Phil Collins

Philip David Charles Collins (born January 30, 1951), better known as Phil Collins, is a British rock/pop musician. He was born in London, England. His showbusiness career began early, as a child actor and model. In 1970 he joined the already successful group Genesis as their drummer.

In 1975 when lead singer Peter Gabriel left the group, Collins took over as vocalist. The band enjoyed its most commercially successful period with Collins as vocalist, and in 1986 Invisible Touch topped the album charts. By this time they had several hit singles under their belt to go with the string of successful albums.

In 1981, Collins had embarked on a simultaneous solo career with the album Face Value. In 1985 he was one of the stars of the Live Aid concert during which he was jetted from Britain to the USA on the Concorde to take part in both parts of the programme. He also took up acting again, taking the lead in the 1988 flop Buster, in which he played Great Train Robber, Buster Edwards.

Collins is a successful songwriter, and was asked by The Walt Disney Company to produce the score for the animated film Tarzan in 1999. Collins does not read and write conventional musical notation but uses a system of his own devising.