Inside Phil Collins' health battle, the booze crisis that saw him 'drinking vodka from the fridge in the morning' and the love that saved him | The Sun

ROCK legend Phil Collins sparked health fears this week after he was spotted being pushed in a wheelchair, then fell backwards onstage during his Not Dead Yet tour.

It comes after a tumultuous decade of health struggles - including crippling nerve damage and a booze addiction that left him 'hours from death' - but which has also seen him reunite with the woman he divorced in a record-breaking £25 million settlement.

Phil Collins, pictured with partner Orianne, has been plagued by health issues for more than a decadeCredit: Getty - Contributor

He was spotted being pushed in a wheelchair in Georgia, US, last weekendCredit: Splash News

Phil and Orianne, who divorced before reuniting eight years later, are pictured in 1994Credit: Rex Features

A devastating neck injury

Phil's agonising health issues began in 2007, when he dislocated vertebrae in his neck during a Genesis reunion tour. The injury caused nerve damage in his hands, leaving him unable to play the drums.

In a message later published on Genesis's website, the singer - who has had 150 million album sales worldwide and boasts an estimated £120 million fortune - said: ''After a successful operation on my neck, my hands still can't function normally.

"Maybe in a year or so it will change, but for now it is impossible for me to play drums or piano."

Insisting he wasn't in a "distressed" state about the situation, he added: "Stuff happens in life.'"

At the time, Phil was separated from his glam third wife Orianne Cevey.

The pair met when Orianne - more than 20 years Phil's junior - was working as a translator during his European tour and married in 1999 in a lavish £300,000 ceremony.

They had two sons together, Nicholas and Mathew - but shortly after Mathew's birth in December 2004, their marriage began to falter, as Orianne battled post-natal depression.

Phil and Orianne pose with their then-baby son Nicholas in 2001Credit: PA:Press Association

The pair wed in a lavish ceremony in 1999Credit: Rex Features

The pair met when Orianne - more than 20 years Phil's junior - was working as a translator during his European tourCredit: Rex Features

Phil, Orianne and little Nicholas are pictured together in Switzerland on March 20, 2004Credit: Getty - Contributor

Orianne told the Mail on Sunday: "I was breastfeeding and one day he stopped wanting my milk. It felt like instant rejection. I wasn’t feeling that great and it was emotionally overwhelming for me.

"It was hard for Phil to understand. Men do not have the same way of expressing their feelings as women."

She added that her depression led to misunderstandings and distance.

And in 2006, the couple ended up separating, saying they had "grown apart".

Two years later, Phil appeared to finalise his split with Orianne with their divorce, reportedly paying her £25 million in their settlement - which was at the time, Britain's biggest ever in a celebrity divorce.

And it wasn't his first - Phil split from Andrea Bertotelli in 1980 and Jill Tavelman in 1996.

Phil with his famous actress daughter LilyCredit: Getty - Contributor

Genesis drummer Phil is pictured with his first wife Andrea Bertorelli and her four year-old daughter, JoelyCredit: Hulton Archive - Getty

Phil, Jill and daughter Lily are pictured with artist Peter Max in New York in 1991Credit: Getty - Contributor

Spiralling into booze addiction

After releasing his 2010 album Going Back, Phil announced his retirement. But in the period that followed, he found himself spiralling into a battle with booze.

Bored, bandless and alone after Orianne and their two sons Nicholas and Matthew moved to Miami, Florida, with her new husband Charles, Phil turned to alcohol for company.

"I didn’t go around rolling drunk. But I just started to drink," he told the Daily Mail. "I used to get up and I’d start drinking and watch the cricket. Red wine, white wine."

After spending his rock career refusing to succumb to the temptations that so many other celebrities fall for, the singer suddenly found himself in the grip of a booze addiction.

"Before you know it, within months, you're drinking vodka from the fridge in the morning and falling over in front of the kids, you know," he admitted in 2016.

Phil, seen with a beer in St Tropez, France, in 2009, spiralled into a booze addictionCredit: FilmMagic - Getty

It was in 2012 that Phil's struggles came to a head when he was raced to hospital with acute pancreatitis - the inflammation of the pancreas which can cause extreme pain, vomiting and even death.

He was close to dying, but fortunately pulled through and went into rehab in Wiltshire.

But even that didn't work, his autobiography reveals, because he later drank so much on a holiday on the Turks and Caicos Islands in the Caribbean that he had to be airlifted to New York.

Despite the setback, Phil eventually quit drinking for three years. Yet his health problems still weren't behind him and, in 2015, he underwent major back surgery which left him reliant on a walking stick.

He also broke a bone in his foot around this time and was seen wearing orthopedic shoes.

Phil, seen walking with a stick, eventually overcame his booze battleCredit: Getty - Contributor

Helped through by love

The following year, the Easy Lover hitmaker reconciled with Orianne - who had by this point filed for divorce from investment banker Charles. Reports even claimed they were planning to remarry.

Orianne herself had suffered from ill health, sustaining a paralysing back injury in December 2014. Phil was said to have helped nurse her back to health, before they rekindled their romance.

In return, Orianne has stood by Phil's side during the past few years as the multi-millionaire dad of five has come out of retirement, taken to the stage again and been hit by repeated health woes.

Orianne and her children with Phil - Nicholas and MatthewCredit: Rex Features

Phil poses with his love Orianne in Florida in March 2016Credit: Getty - Contributor

Orianne has stood by Phil's side during the past few years as he's come out of retirement and been hit by repeated health woesCredit: Splash News

Forced to sit during gigs

In 2017, Phil was spotted sitting down or leaning against the piano during gigs - while still blighted by back and hip problems. And that June, he was raced to hospital after slipping in his London hotel.

The London-born star - who had been suffering from 'drop foot' as a result of earlier back surgery - was treated for a gash to his head after falling on his way to the toilet in the middle of the night.

A source told The Sun at the time: "Phil is in a bad way with his head in bandages. He is conscious and talking, but he is frustrated and upset about having to cancel in his gigs."

Yet again, the singer fought back and defiantly extended his tour.

Phil was spotted struggling to stand up at gigs due to back and leg problemsCredit: GEOFF ROBINSON.

The singer fell over while heading to the toilet in the middle of the nightCredit: Facebook

He fought back from his fall and defiantly extended his tourCredit: Geoff Robinson

"I can control boozing"

The same year, Phil revealed he was drinking again. Despite his previous near-death experience, Phil insisted he could control his boozing and was capable of enjoying “a couple of glasses of wine”.

"I didn’t drink for three years," he said in a US interview.

"I personally do not believe I was an alcoholic. I had a problem with alcohol. I didn’t have anything else to do, and I enjoyed it. But when I had to stop because it was killing me, I stopped.”

Since then, Phil has appeared in great spirits during his shows, telling an Ohio audience last year: "I’ve had a back operation and my foot is f***ed... but that won’t stop us from having fun, will it?"

Yet despite his upbeat attitude and unwavering determination, he's now sparked new health concerns after falling onstage at his show in Charlotte, North Carolina at the weekend.