One Very Good Reason Why You Have No Reason To Hate A Phil Collins Comeback!

We live in a world where Adele's new song "Hello" gets downloaded a million times, yet people sign petitions asking Phil Collins to not come back from retirement.

We live in a world where the likes of the Stone Roses and Coldplay are hard at work on new albums and tours, yet publications such as the New York Post and the Quad Cities Dispatch emplore the one-time Genesis front man to stay home.

We live in a world where the fact that three Eminem songs have been scientifically proven to raise athletic performance by a whopping 10% is headline news, but the fact that those three songs put together still don't pack the punch of Phil Collins' "In The Air Tonight" is somehow not mentioned.

We live in a world where the latest Justin Bieber-Skrillex collaboration is hailed as "introspective" and "ambitious" yet the musical comeback of a man who overcame severe physical disabilities to play the drums again is dismissed as "pop purgatory".

We live in a world where Sam Smith, the third-rate love-child of Boy George and Rick Astley, is given the opportunity to sing the new James Bond theme - once an honor reserved for the likes of Paul McCartney & Wings, Shirley Bassey and Carly Simon - when common sense dictates that Phil Collins would do a better job.

When and why did the world turn against Phil Collins?

Did he hit somebody with his car? Nope, that was Justin Bieber.

Has he charged fans hundreds of dollars to watch him lip-sync? No, that's Britney Spears, Beyonce, Mariah Carey, Chris Brown, and a growing number of A-listers who can't be bothered to do the actual legwork to  explain their continued popularity.

Then what could be the reason for this tsunami of hatred for the affable Collins?

Good question. To get to the bottom of this once and for all, we asked ten random people to give us their opinion of Collins. Of the ten, six said that they viewed Phil Collins unfavorably. When asked why, four stated that it was because Phil Collins dumped his wife via fax.

First off, Collins never dumped his wife via fax. What did happen was that a UK tabloid printed a fax of his asking her for visitation rights to see their daughter. End of story.

I mean, if you're going to hate the guy, at least base it on something he actually did, like, you know, "I Can't Dance" or Going Back, the album of Motown-era soul standards he released in 2010.

But before you rush to judgment, just remember the coolest thing that Phil Collins has ever done that no single artist will ever top:

In 1985, he didn't just perform at Live Aid. No, he played one set at London's Wembley Stadium, then joined Sting during the former Police man's set to sing backing vocals on "Every Breath You Take". He then hopped a helicopter (one of the riskiest things you can do as a pop star, just ask Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Stevie Ray Vaughan) which took him to Heathrow Airport, where he boarded the Concord and flew to America. Upon arrival at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia mere hours later, he performed another solo set to the delight of the sold-out audience.
But wait, there's more.

Phil then joined Eric Clapton on drums for the blues guitarist's three-song set.
At this point, one would think that there just isn't anything else a mere mortal musician could do in one day, but most mortal musicians are not Phil Collins, who would then go on to play drums for Led Zeppelin's much-hyped reunion.

That's right, Phil Collins not only played solo shows on both sides of the pond on the same day, he participated in three other sets with Sting, Clapton and Led Zep.

Until someone else comes along and tops that, I suggest those who would talk smack about Mr. Collins go fax themselves.