Phil Collins's drums and Live Aid outfit headed for charity auction

An upcoming auction is set to feature various items donated by English singer Phil Collins, including his drums and clothes such as the patterned shirt he wore at the 1985 Live Aid concert. 

The auction marks the 50th anniversary of The King’s Trust (formerly known as the Prince’s Trust), a charity formed by England’s King Charles. 

The archive of Phil Collins’s memorabilia was donated by the singer and his ex-wife Jill Collins with auction house Julien’s overseeing the auction. 

Julien’s revealed a few items from the auction at London’s The Peninsula hotel on Tuesday (April 21) with the display including drums played and signed by Collins,  handwritten lyrics of songs like “Two Hearts” and “That’s All”, and outfits like the tweed coat he wore for the music video for “Both Sides of the Story”. 

Jill Collins also revealed to Reuters that the singer had doodled a design for a t-shirt celebrating the King’s Trust’s 50th anniversary ahead of the auction. The t-shirt features scribbled drawings similar to the doodles on his drum sets, which are also donated for the auction. 

The 75-year-old singer initially broke out with the rock band Genesis, eventually carving his solo career with popular hits like “In the Air Tonight”, “Another Day in Paradise”, and “Easy Lover”. 

Known as both a vocalist and a drummer, Collins stopped performing after Genesis’s farewell gigs in 2022. In later years, the Grammy winner struggled with a neck injury that damaged nerves in his hands and made it difficult to play drums.

Earlier this year, Collins was also announced as an inductee in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 

Speaking to Reuters, Jill Collins looked back on her former husband’s legacy: “He's been compared to the math teacher that gets up and sings. It’s like he's just the common guy. He commands an audience because I think he appeals to everybody just through his words, through his voice, through his ability as a drummer."

The memorabilia donated by Phil and Jill Collins is set to go under the hammer at the King’s Trust 50th Anniversary Auction later this November. 

-Gerhard Mey, Shaurya Thapa/Reuters