Phil Collins emotionally says goodbye to fans as he announces his final ever live show due to ill health
27 March 2022, 17:43 | Updated: 17 March 2023, 10:33
Lily Collins enjoys her father Phil Collins' last-ever show in London
Phil Collins has announced that he has played his final ever live show with Genesis - and potentially as a solo artist too - at the band's latest gig.
The 71-year-old music icon made the announcement as he performed with Genesis at the O2 Arena in London on Saturday (March 26).
Phil Collins - who recently said that he can no longer hold a drumstick after surgery on his back - said goodbye to his fans and told the crowd he will now have to get a "real job".
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Genesis have reunited for their Last Domino? world tour, and had to cancel a series of gigs last year due to a Covid outbreak in the band.
Phil Collins declares this to be the last [ever] Genesis show - O2 Arena, London, 26/3/22
Phil's daughter - actor Lily Collins - paid tribute to her father after watching the gig.
She wrote on Instagram: "Tonite [sic] marks the end of an era. To have witnessed this last show was truly the memory of a lifetime and an event I shall hold in my heart forever. Endlessly grateful doesn’t begin to do it justice.
"So much love was left on that O2 stage and an even bigger amount shared between an audience who didn’t want it to end. Thank you @genesis_band for the memories, thank you dad for being such an inspiration and thank you @nic_collins for making me the proudest sister there is. 50 years of songs later and still generations more to celebrate you long after this tour has finished."
Phil has been forced to sit down on a char as he performed with Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford for their first live dates in 14 years.
The singer and drummer's nerve damage has stopped him being able to play the drums, and he has also had to walk with a stick.
He recently told The Guardian: "I don’t do anything at all. I don’t practise singing at home, not at all. Rehearsing is the practice.
"These guys are always having a go at me for not, but I have to do it this way. Of course, my health does change things, doing the show seated changes things.
"But I actually found on my recent solo tours, it didn’t get in the way; the audience were still listening and responding. It’s not the way I would have written it, but it’s the way that it is."
Phil Collins' health has been declining over the last 15 years. He suffered an injured vertebra in his upper neck, and has also battled acute pancreatitis.
