Phil Collins attended the Mojo Awards ceremony in London Thursday (7/21) to honor fellow drummer Ringo Starr get the Icon Award, an honor Collins feels was long overdue.  According to the Mirror, the former Genesis drummer had to be assisted to an early exit at about the halfway point of the ceremony, and appeared to be in considerable pain.  Collins, who attributes a debilitating spinal condition that forced him to give-up drumming to the beating his body took while touring with Genesis and Eric Clapton and during his solo tours, went so far as to say, 'I'm on my last legs. I couldn't come back to music even if I wanted to.' and says he now spends much of the day unable to do much more than lay about watching television.
Drumming may take more of a physical toll than playing guitar or keyboards, but plenty of drummers his age toured a lot harder than Phil still and haven't lost a beat, which makes us inclined to think his condition has less to do with the rigors of the road than lack of conditioning or just bad luck.  And while the material he did late in his career was about as appealing to fans of his earlier work as ABBA, there was a long period of time when Phil Collins was one of THE great drummers on the planet.
Mirror.uk.co

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