors circulated about sever arthritis attacking the world renowned drummer. The truth is actually worse. During a reunion tour with Genesis in 2009, Phil somehow dislocated a couple of vertebrae in his neck. This affected his hands to the point that he couldn't play the drums anymore. He had surgery on his neck in early 2010, which fixed the vertebrae problem but not his hands. Around this time, Phil announced he was retiring, ostensibly to focus on his family. When he still couldn't play in 2014, he underwent more back surgery. His right hand got better but not the left. The surgery also affected how he walks. Phil has come out of retirement in recent years and has been performing a Not Dead Yet Tour, which is also the tongue-in-cheek name of his 2016 autobiography. While his voice is undiminished, his body is not. He sometimes does concerts from a seated position, is frequently seen walking with a cane and has been known to tape drumsticks to his hands in order to play percussion.

Image courtesy of consequenceofsound.net

None of which should be taken as a sign he's throwing in the towel. Over his decades long career, Phil has won a slew of awards. In addition to his Golden Globe and Oscar, he's won eight Grammy Awards, three American Music Awards, six BRIT Awards and four Billboard Music Awards. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1999 and was inducted to the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2003. A year earlier, Phil had been named an official Disney Legend, at the time enjoying the shortest amount of years between his first contribution to the company and Legend status being bestowed after just six years. And, like his latest tour says, he is far from done. He can still croon a mean tune, can still write a hit song, and will probably be getting a call any day now asking if he'd like to join Genesis for one more world tour, you know, for old times sake.