Phil Collins Biography, Photos and Posters

Phil Collins

Biography

Born: January 30, 1951
City and Country of Origin: Chiswick, London, England
Music Training: started on drums at 5; Barbara Speake Stage School
Awards: Oscar 1999 MUSIC Original Song, "You'll Be In My Heart" from Tarzan; Grammy 1999 Best Soundtrack Album, Tarzan; 1990 Record Of The Year, "Another Day In Paradise;" 1988 Best Song Written Specifically For A Motion Picture Or Television, "Two Hearts;" 1987 Best Concept Music Video, Land Of Confusion; 1985 Album Of The Year, No Jacket Required; 1985 Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male, No Jacket Required; 1985 Producer Of The Year (Non-Classical); 1984 Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male, "Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now)"
Top Recordings: "In the Air Tonight," "You Can't Hurry Love," "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)," "Easy Lover," "One More Night," "Sussudio," "Separate Lives," "A Groovy Kind of Love," "Two Hearts," "Another Day in Paradise"
Phil Collins Biography: Philip David Charles Collins first gained recognition in the music world as the drummer and sometimes lead singer of the progressive rock group Genesis. Altogether he had 8 American chart topping hit singles, 7 as a solo artist and 1 with Genesis.

He got his first drum kit as a Christmas present at the age of 5 and received more complete sets first from his uncle and then his parents as he grew up. He started his entertainment career as an actor/model, his first major role being as The Artful Dodger in a London production of Oliver. Despite his early success as an actor he continued to gravitate towards a career in music. While attending Chiswick Community School he formed a band called the Real Thing and later joined the Freehold. His first record deal came while working as the drummer for Flaming Youth with whom he recorded a concept album Ark 2 which was critically acclaimed, but a commericial failure. After the group folded Collins answered a Melody Maker ad for a drummer. The audition was held at the home of Genesis lead singer Peter Gabriel's parents house and was placed as the result of the group having lost 3 drummers while recording 2 albums. Collins landed the job and a year later played with the group on its next album Nursery Cryme in 1971. Although he would remain mostly a drummer with ocassional work as a backup vocalist he did sing 2 vocals on the album, "For Absent Friends" and "More Fool Me."

Following the concept album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway in 1975 Gabriel left the group to pursue his solo career. After an unfruitful search for a replacement Collins assumed the role as lead singer. To accommodate this change the group recruited drummers Bill Bruford and later Chester Thompson to play during live performances while Collins remained on drums during longer instrumental sessions. The 1976 recording 1976's A Trick of the Tail reached the U.S. top 40 and reached as high as number 3 on the Brit charts with Collins as lead vocalist. Meanwhile Collins was also performing and recording with a jazz fusion band called Brand X. As the decade grew to a close Genesis began to shift its emphasis away from rock towards pop music. Although the 1978 recording And Then There Were Three still contained some progressive rock elements it also featured the groups first U.K. top 10 single and the U.S. top 40 single "Follow You, Follow Me".

After a group of successful albums during the early 80s Collins chose to make his debut as a solo artist with the album Face Value which featured the single "In the Air Tonight." He followed it up with Hello, I Must Be Going which also proved to be a success. After this he devoted time to recording with Genesis and then penned "Against All Odds" which earned an Oscar nomination and won a Grammy. After this he released the album "No Jacket Required" which contained 4 hit singles. In 86 he recorded the chart topping album "Invisible Touch" with Genesis. In 1991 he recorded his swan song We Can't Dance for Genesis. In 1996 Collins announced that he was leaving Genesis for good. In 1999 both Collins and Peter Gabriel reunited with the members of Genesis to re-record "The Carpet Crawlers" for Genesis' Turn It On Again: The Hits. In that year he also recorded "You'll Be in My Heart," the soundtrack for the movie Tarzan which became his first single to hit the top 40 in 5 years and also earned him an Oscar. His most recent album the 2002 Testify failed to make an impact on the charts.

Source Wikipedia

Search Site by Artist:

Create search engine for website.