page_title: Phil Collins
section_title: 1970–1978: Joining Genesis, becoming lead singer, and Brand X
hierarchical_section_title: Phil Collins / Career / 1970–1978: Joining Genesis, becoming lead singer, and Brand X
caption_attribution_description: Mike Rutheford &amp; Phil Collins Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, June 3,1977
context_page_description: Philip David Charles Collins LVO is an English drummer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and actor, best known as the drummer/singer of the rock band Genesis and for his solo career. Between 1982 and 1990, Collins scored three UK and seven US number-one singles in his solo career. When his work with Genesis, his work with other artists, as well as his solo career is totalled, he had more US Top 40 singles than any other artist during the 1980s. His most successful singles from the period include "In the Air Tonight", "Against All Odds", "One More Night", "Sussudio", "Two Hearts", "A Groovy Kind of Love", "I Wish It Would Rain Down", and "Another Day in Paradise".
  Born and raised in west London, Collins played drums from the age of five and completed drama school training, which secured him various roles as a child actor. He then pursued a music career, joining Genesis in 1970 as their drummer and becoming lead singer in 1975 following the departure of Peter Gabriel.
context_section_description: In mid-1970, the rock band Genesis had decided to become a full time band and following the departures of drummer John Mayhew and guitarist Anthony Phillips, advertised for a drummer "sensitive to acoustic music" and a "12-string acoustic guitarist". Collins recognised Charisma Records owner Tony Stratton-Smith's name in the advert; he and Caryl decided to audition for the roles. The audition took place at the home of the parents of singer Peter Gabriel in Chobham, Surrey. They arrived early; Collins took a swim in the pool and memorised the pieces before his audition. He recalled: "They put on Trespass, and my initial impression was of a very soft and round music, not edgy, with vocal harmonies, and I came away thinking Crosby, Stills and Nash." Collins was successful and joined the group in August 1970. The group then took a two-week holiday, during which Collins earned money as an exterior decorator. Mike Rutherford thought Caryl was not a good fit; the group enlisted Steve Hackett in 1971.
  From 1970 to 1975, Collins played drums and percussion, and sang (largely backing) vocals on Genesis albums and in their live shows. His first album recorded with the band, Nursery Cryme, was recorded and released in 1971. "For Absent Friends", an acoustic track written by Collins and Hackett, is the first Genesis song with Collins on lead vocals. He sang "More Fool Me" on their 1973 album Selling England by the Pound. In 1973, he and Hackett were among the musicians that performed on the solo debut of ex-Yes guitarist Peter Banks. In 1974, during the recording of The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, Collins played drums on Brian Eno's second album Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) after Eno had contributed electronic effects known as "Enossification" on "In the Cage" and "Grand Parade of Lifeless Packaging".
  In August 1975, following The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway tour, Gabriel left Genesis. The band placed an advert for a replacement in Melody Maker and received around 400 replies. After a lengthy auditioning process, during which he sang backup vocals for applicants, Collins became the band's lead vocalist during the recording of their album A Trick of the Tail. The album was a commercial and critical success, reaching number 3 in the UK charts and 31 in the US; Rolling Stone wrote that Genesis had managed to turn the possible catastrophe of Gabriel's departure into their first broad-based American success." For the album's 1976 tour, Collins accepted an offer from former Yes and King Crimson drummer Bill Bruford to play drums while Collins sang vocals. Collins played percussion on the album Johnny the Fox by Thin Lizzy.
  Wind & Wuthering was the last Genesis album recorded with Hackett before he left the group in 1977. Bruford was replaced by Chester Thompson, who has since been a mainstay of Genesis' live lineup as well as of Collins' solo backing band. In 1977, Collins, Banks, and Rutherford decided to continue Genesis as a trio. As the decade closed, Genesis began to shift from their progressive rock roots to a more radio-friendly pop rock sound. The 1978 album ...And Then There Were Three... featured their first UK Top 10 and U.S. Top 40 single, "Follow You Follow Me".
  In 1975, Collins sang and played drums, vibraphone and percussion on Hackett's first solo album, Voyage of the Acolyte; performed on Eno's albums Another Green World, Before and After Science, and Music for Films; and replaced drummer Phil Spinelli of the jazz fusion group Brand X before recording their 1976 debut album, Unorthodox Behaviour. His time with Brand X gave Collins his first opportunity to use a drum machine and a home 8-track tape machine. He sang on Anthony Phillips' solo album The Geese & the Ghost, and the second Brand X album, Moroccan Roll.
caption: Genesis bandmate Mike Rutherford on twelve-string guitar with Collins on drums, performing in Toronto, 3 June 1977
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