We broke Phil Collins' heart...

Come back Phil. We love you really.

I liked a lot of his solo stuff, but he does tend to go too near to parody with the obvious love he has for Motown.
 
In 1986 I saw Peter Gabriel on the 'So' tour, which is to this day, the best concert I've seen. The next weekend I saw Genesis at Wembley Arena (Invisible Touch tour), and they just bored me to tears. The low point was when Collins donned 'Blues Brothers' hat and shades for a 20 minute medley of standards..it was bloody awful, and the crowd was baying for Genesis songs (unsurprisingly).
 
Having seen the sister documentary to 'When In Rome', from the reunion tour in 2006(?), 'Come rain Or Shine', he does indeed come across as a complete tool, and obviously didn't want to be there at all.

Phil Collins always will be a big part of who I am today.  His ballads and his progressive story lyrics in solo and Genesis songs were phenomenal to a teenager/young adult in the late 70's through mid 80's.
 
I don't care what kind of attitude he had at different interviews.  he will always be a top notch musician, producer and music marketing genius in my opinion.

To be honest, I don't recall even reading or watching an interview w/ him. He may or may not be a tool or whatever - I honestly don't know. That wouldn't be the first time the guys from South Park were right. ;)
 
His contributions as a musician seem undeniable to me, though. 

craigb
I always thought he was a pretty decent guitarist for Def Leppard.
 

See, now that would have done. That was funny. You didn't need the rest.

His songs, voice, drumming, and production was a big influence on my and many others as well. I fee sorry that he pretty much lost his hearing.

sharke
Can't Hurry Love was one of those rare covers that was better than the original,

 
I'm going to go with 'No' on that.

I was a big fan of Genesis up to the departure of Steve Hackett. After that I did not but another album. That said I do not dislike the later Genesis or Phil Collins's solo work.
 
Seems to me the trend for emerging bands to ridicule the previous wave of big bands started with Punk new wave.
 
As for being the butt of endless jokes Eric Morcambe never let up on Des O'Conner.

Said it before, but I think I think it's a shame Genesis fans didn't give Ray Wilson more of a chance. Calling All Stations had some good songs on it, and he's a fine singer, somewhat closer to Gabriel than Collins. Could have been an interesting lease of life for the band if they'd carried on with him.
 

I think Phil was also rather bored with the singing, at least during the slow parts, from comments he used to make while they rehearsed.
 
I think he may also have had some hand problems that prevented him from playing the drums at the level he used to, and I think that really bothered him too.
 
I love Genesis music - not the stuff at the end, but up until And Then There Were Three.  There are some tunes on that one I didn't care too much for, but the production quality was really good, and I liked about 3 of the tunes.
 
Bob Bone
 

Reading a few things here and there, it would seem that things were blown out of proportion as to how he reacted to this negativity and was well-aware that there were tons of fans out there who appreciated him.
 
Seems the man had many reasons to cease performing, including health related issues. 
 
As for Gallagher vs Collins, I appreciate both. Gallagher is a good songwriter and an adequate singer, and that's it. I watched 2 minutes of interview w/ him recently and felt like slapping him in the back of the head. So whether it's him or Collins, I'd rather focus on their music.
 
Collins is 100 times the musician Gallagher is. Sure, some parts of his catalogue haven't aged all that well - but that's a fraction of the man's artistic output. You may be embarrassed when you hear Sussudio or intensely dislike other parts of his catalogue but still appreciate what he did with Genesis. You could dislike his songs but still appreciate his drumming.
 
Whereas with Gallagher, if you don't like the Beatles, there are big chances that you won't like anything he wrote... 

batsbrew
brand x.
 
it's way more impressive than all the rest
 
ghodd@mn against all odds
 
 
LOL

Amazing stuff his Brand X albums

Wookiee
Phil Collins came to my attention for his Hi Hat work on Nursery Cryme which is quite stunning.
 
It always amuses me the way the media/music business build people up and then take such great pleasure in knocking them down, usually those doing the knocking are actually the untalented wannabes, or up their own fundamental orifices skin wasters.  Just my Furry thoughts on the matter.

+1 Furry thought -- definitely!
I bet if the Wookiee could reach into the monitor and tear these types of news articles to shreds -- do it he will!  I strongly suggest.... don't mess with the Wookiee