Regardless of his retirement plans, Collins’s career has brought him
13 hit singles, seven Grammys, and even an Academy Award for his work on
the Disney musical movie
Tarzan, winning in 1999 for best
original song. ”I’m sorry that it was all so successful. I honestly
didn’t mean it to happen like that. It’s hardly surprising that people
grew to hate me,” he said. Critics – and their harsh words – have
emerged louder than the guitars of the modern rock era. Oasis guitarist
Noel Gallagher famously cut down the drummer in past years, quoted as
saying, “You don’t have to be great to be successful. Look at Phil
Collins.”
He lives in a small town in Switzerland now, attempting to distance
himself from the music scene. The report that he’s calling it quits from
the music business just seems to make his actions official. “I don’t
really belong to that world and I don’t think anyone’s going to miss me.
I’m much happier just to write myself out of the script entirely,” he
told FHM. Today’s world of MTV Music Awards and artists who care more
about celebrity status than making music led to an choice, he explained
