The 75-year-old walked out slowly on a pair of canes, got the kind of ovation most legends only dream about, and then said something nobody in the room expected. Phil Collins did not play a single note at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on Saturday night. He did not need to.
The drummer and hitmaker, 75, was inducted as a solo artist at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, California, making his way to the stage slowly with the help of two canes as the crowd rose to its feet. Collins, who has not performed since 2022 because of mobility and other health problems, broke down in tears during the standing ovation, per the Associated Press.
He opened with a joke that landed hard. “Thank you so much. I’m really not as bad as it looks,” he said, adding that he was “better.“
Then came the line that stunned the room. Crediting his assistant with pointing out harmful habits and pushing him to change them, Collins did not soften it: “I’m not joking when I say without her I wouldn’t be here. I’d be in a box six feet under.” He now calls himself a “well man,” per Parade.
The honor recognized the solo career behind hits like “In the Air Tonight,” “Against All Odds” and “Another Day in Paradise,” which made him one of the biggest pop stars of the 1980s, after he was first inducted as a member of Genesis in 2010. Collins kept the speech humble. “I grew up just wanting to play the drums. Everything else has been a really happy accident,” he said. “I can’t believe, when I look back, how life has gone.“
His daughter, actress Lily Collins, watched from the audience alongside four of his other children.
And for anyone ready to write him off, he left no room for doubt: “You haven’t heard the last of me. I can promise you that.“
Fans Flooded the Replies
Online, the reaction read like a second standing ovation. The most-liked reply set the tone: “The man behind one of the most iconic songs in history. Congratulations, Thank You for your talent.” The punsters got there fast: “You could feel it in the air tonight…” Some fans went personal: “Best part of my teens was Phil what an absolute legend.” Others turned it into a campaign, telling the Royal Family “you need to fix the MAJOR ERROR that he has never been awarded a f**king knighthood.” Another simply called him “a national treasure.“
Not everyone was sentimental about the timing: “Took way too long.” And one fan asked what plenty were wondering: “Is there anyway to watch this HBO used to air it every year.” This time, it is ABC and Disney+, with an edited version of the ceremony airing next month.
Collins spent decades behind the kit, making everyone else’s songs hit harder. On Saturday night, he could barely make it to the microphone, and the whole building still rose for him.
