Phil Collins has revealed that he nearly died in 2024 during a hospital stay brought on by alcohol addiction, an ordeal that left him unconscious in intensive care while his five children rushed to his bedside believing they were saying goodbye.

In an interview with the Sunday Times, reported by Rolling Stone on 2 August 2026, the Genesis drummer and solo singer said he was first admitted to a Swiss hospital in November 2023 in connection with his drinking. He was discharged before Christmas, readmitted a few weeks later, and placed in intensive care, where he lay unconscious.

"My kidneys were packing up, my organs were just seizing up," Collins told the magazine. He said people were coming to say goodbye, and that decisions were being considered about whether to keep him on life support. His five children — Joely, Simon, Lily, Nicholas and Matthew — travelled to the hospital believing their father was on his deathbed.

Collins ultimately spent seven months in the hospital recovering. "I was very lucky to have come out of that," he said. "Needless to say, I haven't had a drink since."

In the same interview, Collins described the reach of his daily drinking at its height. "I'd have wine when I woke up," he said. "That was what I'd want for breakfast, a glass of wine." People reported that his initial November 2023 admission lasted three days before he was discharged.

Collins has long been open about his alcohol addiction, which he has linked to health issues stemming from persistent back injuries. In his 2016 memoir, he wrote about lying in bed staring at grey Swiss skies, alone save for what he called his "good friends Johnnie Walker and Grey Goose" — brand names for Scotch whisky and vodka.

Earlier in 2024, Collins had acknowledged spending "months in hospital" because of his drinking, according to Rolling Stone, but did not elaborate on the severity of the situation until the Sunday Times interview. In that earlier discussion, he also described a "difficult, frustrating few years" that included five separate surgeries on his knee, and said he now has a 24-hour live-in nurse to ensure he takes his medication correctly.

Collins, 75, retired from performing after Genesis's last tour in 2022, when he sang seated while his son Nicholas took over on drums. His health had visibly declined during the tour, and he had previously used a cane and a wheelchair at public appearances.