Genesis

In 1975, Genesis faced one of the most significant lineup changes in rock history: the departure of Peter Gabriel, the charismatic frontman and chief architect of the band's theatrical, visionary imagery, paved the way for the “promotion” of Phil Collins from drummer to singer. It was the start of a gradual transformation that would take the band from the intricate progressive architectures of the Seventies to the global success of the following decade.
The first signs of the split had already emerged during the making of “The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway“, released in 1974. Gabriel had temporarily stepped away to consider a collaboration with director William Friedkin, fresh off the success of “The Exorcist“. “Friedkin didn't want Genesis to end”, Steve Hackett has recalled. “Peter came back to the band, but over time it became clear he'd do this album and tour it with us, so as not to leave us in the lurch. But after that we'd have to find a new singer”.

Finding a replacement wasn't easy. The band held numerous auditions but couldn't find a voice capable of taking on Gabriel's legacy. Yet the solution was already within the band itself. Collins had long since proven he could sing: he'd handled lead vocals on “For Absent Friends”, on “Nursery Cryme”, and “More Fool Me”, on “Selling England By The Pound“, as well as appearing on Hackett's solo album “Voyage Of The Acolyte”. The guitarist also recalled the moment his bandmates first noticed his vocal talent: “We were stopped at a petrol station in the van, Phil started singing something and we turned around and said to him: 'You've got a great voice, it reminds us of Steve Winwood'”.
Collins, however, seemed anything but eager to step into the role. “At first Phil didn't want to become a frontman”, Hackett explained recently. “Strange too, because by the time he joined Genesis he'd already had a career as an actor. He was a star, but he just wanted to be a drummer. History proved him wrong”.

Before devoting himself to music, Collins had in fact worked as an actor: as a teenager he'd appeared as an extra in the Beatles film “A Hard Day's Night” and had played the Artful Dodger in the West End musical “Oliver!”. A familiarity with the stage that, paradoxically, wasn't enough to convince him to give up his seat behind the drums. Within Genesis there was also lingering unease about the visual side of things. “We had someone among us who could pull it off, but there was a worry about having a drummer who sang, when up to that point we'd had a frontman who dressed up, ran around the stage and did all sorts of things”, Hackett recalled. “The idea of having a guy singing from behind the drums seemed visually very tricky to us”.

It was Jon Anderson, singer of Yes, who pointed the way, meeting Hackett in 1975 at Collins' first wedding. “He told me: 'Phil has got a fantastic voice, why don't you make him the singer and bring in another player?'. I replied: 'You're absolutely right, and I agree with you'. I thought it was the right thing to do, but the others weren't convinced of that approach yet”.
The turning point came during the recording of “A Trick Of The Tail”. Genesis had begun tracking the instrumental parts without knowing who would sing on the record, while auditions kept turning up nothing. Collins, who often helped candidates by showing them the vocal melodies, eventually lost his patience: “Let me have a go at this song”.

The song was called “Squonk”. And Phil Collins' performance was so convincing that it settled every doubt. Tony Stratton-Smith, founder of Charisma Records and the band's manager, looked into the studio after hearing it and delivered his verdict: “Right, lads, looks like you've found your singer. Cheerio!”. Then he left before any discussion could even start.
“If Phil had been turned down, for whatever reason, I suspect he would have decided to join another band”, Hackett observed. “Luckily Tony convinced him to stay with us”. Onstage, Collins would initially keep playing drums at certain points, handing them over for the rest of the show to Bill Bruford and later Chester Thompson.

The switch from Gabriel to Collins didn't immediately turn Genesis into a pop act: “A Trick Of The Tail” and “Wind & Wuthering” retained much of the band's progressive complexity and ambition. But that seemingly risky choice made possible a second life that few could have foreseen. The drummer who never wanted to be centre stage first became the voice of Genesis, and later one of the most popular figures in Eighties music.

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26/08/2026