Posted on 07/25/2011 5:47:43 AM PDT by Red Badger
Phil Collins had to be helped out of an awards ceremony after being hit by crippling pains all over his body.
The fragile pop legend was due to present a gong to Ringo Starr but the lingering effects of a spinal injury struck and he was forced to leave, supported by two aides.
And Who guitarist Pete Townshend also joined the list of crock stars as he was spotted wearing two hearing aids to help combat deafness and tinnitus caused by years of loud music.
Former Genesis drummer Collins, 60, chatted to stars including Bob Geldof ahead of presenting Ringo with the Icon Award at the Mojo ceremony in London on Thursday. There he revealed: “I’m on my last legs. I couldn’t come back to music even if I wanted to.
“All these aches and pains, can’t do it any more.” A Mojo spokesman added: “Phil was unwell and unfortunately had to go home.”
Collins vowed to retire from music last March after a string of illnesses left him weak, lethargic and unable to drum ever again.
His ordeal began with the back injury in 2009 after decades of pounding his kit caused vertebrae to crush his spinal cord.
Collins, who has two young sons Nicholas and Matthew, with third and since divorced wife Orianne Cevey, insisted nothing could tempt him back into music.
He said before the awards ceremony kicked off: “I was tired of staying in a different hotel every night when touring.
“All those years on the road has taken it out of me. Now I spend all of my days doing nothing, just lying down watching daytime TV and Sky News.
“I just about manage to pick my boys up from school. I couldn’t come back, I’ve lost touch, I don’t know Plan B’s music or Lady Gaga’s. But tonight I’m here for Ringo.
“His award is well overdue, and that’s why I had to come out tonight.”
But pains in his arms, legs, back and other parts of his body meant he couldn’t last the distance at the three-hour event. As he was taken home, fears were also raised over Townshend’s health. Roger Daltry said his bandmate, 66, is “almost stone deaf”. He added: “When we last performed he had to stand right next to the speakers to hear anything.
“I don’t know what Pete will do. It could mark the end of the band doing live shows.”
Townshend’s problems began in the 60s when Who star Keith Moon blew up his drum kit live on stage and left him deaf in one ear. Decades of standing next to loud amps have also taken their toll.
The star said: “I have severe hearing damage. It’s manifested itself as tinnitus, ringing in the ears at frequencies that I play guitar. It’s painful and frustrating.
“I’ve no idea what I can do about this. I am unable to perform with in-ear monitors. In fact, the more they increase the more unbearable tinnitus I suffer after shows.”
Imagine if Phil was the full time Genesis drummer, which he hadn't been since 1975, he only played during a few long instrumental stretches on their tours. And on the solo tours, he played some drums, but mostly sang up front, or played keyboards.
You don’t know what medical treatment he is under. Under the care of legitimate pain management, you may not be able to tell what he is taking.
In fact, I’ve noticed patients who don’t take their pain meds often act more “distracted” than ones that do. Once a person is habituated you often can’t tell they are taking anything. Pain is distracting.
And simply because he has to be helped doesn’t mean he’s not on regular meds. There are people out there in such bad shape that they have to be helped even though they are taking regular cocktails.
Pain is a serious problem in our society - I think so much of it comes from all the auto injuries people have throughout their lifetime. They are far more traumatic than people realize. It’s a growing medical field. That, and to get totally off the subject, diabetic endocrinology. That one is going to go off the charts in the next few years.
It would have been something to see Phil and Bill together during the 76 Genesis tour.
The best drummers I've ever seen have minimal kits.
The Folk Society includes all kinds of acoustic music. We do a lot of Latin American music, which requires percussion, and modern bluegrass can use a drum.
Phil could do 9/8 without even breaking a sweat.
Sorry I wan’t clear. My assumption is that Phil isn’t dosing himself up with everything he can grab. I would guess that he is following a prescribed pain management regimen which allows him to function well and helps deal with the pain as best as can be done. It’s the stars that chug bourbon as a self-prescribed pain management program that annoy me. As best I can determine, Phil is not one of those.
Got dobro?...............
Nope, not so far. We used to have a viola, but the girl went away to college.
I knew a lady named Viola, too....................
"The stage is level..."
He had a balanced breakfast............drugs and booze..................
Drummers sit on ‘thrones’ not ‘stools’ although they look alike.
Poor man.
Sad to read, but a 3 hour ceremony is really long for somebody who’s disabled. It was nice of him to try to show up for Ringo, but he should have just done a quick appearance right when needed, then left.
Is that like:
“I lost my ID in a flood...”
“I had a wife once named ID but I didn’t lose her in a flood...”
Cheers...
Can’t remember for sure, but it seems to me that they made an exception and allowed one drum on stage for “Bonaparte’s Retreat” by Pee Wee King.
It’s just you. This is a British writer; that’s the way they write. “Kit” in this sense means “equipment” or “tools,” in Brit usage.
If not the best, certainly the smartest.
FROM WIKI: GRAND OLE OPRY Controversies:
Another controversy that raged for years was over allowable instrumentation, especially the use of drums and electrically amplified instruments. Some purists were appalled at the prospect; traditionally a string bass provided the rhythm component in country music and percussion instruments were seldom used. Electric amplification, then new, was regarded as the province of popular music and jazz in 1940s. Though the Opry allowed electric guitars and steel guitars by World War II, the no-drums/horns restrictions continued. They caused a conflict when Bob Wills[17] and Pee Wee King[18] defied the show’s ban on drums. The restrictions chafed many artists, such as Waylon Jennings, who were popular with the newer and younger fans. These restrictions were largely eliminated over time, alienating many older and traditionalist fans, but probably saving the Opry long-term as a viable ongoing enterprise.
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