Do Phil Collins and Peter Gabriel hate each other?
It’s rare that a band can survive – or, indeed, go on to even greater heights – if their original leader decides to call it quits. Just look at Lou Reed and The Velvet Underground or Paul McCartney and The Beatles. However, Genesis are a unique example of well and truly bucking that trend, managing to master the enviable feat of rock dominance even when there was a transfer of power at the helm.
When Peter Gabriel penned his ultimate message ‘Out, Angels Out’ to confirm he was leaving the band in 1975, few could have imagined that the shoes of such a blazing frontman persona could ever fully be filled again, let alone so quickly. But Genesis had already inadvertently come up with their own crafty solution because the answer to their crisis call was already hiding within their ranks.
With Phil Collins having been behind the kit playing the drums for the band for the past five years at this point, his moment to step into the leading spotlight was one fraught with tension as, ultimately, the entire Genesis dream would be left in ruins. However, few could have envisioned the force by which Collins would assume the mantle, and soon, he was catapulting the band to stratospheric new sonic heights – as such, rendering the legacy of Gabriel as a relatively distant memory.
Subsequently, one of the great cosmic mysteries of the rock universe was born because surely leaving the original frontman for dust would have seemed a perfect catalyst for animosity between the pair. Speculation has flurried for over half a century on whether Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins truly hate each other – and if any of the other characters in the canon are anything to go by, it certainly does seem a likely story. But sometimes, even the biggest blazing infernos of rumours can eventually be tamed. As it turns out, the pair insist there has never been any bad blood at all.
What does Peter Gabriel think of Phil Collins?
In fact, though Gabriel quit the band at a turbulent moment in which he felt his own individual fame was eclipsing that of the rest of the group, he never stopped championing them from the sidelines. When it came to Genesis’ farewell tour, The Last Domino? in 2022, Gabriel even felt it was only right to close out the chapter of the band by going along to their final night in London.
He told Mojo at the time: “Phil wasn’t in as great a shape as he used to be, but they did a great job. Me going was a rite of passage, really. I had been part of the creation of Genesis, so I wanted to be there at the end.” On the subject of his departure all those years ago, Gabriel also put those rumours to bed in a separate interview when he said: “Clearly it was good for them as it brought Phil out front and gave everyone a bit more space.”
As much as everyone loves the drama of a good rock and roll fight, sometimes real life is far less soap opera than we would like to believe. The music world is not always just a petty boys’ club of anger and rivalry – because occasionally, as in the case of Genesis, differences can actually make way for something better. Finally, once and for all, we can confirm Phil Collins and Peter Gabriel categorically do not hate each other simply because they had no reason to.
