Steve Hackett has opened up about one of rock music’s most pivotal moments: how Phil Collins transitioned from Genesis’ drummer to the band’s iconic frontman. In a recent interview on the Word in Your Ear podcast, the legendary guitarist recalled the circumstances that led to Collins stepping into the spotlight, a role the drummer initially resisted.
Collins was far from eager to become a singer when he first joined Genesis. “Phil, at that time, very much wanted to be a drummer,” Hackett explained. “He arrived with all these girlfriends and a fur coat and everything. But then he said, ‘I don’t want to be a singer.’ He said, ‘I want to be a drummer because that’s a more respectable gig.’ Of course, history would tell a different story.”
The turning point came during a van ride when Hackett heard Collins singing casually. “He happened to be singing one day in the van, when we were pulling out for petrol. I said, ‘You’ve got a really good voice. You sound a bit like Steve Winwood.’ And he said, ‘Oh, do you think so?’ And I think gradually, it came – the confidence,” Hackett recalled. The guitarist’s encouragement planted the seed for Collins to consider a vocal role.
The moment of truth arrived at Trident Studios during recording sessions. “We auditioned a number of people. And I think Phil got frustrated one night and we were actually in Trident recording backing tracks for an album that had no lead singer. And he said, ‘Let me have a go,'” Hackett said. What happened next sealed Collins’ fate as Genesis’ new frontman. Tony Stratton Smith, the label boss of Charisma Records, overheard Collins singing just a few bars. “He said, ‘Sounds like you’ve found your lead singer, chaps. So I’ll be off.’ And so the deal was done very, very quickly.”
When Peter Gabriel departed from Genesis in 1975 following the completion of The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway tour, the remaining members faced an uncertain future. The band’s charismatic theatrical frontman had been central to their identity, and his absence left a void that seemed impossible to fill.
Genesis launched an extensive search for a replacement vocalist. The band advertised for a new singer and received approximately 400 applications from hopeful candidates. Over the following months, the group conducted a lengthy and exhaustive auditioning process, testing numerous vocalists in hopes of finding someone who could carry the band forward. However, none of the candidates proved satisfactory, and the search yielded no viable replacement.
The band found themselves in a precarious position with tour dates looming and studio sessions piling up. It was during the recording sessions at Trident Studios that the solution emerged from within the band’s own ranks. Collins, who had already proven himself as a capable backing vocalist on previous Genesis recordings, offered to sing on the new material to help move the project forward. His performance on tracks like “Squonk” and the rest of what would become A Trick of the Tail demonstrated that he possessed the vocal ability to handle the role of lead singer.
What began as a temporary measure to complete the album gradually became a permanent arrangement as the band recognized that Collins could indeed fill Gabriel’s shoes. Collins’ reluctance to embrace the frontman role initially stemmed from his own doubts about his ability to replicate what Gabriel had accomplished. He did not believe he could pull off the theatrical and elaborate performances that had defined Genesis’ live shows under Gabriel’s leadership.
The band collectively made the decision to move forward with Collins as their new lead vocalist. This choice would ultimately prove transformative for the group. When Genesis embarked on their first North American tour in 1976 with Collins as frontman, the band had found not just a replacement for Gabriel, but a new direction that would lead them toward unprecedented commercial success in the years to come.
