Phil Collins will publish what he calls his “warts and all” memoir in 2016 through Penguin Random House.
Collins has had one of the most successful career in rock history, both as a member of Genesis and as a solo artist. He first played drums with Genesis on their third album, Nursery Cryme (1971) and took over lead vocal duties on 1976’s A Trick of the Tail after Peter Gabriel went solo.
Collins and Genesis went through a musical transition that found them playing much more pop oriented material and scoring hits like Invisible Touch (1986 / #1), Tonight, Tonight, Tonight (1987 / #3) and I Can’t Dance (1991 / #3) while, at the same time, Collins established himself as a formidable solo artist with songs including In the Air Tonight (1981 / #19), Against All Odds (1984 / #1) and Sussudio (1985 / #1).
Phil essentially retired from music earlier this decade due to physical limitations on his drumming and the desire to spend more time with his children.
He said of the book “Several times over the last few years I have been asked to write a biography but never felt that the time was right – until now. Having found the right publisher in Penguin Random House I am ready to go on record about my life in music with all the highs and all the lows and to tell the story from my point of view, warts and all!”
Ben Dunn of Century Publishing added “The early material is simply breathtaking, and I am honored to be his publisher.”
