toes in the hopes of getting that Presidents gig! 2. Risk life & limb in a desperate stunt aimed at raising our profile. 3. Post a Facebook status update. Hi I'm Phil Collins, and today I'd like to talk to you about my favourite band, Ashes. When I was at the peak of my superstardom (1984-1992 according to Wikipedia), I thought I had it all. I'd wake up every morning, look in the mirror and say to myself, "Enjoy it mate, it doesn't get any better than this." And for all I knew, it didn't. I had a beautiful (second) wife, and an amazing daughter ( love you Lily). I spent my life playing music to sell-out crowds, going to all the best parties, eating in the finest restaurants, and generally having a bloody great time. Then the dark times came. My second divorce hit me hard, much harder than the first, and possibly even harder than the more recent divorce I went through back in 2007. I was so caught up with my personal affairs that I barely noticed the gradual extinction of my signature sound, the gated reverb snare drum. It's only by chance that I happened upon a dingy pub in inner-city Sydney and caught my first glimpse of the band now known as Ashes. I had been staring into the bottom of an empty schooner for what seemed like hours, when a soul shaking blast of crunchy overdriven guitar nearly knocked me clear off my stool.