The night U2 slammed Phil Collins: “Paddy’s a very big fan of your music”
Drunk, dissed and delivered. The 1992 Billboard Awards witnessed one of history’s most memorable live TV moments, featuring a rather inebriated U2 playfully roasting Phil Collins. In true rock star fashion, the band were beamed into the awards via satellite from a cosy Irish pub with glasses of empty Guinness scattered across the bar in front of them. Knocking a few pints back before the interview, they didn’t hold back on having the odd dig at Collins, who also happened to have the unenviable job of presenting them with the award for ‘Best Rock Artist’.
“Well, they’re in Ireland at the moment, resting up after their ZooTV tour,” says Collins as he faces the camera. The group appear on the screen in seemingly good spirits, their grins filled with mischief. Putting on a brave face, Collins, an artist who is perhaps not quite associated with rock and roll debauchery, went on to ask the three musicians where Larry Mullen Jr, the group’s drummer, was. The three members begin to half-string some sentences together before lead guitarist David Howell Evans, also known as ‘The Edge’, pipes up, delivering a zinger: “Larry isn’t here, Phil…he’s actually acting a bit funny these days, you know the way drummers get. Drummers get a bit weird when they start singing… you know what I mean?”.
A direct slagging off of Collins’ own transition from drummer to singer didn’t go unnoticed. Titters and full-blown laughter began to erupt from the audience, causing Collins to retort with a witty, passive-aggressive quip: “If you need an opening act, guys, I’m here.”
Despite the obvious teasing, Collins remained a consummate professional, although his face appeared to be getting redder by the second. Shielded behind his infamous dark sunglasses, Bono stayed somewhat detached from the whole encounter, making it all the more amusing. Holding his composure, Collins explains that he’s going to “hand things over” to the pub’s barman, Paddy, who will present them their “awards”, a round of drinks, it seems, rather than a glistening, gold trophy.
To Collins’ horror, the back and forth didn’t quite stop there as Evans bit back, poking fun at his generational appeal: “I’ll tell you, Phil, Paddy’s a very big fan of your music, and so are all our parents”.
Although an innocent tug-of-war on the surface, the group’s longstanding rivalry with Collins during this time was hard to ignore. U2 and Genesis, as well as Collins’ solo work, represented different poles of rock. U2 weren’t strangers to sold-out stadiums, but they seemed to lack the more polished, mainstream appeal that Collins’ had achieved. He had experienced a rollercoaster of a relationship with fame, much like U2 had.
In the 1990s, Collins’ public image began to shift after musicians like Kurt Cobain and Noel Gallagher made colourful statements about him in interviews, often making jokes or political jabs towards Collins’ conservative views. Despite his critics, Collins was not universally disliked, and his health issues and stepping back from music eventually softened some of the harsh judgments from his heyday.
In the end, the night was a classic example of rockstar banter – edgy and unpredictable and a far cry from the U2 we know now. Award shows have seen far more controversial moments since, making the incident seem rather tame in comparison. Collins handled it well, all things considered, but then again, perhaps he should have expected it from three musicians on live television at half past one in the morning – especially when Guinness is involved.
