After Flaming Youth, Collins made arrangements to audition for a young band called Genesis. He arrived for the audition at the lavish home of Peter Gabriel's parents in the stockbroker belt of Surrey 2 hours early. Peter suggested Phil take a dip in the swimming pool while the other drummers auditioned with the band. Most struggled with the complex rhythms and song structures that were a feature of early Genesis albums and ultimately failed the audition. By the time Collins turn came around he'd heard where the previous drummers had made their mistakes, breezed the audition and the rest, as they say, is history.

Genesis soon felt the benefit of their new percussionist, his much needed sense of humour and an unlimited enthusiasm for playing injected a new energy into the group. Then with the arrival of Steve Hackett on guitar the final piece was in place.

Over the next five years Collins played drums, sang, wrote and arranged songs, played sessions, and generally helped Genesis become one of the leading lights in the Progressive rock field. In a very short period Genesis became one of the leaders of Britain's progressive rock movement, and developed a reputation for their complex arrangements and theatrical live performances. Phil was key in developing their sound. He even had time to join jazz-fusion rockers Brand X, with whom he recorded several albums.

When singer Peter Gabriel left the band in 1975, Collins scuppered the media's predictions that the band was doomed, by stepping up to become the singer, chief songwriter and ended up sounding more like Gabriel than Gabriel did.

Over the next decade Genesis eventually toned down their elaborate sound and were rewarded with a steady string of hit singles that raised Collins' profile as a talented writer alongside the existing praise for his obvious playing chops and distinctive voice. It was only a matter of time before the solo career arrived.
In 1980 he played drums on Peter Gabriel's third solo album and at the singers request left his cymbals at home. The resulting 'in your face' bombastic drum sound was put to good use by Collins on his debut solo single "In The Air Tonight" released in Jan 81, it raced to no.2 in the UK and achieved a top twenty position in the USA.

His first solo album, Face Value, sold by the truckload and was a number one smash, but again rumours about Genesis splitting up were proved to be wrong. The band decided on a kind of group album then solo album policy, which kept both camps happy. The album made Collins an instant solo star.

In Nov 82 his second album Hello I Must Be Going hit the number 2 spot, and provided him with a number one single, an uptempo cover of the old Supremes song "You Can't Hurry Love". Many old time Genesis fans found all this three minute pop song stuff hard to swallow, but the sales of both band and solo artist kept on rising. And as Collins once said "You don't wear the same clothes you wore ten years ago do you?" Some old Genesis fans obviously did.

He played drums on the famous Band Aid single, "Do They Know It's Christmas?", which spent the early weeks of 1985 at the top of the charts. A few weeks later he was again near the top of the US charts duetting with Philip Bailey on the infectious "Easy Lover" (a UK number 1), and, barely pausing for breath, released his third solo album, Grammy award winning Album of the Year 1985, No Jacket Required which topped the charts in most countries in the world, for many weeks.

Collins made history on July 13, 1985 with the distinction of being the only musician to appear at the Live Aid concert twice. He performed solo at Wembley Stadium in London, and, after taking the Concorde, he performed in Philadelphia later the same day. Incredibly he found further energy a few hours later to play drums with Jimmy Page and Robert Plant and Eric Clapton. Phil's song "Separate Lives" -- a duet with singer Marilyn Martin -- was the theme song to the 1985 film White Nights, starring Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gregory Hines. After "In The Air Tonight" was used in an episode of the red-hot US TV police drama Miami Vice, Collins made a guest appearance on the series as a game show host. Between this and the advent of the music video, the acting bug had well and truly bitten the Artful Dodger once more.

Collins had a comparatively quiet time during 1986, spending part of it touring the world as drummer with Eric Clapton's band. The following year was spent filming for his starring role as a great train robber, Buster Edwards in Buster which was released the following year to mainly good reviews. He also had a role in rock band The Who's televised performance of their rock opera Tommy.

His fourth solo album, But Seriously, was released in 1989 and immediately topped the charts, spawning further hit singles. For over 10 years Collins has pursued, at a punishing pace, one of the most successful careers since Elvis Presley and the Beatles. In the 90s in addition to continuing with Genesis he contributed to David Crosby's album Thousand Roads, co-writing the hit "Hero". Collins also appeared as a police inspector in Hook, Steven Spielberg's retelling of the Peter Pan story.

Both Sides in 1993 was a return to the stark emotion of Face Value. Collins, although he stated in interviews that he was a happily married man, opened old relationship wounds with powerful lyrics. He was rewarded by the album debuting at number 1 in the UK chart and finding similar success in the USA and most countries in the world.

His broad public appeal was not unlike that bestowed upon the Beatles in their heyday, and Collins has also earned the respect of his fellow musicians as a technically brilliant drummer There seemed little else left to achieve for the teenager who played the Artful Dodger in Oliver.

The mid-1990s saw Collins appear in small-budget films like Frauds and Calliope. He also appeared as himself on the TV series New York Undercover and had a role in the made-for-TV movie And The Band Played On, about the discovery and outbreak of AIDS among America's homosexual population. He provided the voices for two characters in the animated film Balto (1995), which was a sign of things to come.

In 1996 Collins stunned many fans by announcing his departure from Genesis after 26 years. Dance Into the Light was released later in the year, the singer went to great lengths during interviews to regain credibility with his public. The Hits compilation restored Collins to the top of the UK charts in October 1998, and broke into the US Top 20. After several years of focusing on his solo career, he was asked to compose the songs for Disney's 1999 animated feature Tarzan. He also collaborated on the score with Mark Mancina. The song "You'll Be In My Heart" won the Best Original Song Academy Award, a Grammy Award and a Golden Globe.

He recorded a big band live album, which was ignored by the rock press, but given a fair hearing from the quality media. Testify was Collins" first album of new songs for a number of years, and one which the singer was hoping would re-establish his credibility. A workmanlike cover version of Billy Nicholls' hit for Leo Sayer "I Can't Stop Loving You (Though I Try)" was the advance single.

Collins continued his successful affiliation with Disney, voicing the character Lucky the Vulture in The Jungle Book 2 (2003), then went on to write all the music for Disney's film Brother Bear. Phil collaborated with Mark Mancina again on the score. He is continuing to work with Disney on upcoming projects.