Phil Collins remembers many things about the health problems that have changed his life in recent years.

But one of the most frightening moments is something he does not remember at all.

While the legendary Genesis singer and drummer was critically ill in a hospital in Switzerland, the situation became so serious that members of his family were summoned to his bedside. His kidneys were failing, other organs were struggling, and doctors were facing questions about whether he should remain on life support.

People were arriving believing they might be seeing Collins for the final time.

Collins, meanwhile, had no idea it was happening.

In a remarkably candid new interview, the 75-year-old musician has revealed how serious his battle with alcohol became after years of physical problems had already taken away much of the life he once knew.

What the public saw was an aging rock star struggling to walk and no longer able to sit behind the drums.

What they did not see was a seven-month medical ordeal that almost ended very differently.

His Drinking Had Become Far More Serious

Collins has spoken about alcohol before.

His struggles became particularly severe following the breakdown of his marriage to third wife Orianne Cevey and during a period when he was spending much of his time away from performing.

In earlier interviews and his 2016 autobiography, Not Dead Yet, Collins described lonely periods of heavy drinking.

For a time, he managed to stop.

But in his latest account, Collins revealed that he later began drinking heavily again after discontinuing Antabuse, a medication designed to discourage alcohol consumption by making a person ill if they drink while taking it.

His drinking eventually reached an alarming point.

Collins told The Sunday Times that he was sometimes drinking wine in the morning.

By November 2023, the consequences had become impossible to ignore.

He was admitted to a hospital in Switzerland in connection with his alcohol use. His pancreas and kidneys had been damaged.

And what initially appeared to be one hospitalization would become a much longer battle.

He Left the Hospital — Then Everything Got Worse

According to reports about Collins’ account, he was discharged three days before Christmas in 2023.

For a short period, it appeared that he had made it through the crisis.

Then, only weeks later, he was rushed back to intensive care.

The medical problems continued, and Collins ultimately spent about seven months receiving hospital treatment.

By April 2024, his condition had become critical.

Collins was unconscious in the hospital.

His kidneys were failing, and other organs were beginning to shut down.

The situation was serious enough that discussions were taking place over whether he should continue to be supported by life-support equipment.

That was when his longtime manager made an extraordinary call.

Collins’ five children were told to come to the hospital.

They included daughters Joely and actress Lily Collins, along with sons Simon, Nicolas and Matthew.

They were not gathering for a routine family visit.

They were coming because there was a very real possibility that their father might not survive.

Collins Didn’t Know They Had Come

Looking back on the experience, Collins described how dramatically his body had deteriorated.

“My kidneys were packing up, my organs were just seizing up,” he recalled.

Then came the detail that revealed just how close his family believed they were to losing him.

“People were coming to say goodbye.”

But Collins does not remember those visits.

He said he had no idea that people were gathering around him or that they feared they might never see him alive again.

For his children, it was potentially a final bedside goodbye.

For Collins, there is essentially a missing piece in his own memory.

He survived something that everyone around him understood was potentially life-ending without fully knowing, at the time, how close the situation had become.

“There were some decisions to be made about ‘Do we keep Phil on life support?’ kind of thing,” Collins recalled of what he later learned.

He now understands how differently the story could have ended.

The Crisis Changed One Thing Completely

Collins eventually recovered enough to leave the hospital.

And after what happened, he says there has been one absolute change in his life.

He stopped drinking.

“I was very lucky to have come out of that,” Collins said, adding that he has not had alcohol since the crisis.

The consequences of his health struggles, however, have not simply disappeared.

Long before the hospitalization, Collins had already experienced serious physical problems.

Years of issues involving his neck and spine required surgery and contributed to nerve damage. He has also dealt with knee problems, kidney issues and type 2 diabetes.

The man once famous for dominating huge arenas from behind a drum kit eventually lost the ability to play the instrument in the way audiences remembered.

During Genesis’ reunion shows, Collins performed seated and focused on singing while his son Nicolas handled the drums.

Earlier in 2026, Collins said he now has a live-in nurse available around the clock to help ensure he takes his medications correctly.

For fans who remember the relentless energy of In the Air Tonight, Against All Odds, Easy Lover and Genesis’ enormous stadium years, the contrast is difficult to miss.

His Children Eventually Got the Time They Thought They Had Lost

Perhaps the most emotional part of Collins’ survival came later in 2024.

After the hospital ordeal, Collins and his family gathered at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Knightsbridge, London.

They spent several days together.

This time, there were no intensive-care machines and no fear that the visit might be their last.

Collins remembered Lily sitting beside him in tears.

She told her father she had once believed they might never have moments like those again.

For Collins, the gathering became something far more meaningful than a normal family reunion.

He described the time together as extraordinary.

It is easy to understand why.

Months earlier, his children had been called to a hospital because doctors were facing decisions about life support.

Their father had been lying there unaware that they were preparing themselves for the possibility of losing him.

Now they were sitting together again.

A Different Kind of Survival Story

Phil Collins’ health problems have been visible for years.

Fans watched him begin performing seated. They watched his son replace him behind the drums. They heard him discuss surgeries, nerve damage and the frustration of a body that no longer allowed him to do what once seemed effortless.

But the latest revelation shows that the story was considerably more serious than many people realized.

Behind those public struggles was another crisis almost entirely hidden from view.

Seven months of hospital treatment.

Failing kidneys.

Organs beginning to shut down.

Life-support decisions.

Five children called to their father’s bedside.

And at the center of it all was Collins himself — so critically ill that he did not even realize people were arriving to tell him goodbye.

He survived.

And only afterward did he fully understand just how close everyone around him believed they had come to losing him.