Phil Collins showed he had talent at a very early age. He developed a love for playing the drums when he was about 5 years old when his uncle built a set of drums for him. Shortly after getting a new toy kids usually lose interest-but not Phil. He eventually acquired a better drum kit and developed his talent even further.

Phil got involved in acting through his mother, who was starting up an agency. When he was in grammar school he went to an audition for the Artful Dodger in Oliver. When he was around 13 years old he was an extra in the Beatles' movie, A Hard Day's Night as a screaming fan. He was also in the children's film Calamity the Cow when he was 16 years old.

The first group Phil performed with was called the Real Thing. He was still in school at the time, and the group would rehearse every day after school. The Gladiators were a four-piece soul group who wanted musicians to back them. Hickory was the band formed to back them and they brought Phil in to play drums. Hickory started playing better than the Gladiators did so they split, went out on their own, and changed their name to Flaming Youth. After about a year, Phil left and started auditioning for various bands.

Phil used to see the group Yes perform every week at the Marquee. He almost went for an audition to replace the drummer of Yes who was leaving to go to school. He did however hear the group Genesis was holding auditions for drummers. He went to an audition at Peter Gabriel's parents' house and his experience of playing different kinds of music in different bands made it look very easy. Needless to say, Phil got the job.

Peter Gabriel played his last gig with Genesis in France in May 1975. When Genesis auditioned singers, Phil would sing a song to show how it was supposed to be done. After auditioning many different singers and not finding one they liked, it was decided that Phil should take on the role. Around the same time Phil was also performing with Brand X.

Genesis eventually became three-Phil (vocals and drums), Tony Banks (keyboards), and Mike Rutherford (guitars), and released their first album as a trio, ...And Then There Were Three... in 1978. Over the years the guys from Genesis have went solo. Phil, Tony and Mike all made several solo albums and Mike formed the group, Mike and The Mechanics. They always came back together to record more Genesis albums. They found it helped them focus more as a group. They could fulfill their individual needs as solo artists, and could work more as a team with Genesis.

Phil has also performed in movies. He played Buster Edwards in the 1988 movie, Buster. He played Inspector Good in the 1991 movie, Hook. He also appeared in the movies: Frauds (1993), Calliope (1993), And the Band Played On (1993.) He was the voice of Muk and Luk in the cartoon, Balto (1995.) He played Uncle Ernie in The Who Live-Featuring the Rock Opera Tommy. He also made a guest appearance in the TV show Miami Vice (1984) as Phil Mayhew in the episode, "Phil the Shill."

In 1996, after more than 20 years with Genesis, Phil officially announced his decision to leave. It was time to move on and focus on his solo career. He was working on the soundtrack for the Disney movie, Tarzan. He recently recorded a Big Band album-something he has wanted to do for quite a while. I'm sure he has many projects planned in the years to come, which all Phil Collins fans are anxiously looking forward to.

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