Phil Collins drank wine for breakfast

Veteran musician Phil Collins has confessed he drank wine for breakfast before his alcoholism nearly killed him and he gave up booze for good.

Phil Collins drank wine “for breakfast” at the height of his alcoholism.

The 75-year-old musician has suffered a number of health issues over the years – including spinal and knee surgeries and nerve damage – but it was his battle with booze that killed him and he’s now confessed he “wasn’t really aware” he had a problem even though he was downing glasses of wine first thing every morning.

He told The Sunday Times magazine: “I’d have wine when I woke up. That was what I’d want for breakfast, a glass of wine. But I didn’t drink into the night, you know.

“So I wasn’t really aware of having a problem, to be honest … Oh yeah. No, it was a problem”.

He explained he gave up booze for good after he was rushed to hospital in 2024 and doctors summoned his children to his bedside as they predicted he was about to die.

Collins added: “I was very lucky to have come out of that. Needless to say, I haven’t had a drink since.”

The former Genesis star suffered damage to his pancreas and kidneys and he now needs a live-in nurse who cares for him at his home in Switzerland.

However, Collins has used his second chance at life to med rifts and he revealed he recently made up with Beatles legend Sir Paul McCartney after they previously fell out back in 2016.

The falling out stemmed from an interview that year in which Collins claimed McCartney had been condescending to him and it led to a bad-tempered email exchange between the pair.

However, they made up after Collins organised a charity auction in Los Angeles late last year and wrote to stars asking for donations – and he got a call from the Beatles star who brought up the row.

Collins explained: “I knew where it was going, and said: ‘Thank God you’ve brought it up.’ Because he’s part of my life, you know? And I wish I hadn’t said it, although it did happen.

“But we’ve made up, he’s happy about the fact that we discussed it, and I’m happy we discussed it, so it was just really lovely that it’s gone full circle now.”