Veteran drummer, singer and songwriter Phil Collins, best known for his work with Genesis and as a solo artist, has revealed there was one band he would have left his own group to join — if the opportunity had ever arisen. Despite his long, successful tenure with Genesis, Collins admitted that his admiration for another rock band ran deep enough that, under the right circumstances, he might have walked away from the band that made him famous.
The band Collins singled out was The Who, the legendary British rock group fronted by Pete Townshend and the late drummer Keith Moon. In a past interview, Collins explained that after Moon’s death in 1978, he would have relished the chance to step in as Moon’s replacement and play with some of his musical heroes. “Absolutely would have joined The Who,” Collins said. “I would have left Genesis to join The Who.”
Collins later acknowledged that The Who eventually found their own way forward with drummer Zak Starkey, who brought his own formidable energy to the role. Collins said he admired Starkey’s playing, calling him “fantastic” and noting that he carries the spirit of Moon’s wild, expressive style.
The revelation offers insight into Collins’s personal musical priorities. Long before he became a defining voice behind the kit and behind the microphone for Genesis, he was a fan of rock’s raw power and the freewheeling drum style that defined The Who’s sound. That influence can be heard in Collins’s own energetic playing and in the way he approached dynamics and tempo as a drummer.
Instead of joining The Who, Collins’s path led him deeper into Genesis, where he eventually took on lead vocals following Peter Gabriel’s departure and helped guide the band through some of its most commercially successful years. Still, his admission of The Who as a band he would have left Genesis for highlights how influential that group was to his musical imagination.
