Phil Collins – British singer, drummer, composer
Phil Collins was born on 30 January 1951 in London. His head-spinning career began when he was just five years old. Phil’s parents gave him a toy drum set, which he immediately started using to copy music from TV commercials. The hobby turned into a very successful career.
In 1969, the young musician got an offer from the band Flaming Youth. He accepted it and became a professional drummer. A year later, the band fell apart, and Phil started looking for a new job. Next year he saw an advertisement from the band Genesis, which was searching for a drummer. When Phil came to the audition, he was pleasantly surprised by the ambience. The band’s studio was located in a beautiful place with a great scenery, a pool, and a drum set in the tree shadows. After showing his talent, the musician was immediately accepted. Genesis paid him twice as much money as Flaming Youth.
Phil didn’t just play the drums, he tried himself as the back vocalist. In 1971, the band recorded an LP, Nursery Cryme, which featured one of the songs performed by Phil. In 1975, the band founder left. The group started looking for the new vocalist. After holding hundreds of auditions, they finally decided to offer Phil the position. He was very unsure but eventually accepted the offer. The next 20 years were very successful for the band. It earned international recognition. Phil didn’t just play the drums and sing, he wrong lyrics and music as well. While working with Genesis, Phil performed with the jazz project Brand X.