The 66-year-old musician – who had been playing gigs at London’s Royal Albert Hall this week – fell and hit his head on a chair as he walked to the toilet in his hotel room on Wednesday night (07.06.17).
The ‘Two Hearts’ hitmaker – who has spent the last 10 years in semi-retirement due to a dislocated vertebrae in his neck before making his return to the live music scene this year – has had to have stitches on the gash on his forehead and is being kept in hospital under observation.
Due to the incident he has cancelled his two planned shows at the Royal Albert Hall for Thursday night (08.06.17) and Friday (09.06.17).
A statement released by Phil’s spokesperson said: “We unfortunately have to announce that Phil Collins’ performance at the Royal Albert Hall in London will be postponed tonight (08.06.17) and tomorrow (09.06.17). Phil suffers from ‘drop foot’ as a result of a back operation which makes it difficult to walk. He rose in the middle of the night to go to the toilet and slipped in his hotel room, hitting his head in the fall on a chair. He was taken to hospital where he had stitches for a severe gash on his head close to his eye and is recovering well. He will be kept under observation for 24 hours.
“Phil sends his sincere apologies and thanks to fans. He has had a fantastic week at his first shows in 10 years, cannot thank people enough for their warm reaction and is excited to return.”
However, the injury will not derail his planned concerts in Cologne, Germany, French capital Paris and Dublin, Ireland, nor his headline set at Barclaycard presents BST Hyde Park on June 30.
The statement added: “These Royal Albert Hall shows will be rearranged for November 26 and 27 this year. All tickets for June 8 will be valid for November 26 and tickets for June 9 will be valid for November 27.
“He will carry on with this tour on Sunday (11.06.17) in Cologne and then Paris before returning to London for his headline performance and BST Hyde Park on June 30.”
In 2009, Phil had surgery on his neck and it was reported that he could no longer play the drums due to his injury.
Phil said in an interview back in 2014 that he still could not play the drums when he confirmed the problem was not arthritis but an undiagnosed nerve problem where he was unable to “grip the sticks”.
He confirmed in a 2016 interview that he was still unable to drum with his left hand but admitted that after major back surgery, his doctor advised him that if he wanted to play again, all he needed to do was practice slowly.
He only recently returned to music after his two sons – Nicholas, 16, and Matthew, 12, who he has with ex-wife and current partner Orianne Cevey – gave him the confidence to make music again.
