Phil Collins gives rare health update after losing ability to play drums almost 3 years ago: It’s ‘a shock’

Phil Collins provided a rare health update after losing his ability to play the drums almost three years ago.

After a 50-year career, the ailing Genesis musician retired in March 2022.

Seven months later, he spoke about his line of work and the struggles that accompany it in the documentary “Phil Collins: Drummer First,” which debuted Wednesday on YouTube.

“It’s still kind of sinking in a bit…” Collins, 73, admitted in one of his interviews, per People. “I’ve spent all my life playing drums. To suddenly not be able to do that is a shock.”

Having picked up his first set of drumsticks at 5 years old, the laborious activity “has taken its toll on [his] hands, legs.”

Collins explained of his retirement, “If I can’t do what I did as well as I did it, I’d rather relax and not do anything.”

“If I wake up one day and I can hold a pair of drumsticks then I’ll have a crack at it,” he shared. “But I just feel like I’ve used up my air miles.”

The Grammy winner’s son and drumming successor, Nic Collins — who was also interviewed for the documentary — pointed out that “musicians, people in bands in general, had this thought that they were invincible.”

“I think that’s really what it is with my dad — is just this kind of sense of ‘you’re a drummer, you’re invincible, you do what you do,’” the 23-year-old said. “But you don’t know it’s gonna take a toll in the long run.”

Nic noted that his father underwent a “big surgery on his neck [in 2015] that stemmed from all those years playing drums and bad posture.”

Phil also suffers from drop foot, a condition that makes it difficult to lift the front part of one’s foot, making drumming nearly impossible. He now must use a cane to walk.

Six months before putting the drumsticks down for good, the “In the Air Tonight” singer lamented that his stamina was declining.

“I’m kind of physically challenged a bit, which is very frustrating ’cause, you know, I’d love to be playing up there with my son,” he explained on “BBC Breakfast” alongside his Genesis bandmates in September 2021.

“I can barely hold a stick with this hand, so there are certain physical things, which get in the way.”

When asked whether their reunion tour, “The Last Domino?” Tour, was putting the group “to bed,” Phil replied, “We’re all men of our age, and I think — to some extent — yeah, it probably is putting it to bed.”

He added, “Just generally, for me, I don’t know if I want to go out on the road anymore.”