Phil Collins Apologizes for Success as He Quits Music

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Phil Collins and Genesis perform in 2007 in Sacramento, California.

Tim Mosenfelder / Getty Images

Is it something in the air or does Collins hold quite a bit of resentment toward his haters?

UPDATED: MARCH 8, 2011 Citing health problems, the famed Genesis drummer and vocalist is calling it quits from the music biz. He tells FHM that years of hunching behind his drum kit have left him with an array of medical problems, from hearing loss to a dislocated vertebra, and nerve damage in his stick-clutching hands make playing painful. However, Collins’ publicist tells People, “He is not, has no intention of, retiring.” Will Collins live to drum another day?

(More on TIME.com: See Genesis in the top 10 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame snubs.)

Regardless of his retirement plans, Collins’s career has brought him 13 hit singles, seven Grammys, and even an Academy Award for his work on the Disney musical movie Tarzan, winning in 1999 for best original song.  “I’m sorry that it was all so successful. I honestly didn’t mean it to happen like that. It’s hardly surprising that people grew to hate me,” he said. Critics – and their harsh words – have emerged louder than the guitars of the modern rock era. Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher famously cut down the drummer in past years, quoted as saying, “You don’t have to be great to be successful. Look at Phil Collins.”

He lives in a small town in Switzerland now, attempting to distance himself from the music scene. The report that he’s calling it quits from the music business just seems to make his actions official. “I don’t really belong to that world and I don’t think anyone’s going to miss me. I’m much happier just to write myself out of the script entirely,” he told FHM. Today’s world of MTV Music Awards and artists who care more about celebrity status than making music led to an choice, he explained.

Cast aside your haters, Phil. You’ll be in NewsFeed’s heart forever.

(More on TIME.com: See the top 10 plays and musicals of 2010.)

And without a doubt Mike Tyson’s, too:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TbnXqhHJkk&w=450]