Phil Collins

Backing up the oft-repeated adage about timing being everything, Genesis drummer turned frontman Phil Collins launched his solo career with 1981’s In The Air Tonight: a remarkable debut single pioneering a decade-defining drum sound which went global on the back of heavy rotation on the then nascent MTV.

Throughout the following decade, Collins morphed into one of the world’s biggest-selling solo stars and somehow managed to balance the creation of multi-million-selling albums such as Face Value, Hello, I Must Be Going! and No Jacket Required, and their seemingly endless hit singles, alongside his concurrent Genesis career, which also yielded huge titles including 1983’s Genesis and 1987’s Invisible Touch.

A musical colossus, Collins has since become one of only three recording artists (alongside Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson) to have sold over 100 million records both as a solo star and as part of a band. Ill health has dogged his progress in more recent times, but his 2021 reunion with Genesis for their The Last Domino? Tour shows that Collins still commands stadium-sized respect from one of the most loyal fanbases on the planet.