‘Not de ad ye t’ – but badly hurt: Collins pulls out of shows afte r fall
PHIL COLLINS has had to postpone sold-out comeback shows after being taken to hospital.
The singer, who has recently returned to playing live after a decade-long break, suffered from a fall in his hotel bathroom on Wednesday night and cut his head during the accident.
Collins’s management said that the star missed his step due to the ‘drop foot’ induced by the emergency back surgery he underwent in 2015.
“Phil suffers from ‘drop foot’ as a result of a back operation which makes it difficult to walk,” his representative said.
“He rose in the middle of the night to go to the toilet and slipped in his hotel room, hitting his head in the fall on a chair.
“He was taken to hospital where he had stitches for a severe gash on his head close to his eye and is recovering well. He will be kept under observation for 24 hours.”
Collins “sends his sincere apologies and thanks to fans”, and has postponed the shows – his first in 10 years.
He started his run at the Royal Albert Hall on Sunday night, and was due to perform last night and tonight. These shows have been rearranged for November 26 and 27.
The music world was taken aback in October when Collins announced he would be coming out of retirement after officially stepping down from showbusiness in 2002.
Collins has suffered a number of health problems since 2000, when he lost his hearing in his left ear. In 2007 he was left unable to play the drums while on tour with Genesis, due to a lifetime spent at the kit. He also spent several years as an alcoholic until 2012. In 2015, he underwent emergency surgery after waking up unable to move his foot.
But Collins appears to be on good terms with his condition, even naming his comeback tour, ‘Phil Collins: Not Dead Yet, Live’.
Collins is set to continue the European leg of his tour in Cologne at the weekend. (© Daily Telegraph London)