The 66-year-old had to use a golf buggy to get to the stage for his performance at Hyde Park, which came just weeks after he suffered a severe gash to his head after a fall in his hotel room. Collins, who was headlining the show at the Barclaycard British Summer Time festival’s opening night, then sat down throughout the concert.
The singer has spent the last 10 years in semi-retirement due to a dislocated vertebrae in his neck before making his return to the live music scene this year. But he was forced to postpone two shows after getting up in the middle of the night to go to the toilet and slipping in his hotel room, hitting his head in the fall on a chair.
A post on his official Facebook site said at the time: “We unfortunately have to announce that Phil Collins’ performance at the Royal Albert Hall in London will be postponed tonight (June 8) and tomorrow (June 9). Phil suffers from ‘drop foot’ as a result of a back operation which makes it difficult to walk. He rose in the middle of the night to go to the toilet and slipped in his hotel room, hitting his head in the fall on a chair. He was taken to hospital where he had stitches for a severe gash on his head close to his eye and is recovering well.”
The statement said he would be kept under observation for 24 hours and added: “Phil sends his sincere apologies and thanks to fans. He has had a fantastic week at his first shows in 10 years, cannot thank people enough for their warm reaction and is excited to return.”
But he was back on stage just three days after the fall at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne, Germany. He was seen with a plaster above his left eye as he sung his famous song Against All Odds to open the show in front of thousands of delighted fans. Collins has been using a walking stick since he had major surgery on his back in October 2015 and he can no longer play the drums. In an interview he said he woke up one morning and couldn’t move his right foot.
"I had an MRI and my back and hips were just shot," he told Rolling Stone. "The doctor had to go in there, work on the sciatic nerve and take my back apart and unscramble the mess.”
Collins has a history with back problems. The 2007 Genesis reunion tour left him with a dislocated vertebra in his neck that caused nerve damage in his hands. Despite his injuries, fans were delighted by Phil’s performance as he belted out many of his greatest hits. The singer and drummer first found fame with Genesis in the 1970s, ahead of his solo career, and has sold 150 million records globally.
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