Phil Collins hit the stage in Berlin, Germany on Monday night with his Genesis bandmates as one of the stops on their current tour.
The singer, who is 71, joined bandmates Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks. While he entertained with his vocals, concertgoers were reminded of his declining health as he remained seated in a chair throughout the performance.
Photos from the band’s stop in Berlin at the Mercedez Benz Arena showed a glimpse at his performance restrictions, just months after he revealed he can no longer play the drums.
In one photo, the “In the Air Tonight” performer was seen sitting in a chair and holding on to his microphone stand.
The British singer‘s performance led him to trend on Twitter, where several fans compared him to his former Genesis band member Peter Gabriel.
Despite his health setbacks, several rock fans said they were pleased to see Collins onstage.
“I’m not a Genesis diehard, but if I had a choice between Genesis as fronted by Peter Gabriel and the band with Phil Collins as lead singer, I’m definitely going with Phil Collins,” one Twitter user wrote on Tuesday.
“Phil Collins is trending because he’s still around for us to tell him we love him,” another person tweeted.
One fan positively added: “I saw him back in 2019 as just Phil Collins, then a few weeks ago during the Genesis tour. He looked exactly the same. Trust me he’s fine, despite the vertebrae issue.”
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Others, however, shared their concerns about the musician appearing feeble.
The musician’s health has been in decline in recent years after suffering nerve damage from a spinal injury in 2007 that left him with damage to his vertebrae that’s forced him to be seen in a wheelchair occasionally, according to NME.
Last September, Collins appeared on the BBC Breakfast show where he discussed the 2021-2022 tour in which his son, Nicholas, was said to be taking over drumming duties. It was during his appearance that he revealed his drumming days are unfortunately behind him.
When asked directly by the hosts if he still gets behind a drumset, he revealed: “No. I’d love to, but you know, I mean, I can barely hold a stick with this hand…There are certain physical things that get in the way.”
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Although not being able to play the drums on the tour is disappointing for the musician, Collins noted that he is just happy to be along for the ride given that it is likely the band’s last. He described it as a way of “putting it to bed,” as he mentioned in previous interviews.
“Yes, well you know, you say things. I mean, we’re all men of our age and I think to some extent yeah, I think it probably is putting it to bed,” the singer said at the time. “I think, yeah, just generally for me, I don’t know if I want to go out on the road anymore.”
Prior to the current tour, the last time the band hit the road together was in 2007 to mark its 40th anniversary. Originally announced in 2020, “The Last Domino? Tour” was supposed to kick off in 2020 but was waylaid by the coronavirus pandemic.
