Phil Collins was scheduled to play his first gig in four years — a short, "semi-acoustic" gala fundraiser show benefitting his Little Dreams Foundation — but backed out of the Saturday, Dec. 6, engagement at the last minute due to "some sort of neurological affliction," according to miami.com.
The site reported the following: He came out at the evening's end to greet the crowd, thank them and apologize, saying that he'd been working with doctors for the past two days and that sound checks leading up to the concert went poorly. "Trust me, you wouldn't enjoy it," he insisted when the gracious audience, calling out, "We love you, Phil!" tried to encourage him to sing anyway.
Apparently the night was saved by the other acts in the lineup, which included The Little Dreamer performers — a group of underprivileged youth who have developed their talent through Collins's foundation — and Collins's 13-year-old son Nick, who played OneRepublic's "Good Life" with a band and then performed a five-minute dueling drum solo with another kid.
Professional artists Richard Marx, Laura Pausini, Gig D'Alessio, Anna Tatangelo and Alejandra Guzman also contributed music to the night.
In late September, Collins announced he would perform a small number of songs at the benefit.
"I will be performing three or four songs semi-acoustically, and maybe one more with my 13-year-old son Nicolas on drums, but that's all as I am not ready to return to the full concert stage at this time," he said.
Former Genesis guitarist Mike Rutherford spoke to Rolling Stone about a possible reunion around the same time.
"I'm speaking to Phil tomorrow," Rutherford said. "We'll see what happens. But if he does anything, I think it'll be something solo first ... I just think he's testing the waters because retirement didn't really agree with him."
