[lastfm link_type="artist_info"]Phil Collins[/lastfm] has retired from the  music industry. At 60 years old he has hearing problems, a dislocated vertebra and nerve damage in his hands which makes it hard for him to hold drumsticks. Beside those health problems, Phil called it quits for another reason. 

With seven Grammy awards, 31 chart singles, an Oscar for the Disney soundtrack of Tarzan, and album sales of over 150 million, you’d think he would be immune to critics who targeted him as a “not-good-enough musician”.  One went so far as to say “You don’t have to be great to be successful like [lastfm link_type="artist_info"]Phil Collins[/lastfm].”

Shortly before the retirement announcement, Phil responded to them.

“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 continued, “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.  I barely recognized the person I saw from that time. I’m a very different person now. I saw some of this show of mine from 1985 and I was on-stage and I never stopped running, never stopped talking.”

He has now moved to Switzerland , and lives in a remote town with his two sons.  In hinting at retirement in 2009 he said “I’ll go on a mysterious biking holiday and never return. That would be a great way to end the story, wouldn’t it?”

A peaceful and happy life Phil – you have your priorities straight .

Here’s an interview clip from last April as he talks about his (then) just released album Looking Back, that gave a strong hint about what was to come.