Phil Collins announces European comeback tour

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Veteran British singer Phil Collins announced on Monday he is coming out of retirement with a comeback tour next summer, despite battling with injury and alcoholism.

The former “Genesis” frontman will play five nights in London followed by two dates each in Paris and Cologne, as part of his European tour in June, titled “Not Dead Yet, Live”.

The 65-year-old, whose hits include “In The Air Tonight” and “Another Day In Paradise”, has spoken openly about his struggle with alcoholism since his last tour almost 10 years ago.

“I stopped work because I wanted to be a dad at home. As bad luck would have it, as soon as I retired, my family split up,” he told a press conference at London’s Royal Albert Hall, where the tour will kick off.

“I didn’t have anything to go home to really. That’s when I started drinking.”

The drummer and singer, who was one of the most popular British artists in the 1980s, last released an album in 2002, supported by his “First Final Farewell Tour”.

But he said “I’ve changed my mind” about retirement.

“I’m living with my young kids and they want me to go out on the road, to do some new things and there’s no reason why not.”

Nerve damaged sustained through years of drumming means it is unlikely Collins will get back behind the drum kit next June.”

“I play with my fingers a lot of the time… a lot of it comes from dexterity with fingers and that’s the thing that’s clammed up over the last few years,” he said.

His 15-year-old son Nicholas, who also plays drums, will be performing with him, he added.

Collins, who is promoting a new book, also titled “Not Dead Yet”, has sold more than 100 million albums during his solo career and 150 million with Genesis.