Lily Collins marked her father Phil Collins’ 75th birthday with a touching social media post, highlighting their close bond just days after the music icon discussed his ongoing health challenges.
A Special Celebration
The 36-year-old actress, known for her role in Emily in Paris, shared a recent photo of herself smiling alongside her father on Instagram. She also included a nostalgic image of Phil carrying her as a young child. In her caption, Lily expressed deep gratitude and pride for his life’s work.
“Yesterday Dad turned 75 and I feel so grateful to have celebrated together. For all you’ve accomplished, all the joy you’ve brought so many all over the world for all these years, all the lessons we’ve learned, all the memories we’ve shared, and all the new ones to come, thank you,” she wrote. “I count myself so lucky to have hugged you, laughed with you, and reminisced with you on such a monumental day. Proud is an understatement. Love you to the moon and back again.”
Fans flooded the comments with warm wishes, celebrating Phil’s enduring legacy. One wrote, “Our dad is the soundtrack to so many of our lives, especially those born in 1967 like me. Happiest to you, sir!” Another added, “You’re a lucky girl. Your dad is a legend, and his music will never die. Happy birthday, Phil Collins!” Others shared, “Your dad’s music has brought so much joy to my life and fans worldwide,” and “Listening to his songs yesterday non-stop. Happy Birthday, Papa Collins.”
Phil Collins’ Family and Career
Phil Collins, the former Genesis singer and drummer who retired in 2022, is father to five children, including Lily and two sons, Simon and Nic, who have followed in his footsteps as drummers. His career has been marked by global success, but recent years have focused on health management.
Navigating Health Challenges
Phil has long dealt with type 2 diabetes and complications from a 2007 spine injury. In a recent conversation with broadcaster Zoe Ball for a BBC Two special marking his birthday, he opened up about his struggles, including five knee surgeries, the need for a 24-hour live-in nurse, and kidney issues linked to past alcohol consumption.
“Yeah, it’s an ongoing thing. You know, I have a 24-hour live-in nurse to make sure I take my medication as I should do,” Phil stated. He described a tough period where multiple issues overlapped: “I’ve had challenges with my knee. I had everything that could go wrong with me, did go wrong with me. I got COVID in hospital—my kidneys started to back up, you know, everything that started that could, all seemed to converge at the same time.”
Reflecting on his lifestyle, he added, “I’d probably been drinking too much, and so my kidneys were messed up. I enjoyed coming off tour, coming off the road, but I thought, right, I’m gonna do all those things that I couldn’t do. I wasn’t one of those guys that sort of stayed up all night drinking; I’d drink during the day, but I guess I had too much of it. I was never drunk, although I fell over a couple of times. But it is just one of those things that happened and it all caught up with me, and I spent months in hospital.”
Despite the setbacks, Phil remains optimistic. “I’ve got a knee that works and I can walk, albeit with assistance, you know, crutches or whatever,” he said, adding, “There’s life in the old dog yet.”
Lessons from Life
When Zoe Ball asked what life has taught him, considering his career highs, family, and adventures, Phil responded thoughtfully: “I guess there’s a part of me that’s trying to make up for things that I’ve either done or have made people feel, or affected the kids in any kind of negative way. I mean, I had a very happy family life.”
He praised his children: “My kids are amazingly well-adjusted considering some of the things that they’ve been through. And as I said before, I’m very, very proud of all of them. They’ve all stood on their own and done what they believe in. So I feel very lucky about that.”
Looking ahead, Phil expressed interest in returning to music once his mobility improves: “The things that are ahead for me would be, apart from just being back to being totally mobile and healthy, is go in there and have a fiddle about and see if there’s more music ’cause you know, you tend to sort of feel, that’s it, I’ve done that. But you’ve gotta start doing it to see if you can do it. Otherwise you don’t do it.”
Phil’s personal life has included three marriages—to Andrea Bertorelli, Jill Tavelman, and Orianne Cevey—with the latter ending in a high-profile settlement reported at £25 million in 2008, followed by a brief reconciliation in 2016.
