Phil Collins Reveals He Nearly Died From Alcoholism in 2024: A Look at His Decades-Long Battle

 

Overview

Phil Collins, the 75-year-old former Genesis frontman and one of the best-selling solo artists in music history, has revealed the full extent of a near-fatal relapse into alcoholism that left him on life support in 2024 — serious enough that his five children were called to his bedside to say goodbye. The revelation, made in a new interview with the Sunday Times, adds detail to a struggle with drinking that Collins has spoken about publicly, on and off, for nearly two decades.

The 2024 Health Crisis

Collins told the Sunday Times that in late 2023 he was rushed to the hospital and discharged after three days, only to be readmitted to intensive care weeks later. What followed was a seven-month hospital stay in Switzerland during which his condition became so dire that doctors and his family began discussing whether to keep him on life support.

"My kidneys were packing up, my organs were just seizing up," Collins said, describing the low point of the crisis. "People were coming to say goodbye. But I don't remember them coming, I didn't have no idea this was going on. They were all worried that they wouldn't see me again. It could all have gone so terribly wrong."

According to Collins, his longtime manager — who has worked with him for roughly 50 years — made the calls summoning his five children to his bedside once it appeared he might not survive. Collins said he has no memory of that period. "I was very lucky to have come out of that," he added, saying he has not had a drink since.

How the Relapse Happened

Collins attributed part of the relapse to stopping Antabuse, a medication that induces severe nausea and headaches if a patient drinks alcohol while taking it. He said he resented not being able to drink and eventually stopped the medication, after which his drinking escalated gradually — beginning, he said, with a glass of wine in the morning rather than late-night drinking.

"When I was drinking, the calendar goes out the window," Collins said, describing how disoriented he became during the relapse. He said that despite the escalating habit, he "wasn't really aware of having a problem" at the time, since his drinking pattern didn't match his own mental image of alcoholism.

A Longer History With Alcohol

This is not the first time Collins has spoken about alcohol's toll on his health. In his 2016 memoir, Not Dead Yet, he wrote candidly about drinking heavily during a period of divorce, retirement and chronic back pain, at one point describing himself as alone except for "my good friends Johnnie Walker and Grey Goose." He described collapsing repeatedly during that period, including one fall that left him with a bloody head wound and another in which he lost two teeth after losing his balance.

That earlier crisis culminated in 2012, when Collins was hospitalized with acute pancreatitis — a condition frequently linked to heavy alcohol use — and doctors warned him he might not survive much longer if he kept drinking. He got sober afterward, partly with the help of Antabuse, and by the time his memoir was published he had been sober for roughly three years, though he later told the BBC he had returned to drinking in moderation, "capable of having two or three glasses" of wine. He also spent time at a rehab clinic run by his friend Eric Clapton in Antigua, though he has said he opened a bottle of wine on the flight home from that stay.

Years of heavy drinking left lasting damage: Collins has said his kidneys became "messed up" as a result, and his pancreas and kidneys remain fragile from the cumulative effects of alcoholism.

Other Ongoing Health Issues

Collins' alcohol struggles have unfolded alongside a series of other serious health problems. He has type 2 diabetes, nerve damage in his hand that has left him unable to hold a drumstick, and the lasting effects of multiple spine and knee surgeries that require him to use crutches or a cane to walk. He now has a 24-hour live-in nurse to help manage his medications and care.

Collins retired from live performance after Genesis's farewell run, which concluded with a final concert at London's O2 Arena in March 2022, played seated due to his physical limitations. In 2025, unfounded rumors that he was in hospice care and near death spread online; his representatives clarified at the time that he was recovering from knee surgery, not receiving end-of-life care.

Where Things Stand Now

Collins says he has remained sober since the 2024 crisis and describes his health as improved. He was recently able to gather his family for several days in London to celebrate the new year, and he is set to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist in November, alongside Billy Idol, Iron Maiden, Joy Division/New Order, Oasis, Sade, Luther Vandross and the Wu-Tang Clan. He was previously inducted with Genesis in 2010.

Despite his health setbacks, Collins has indicated he still thinks about returning to music. "I keep thinking I should go downstairs to the studio and see what happens," he has said, though he's added that he isn't currently "hungry for it" in the way he once was.

---

Sources: The Sunday Times (via reporting from Billboard, Variety, Stereogum, Yahoo/Entertainment, and other outlets), BBC, and Phil Collins' 2016 memoir Not Dead Yet. The Guardian's August 3, 2026 report on this same interview could not be directly accessed for this article due to a site access restriction, but its reporting is corroborated by multiple other outlets that covered the same Sunday Times interview.

If you or someone you know is struggling with alcohol use, the SAMHSA National Helpline (1-800-662-4357) offers free, confidential support and treatment referrals in the US.