Phil Collins Is Not Retiring

BY JOEY BARTOLOMEO

Monday March 07, 2011 01:50 PM EST

Phil Collins

Luca Bruno/AP

For the former Genesis frontman and drummer, there will be no exodus.

Despite a recent interview withFHM in which music legend Phil Collins, 60, said "it feels like a good time to stop for a while," he is not retiring from music, PEOPLE has confirmed.

"He is not, has no intention of, retiring," says his U.K rep.

Collins, who last year underwent surgery to treat nerve damage in his left hand, told PEOPLE in November that he was in the middle of taking time off so he could recuperate.

"At the moment I can't feel the fingers on my left hand or the ends of my fingers so playing drums or piano is probably – I can't do that at the moment," he admitted.

Collins said he did not feel frustrated by his health problems and further noted, "I'm quite adjusted to the idea that I won't play like I did again." (He had to tape his drumsticks to his hands when he recorded his last album.)

For now, the father of five, who lives in Switzerland, is contentedly enjoying his break. "I'm spending a lot of time at home with my kids," he said last fall. "That's really what I want to do and take some real serious time off."

-- People materials post by Musikos

Wikipedia

Philip David Charles Collins, LVO (born 30 January 1951)^[1] is an English singer-songwriter, drummer, pianist and actor best known as a drummer and vocalist for Englishprogressive rock group Genesis and as a solo artist.

Collins sang the lead vocals on several chart hits in the United Kingdom and the United States between 1978 and 1994, either as a solo artist or with Genesis. His singles, often dealing with lost love, ranged from the drum-heavy "In the Air Tonight", dance pop of "Sussudio", piano-driven "Against All Odds", to the political statements of "Another Day in Paradise". His international popularity transformed Genesis from a progressive rock group to a regular on the pop charts and an early MTV mainstay.

Collins's professional music career began as a drummer, first with Flaming Youth and then more famously with Genesis. In Genesis, Collins originally supplied backing vocals for front man Peter Gabriel, singing lead on only two songs: "For Absent Friends" from 1971'sNursery Cryme album and "More Fool Me" from Selling England by the Pound, which was released in 1973. Following Gabriel's departure in 1975, Collins became the group's lead singer. As the decade closed, Genesis's first international hit, "Follow You, Follow Me", demonstrated a drastic change from the band's early years.

His concurrent solo career, heavily influenced by his personal life, brought both him and Genesis commercial success. According to Atlantic Records, Collins's total worldwide sales as a solo artist, as of 2000, were 150 million.^[2] He has won seven Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, and two Golden Globes for his solo work. He was inducted into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Genesis in 2010.