Phil Collins's Autobiography: "I'm Not Dead Yet"

“Maybe you're a fan or maybe you're curious about that heavyweight who kept going on the charts some thirty years ago. In any case, I welcome you. That puts on the back cover of this 452-page autobiography that Phil Collins, the mythical British drummer and singer (1951), has just published. It has been on sale since last October 20.

So your most unconditional admirers (among whom I count myself for those thirty years) we are in luck. Who can attest to the emotion of his art live -unforgettable concert the one I saw in Las Ventas in 1994-, we will always put that music above any chiaroscuro in your life. We all have them. And this article I would like to dedicate to a friend, perhaps one of those most devoted fans. It's for you, Marijose.

The market is full of biography and autobiographies of musicians. Now Bruce Springsteen breaks it and watch out for those who are going to flood the shelves with the death of Leonard Cohen. But the one who is still alive, and so he wants to emphasize in the title, is Phil Collins. Let it be for a lot of years.

I'm not dead yet is described as a chronicle where the musician puts the cards on the table and speaks without hairs in the language of songs, concerts, successes and failures. Also of his personal life: his three marriages, his children, his divorces, his health problems and with alcohol in recent years ... Anyway, everything that has surrounded a life so full of success and recognition as possibly far from a true existence.

The curious thing about my adolescence of listening and worshiping, with the hormones fired, Duran Duran or Spandau Ballet, is that this little musician slipped in without hesitation, little thing in general and with a peculiar voice. Garbancito Now a friend calls him ... Nothing to do with the blond angel that was Simon Le Bon or the very elegant voice and plant of Tony Hadley. In addition, he also played the drums, with how hidden the poor are always among so many guitar-making gods and divos at the microphone.

So there must have been something - and must - have Collins so that then and now he has already become one of the most outstanding artists of the XNUMXth century. Es one of the few musicians who has sold more than one hundred million records. He has done it both as a member of a group and in a solo career. Has won Grammys, Golden Globes and an Oscar in 1999 for Best Song, from the soundtrack of Tarzan with all his themes. But there are countless contributions to more soundtracks, collaborations with the best musicians in the world (Eric Clapton, Sting, Mark Knophler, David Crosby ...).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzawZe84b4M

He started playing drums since he was given a drum almost before he knew how to walk. I deeply admired Ringo Starr and the cultural explosion London of the 60s was the best place to learn the trade.. And he did well because at the age of 19 he managed to reach him through a George Harrison who put him in charge of the percussion for a compilation of Beatles songs.

Then an ad looking for "a drummer sensitive to acoustic music" and the doors were opened to put the heart of the rhythm to Genesis. He took over from singer Peter Gabriel when he left the already mythical formation and simply no one missed Gabriel. And then all the success in the world.

Along the way, he has left those three marriages and almost his life. Things started to go wrong for him when he swapped the drums for the microphone. He left Genesis in 1996, but it was never the same again. Over the years, the use of steroids, problems with the vertebrae, elbows with crushed nerves and, much later, 60% of the hearing lost. And is that more than half a century playing drums are paid. To top it all, and also at the last minute, alcohol.

But someone who has achieved so much and almost lost it cannot be beaten. And for that the best thing is to tell it, announce a new job and return to the stage. In addition, he has passed the drumsticks to whoever he could best: his 16-year-old teenage son Nicholas, who undoubtedly carries his father's blood. His concerts next summer are already sold out, but maybe you will be in time to see it. And if not, there is this autobiography. I plan to enjoy it and not stop listening to this song of songs.