In a candid new interview with The Times, the 75-year-old music icon looked back on his extraordinary career, his health struggles and his personal life, revealing that despite everything he’s been through, he hasn’t given up on the idea of another relationship: “I’d love to be in love again. I would love a relationship. Kissing somebody, for example. You know, pretty basic stuff.”
The 75-year-old singer admitted things could have gone “terribly wrong” back in April 2024 when he was lying unconscious in a Swiss hospital, prompting his long-term manager to call his five kids to his bedside to make some tough decisions.
Phil told The Sunday Times magazine: “Because there were some decisions to be made about ‘Do we keep Phil on life support?’ kind of thing. My kidneys were packing up, my organs were just seizing up.”
His children rushed to Switzerland.
“My kidneys were packing up, my organs were just seizing up. People were coming to say goodbye… But I don’t remember them coming, I didn’t have no idea this was going on. They were all worried that they wouldn’t see me again.”
Phil’s manager of 50 years called his five children — daughters Lily Collins and Joely Collins, plus sons Simon Collins, Nicolas Collins and Matthew Collins — to be by his bedside.
He had no memory of their visit.
“I didn’t have no idea this was going on. They were all worried that they wouldn’t see me again. It could all have gone so terribly wrong.”
He recalled his daughter Lily, an actress and a mom to daughter Tove, 17 months, was “sitting beside me in tears, saying, ‘I never thought I’d get these moments,'” and further gushed: “We had an incredible time. I can’t overemphasise how fantastic it was.”
In a separate interview, Phil said he’s “healthier now than I have been for quite a while,” but he still doesn’t plan to perform when he’s inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s class of 2026 in November.
“You’ve got to be match fit to do something like that. You’re going to have to rehearse and then by that point, if you’ve not been singing, your voice is going to be shot and then that’s not going to be good. So I’d rather not do it.”
His recovery began immediately after survival.
“I was very lucky to have come out of that. Needless to say, I haven’t had a drink since.”
Speaking to the Sunday Times, the singer said that he was first admitted to a Swiss hospital in connection with his alcohol use in November 2023. He was initially discharged before Christmas that year, but was readmitted a few weeks later and placed into intensive care, where he lay unconscious.
The Genesis singer ultimately spent seven months in the hospital recovering from his near-death ordeal.
“I have a 24-hour live-in nurse to make sure I take my medication as I should do. I’ve had challenges with my knee — I had everything that could go wrong with me, did go wrong with me … I mean, I got COVID in [the] hospital, my kidneys started to back up … everything that [started], that could [have] all seemed to sort of converge at the same time.”
He told The Times he now enjoys a close bond with daughter Lily Collins, saying the two have repaired their relationship after years of challenges. He’s also reconnected with other family members and reflected on the mistakes he’s made along the way.
On marriage prospects, Collins was direct.
“I would love a relationship. Kissing somebody, for example. You know, pretty basic stuff.”
Since then, the Grammy-winning singer has focused on rebuilding both his health and his relationships. He told The Times he now enjoys a close bond with daughter Lily Collins, saying the two have repaired their relationship after years of challenges. He’s also reconnected with other family members and reflected on the mistakes he’s made along the way.
Collins has been married three times before.
He was married to his first wife, Andrea Bertorelli, from 1975 to 1980, followed by his second marriage to Jill Tavelman from 1984 to 1996, and his third wife, Orianne Cevey, from 1999 to 2008.
His health remains precarious.
Phil recovered, though he has a number of other health issues, including type 2 diabetes and nerve damage in his hands, and needs crutches to walk following multiple surgeries on his spine and knees, and rang in 2026 surrounded by his family at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in London.
“I would contemplate” performing again: “I’m constantly saying to myself, I better go back down to my studio at home.” His last concert was in 2022.