Highlights
- Phil Collins, 75, walked the Rock Hall red carpet with Lily Collins, Joely Collins and Nic Collins in Los Angeles.
- Using two canes, he told the crowd he’s “really not as bad as it looks” and thanked his assistant for saving his life.
- Collins skipped performing but vowed “you haven’t heard the last of me” and said future shows aren’t ruled out.
Phil Collins needed two canes to reach the podium. He didn’t need them to make his point.
“Thank you so much, I’m really not as bad as it looks,” the 75-year-old told the crowd at Los Angeles’ Peacock Theater on Saturday, Nov. 14, as he accepted his Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction as a solo artist. “I’m much better.”
Daughter Lily Collins, 37, walked the red carpet beside him, joined by her sister Joely Collins and brother Nic Collins.
The Emily in Paris star wore red leather pants and a gray checked blazer as her father leaned on a walking cane for photographers.
Phil Collins had three of his five children by his side for his solo induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ❤️ Phil, 75, made a rare red carpet appearance, walking with two canes. Joining him were daughters Lily and Joely Collins, son Nic Collins, Lily’s husband Charlie McDowell and Nic’s fiancée Isabella Cristina Serralles.
It’s Phil’s second Rock Hall honour – he was first inducted with Genesis. 🥁
📽️: Getty
— HELLO! Canada (@HelloCanada) November 15, 2026She’s been publicly proud since April. “You did it! Couldn’t be more proud of you, Dad,” she wrote on her Instagram Story when the class was announced. “What an incredible achievement and SO insanely deserved.”
Collins entered the Hall with Genesis in 2010, so this makes him one of only a few artists inducted twice. He said the solo honor “wraps up what has been a wonderful life in music.”
Blink-182′s Travis Barker gave the induction speech. “I remember hearing those drums for the first time and being blown away,” Barker said of “In the Air Tonight.” “That sound changed everything.”
“There aren’t many artists who get inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame twice,” Barker added. “Tonight Phil Collins becomes one of them, and I can’t think of anyone more deserving.”
Collins was visibly emotional in the audience, and the crowd gave him a standing ovation as he took the stage.
“I grew up just wanting to play the drums,” he said. “Everything else has been a really happy accident.”
He also thanked “my three ex wives, because they’ve loved me through the years and given me five great children.”
His health problems are well documented: five knee operations, nerve damage from a spinal injury, kidney problems and type 2 diabetes.
“I have a 24-hour live-in nurse to make sure I take my medication as I should do,” he told the BBC’s Zoe Ball in January.
On Saturday, he credited his assistant with turning things around. “I’m not joking when I say without her I wouldn’t be here,” he said. “I’d be in a box six feet under.”
Collins didn’t perform. Days earlier, he’d told The New York Times, “I’m not match-fit.” Cynthia Erivo sang “In the Air Tonight” in his place, with Barker on drums.
He made clear the night wasn’t a farewell. “You haven’t heard the last of me,” he said from the stage. “I can promise you that.”
“I can’t believe that I’m not gonna do something. I’m not very good at doing nothing,” he added backstage.
That includes his home studio, a room he once avoided. “For a few years I walked the long way around so I didn’t walk past it,” he admitted. “I’ve got to get back in there, because that was fun.”
He hasn’t ruled out live shows either. “It’s not beyond the realm of possibilities of doing some shows,” Collins said. “The door is not closed.”
The ceremony airs Dec. 8 on ABC and streams on Disney+ and Hulu the next day.
