Phil Collins Returning? 'I'm No Longer Retired,' Singer Says

Fans of Phil Collins may have suspected he'll be back this year. He had performed his first gig last year since he announced his retirement in 2010.

And now, the singer has officially announced he has emerged out of retirement and is back in the limelight.

"I'm no longer officially retired," he told Rolling Stone. "The horse is out of the stable and I'm raring to go."

"My kids are now 10 and 14 and they want to see what their dad does," he explained. "They were in nappies when I was last on the road. They love my music and I'd like to take them out so they can enjoy it."

As such, Collins is currently planning a solo record and a comeback tour. It can be recalled that his last original album was "Testify," which was released in 2002 but got a poor reception.

"Since then, he's only emerged for a brief Genesis reunion tour in 2007 and the 2010 Motown covers collection 'Going Back'," the publication noted.

While his then young family compelled him to go into retirement, it was also his family, specifically his sons, that inspired him to return to the music industry.

"In 2011 he announced his retirement, "'o I can be a full time father to my two young sons on a daily basis' - this was following his third divorce in 2008, from Orianne Cevey, who eventually took their sons to live with her in Miami while he remained in Switzerland," The Guardian recalled.

"It left me with a lot of time on my hands to think about what happened," he revealed. "I went through a few bits of darkness; drinking too much. I killed my hours watching TV and drinking, and it almost killed me."

"But I haven't had a drink in three years," he clarified.

Currently, the "You'll Be In My Heart" singer is living in his Miami home, which was formerly owned by Jennifer Lopez. He bought the property to be near his sons, MailOnline noted. He has already set up a studio at the said Florida residence in order to start working on new material, which will happen in about a month, after his "planned reissues of his solo albums."

Although he's keen on doing solo projects, he's open to a Genesis reunion.

Regarding the comeback tour, which he prefers to be a short one, he's thinking about playing in Australia and the Far East. However, nothing is set to stone just yet as he is still recovering from a back injury.

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