Celebrate Phil Collins Day With These 7 Classic Shots

The man, the myth, the legend: Phil Collins. (Photo: Getty Images)
The man, the myth, the legend: Phil Collins. (Photo: Getty Images)

As connoisseurs of pop culture, we are embarrassed to admit that today is the first time we’ve ever heard of Phil Collins Day — and, damn, do we feel like we’ve been missing out.

Now, we still aren’t completely sure what it’s all about (his birthday is in January!) and the official Phil Collins Day website is vague on answers (but boasts some super close-ups of his eyebrows if you’re wondering how he styles them), but that isn’t going to stop us from celebrating the Genesis drummer turned lead singer, 66, who is now often just known as “Lily Collins’s dad.” We’re all in.

Though it seems there won’t be a parade in honor of PCD this year (it will be hard to top the Feb. 15, 2011, festivities, when a papier–mâché Phil Collins head was marched through the streets of Brooklyn), we will mark the occasion by sharing seven sizzling throwbacks of the accomplished musician in all his rock star glory. “Sussudio” to that!

1. No jacket requiredor shirt — but sweatbands are a must:

Collins performing in 1982. (Photo: Ebet Roberts/Redferns)
Collins performing in 1982. (Photo: Ebet Roberts/Redferns)

2. We’ll caption this one But seriously…:

Collins had a big beard in 1976. (Photo: Getty Images)
Collins had a big beard in 1976. (Photo: Getty Images)

3. No, this is not Hannibal Lecter:

We’re really not sure what he was up to here in 1983. (Photo: Paul Natkin/Getty Images)
We’re really not sure what he was up to here in 1983. (Photo: Paul Natkin/Getty Images)

4. Not just anyone can pull off overalls with no shirt. (And we’re not necessarily saying Phil can, but, boy, did he try.)

Phil being Phil in 1981. (Photo: Getty Images)
Phil being Phil in 1981. (Photo: Getty Images)

5. Which of these guys is not like the other? (Answer: The one who is shirtless, in cut-off jean short-shorts, drinking a Guinness, but owning it all.)

Collins with Genesis in 1975. (Photo: Michael Putland/Getty Images)
Collins with Genesis in 1975. (Photo: Michael Putland/Getty Images)

6. Phil was a guest star on Miami Vice. Yes, he was shirtless:

He did not steal Crockett and Tubbs’s style when he guested on the show in ’85. (Photo: NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)
He did not steal Crockett and Tubbs’s style when he guested on the show in ’85. (Photo: NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)

7. Finally, he invested in a top, but still no shirt.

Collins in 1983. (Photo: Getty Images)
Collins in 1983. (Photo: Getty Images)

Collins, who is out of retirement, can be seen onstage later this year. His humorously titled “Not Dead Yet” tour (he has a book of the same name), featuring Blondie and Mike and the Mechanics, kicks off in June, and his 15-year-old son, Nicholas, will be playing drums. (It’s during the teen’s summer break from high school.)

As for where he is today, we can only hope he’s sitting shirtless somewhere enjoying any and all perks Phil Collins Day may have to offer.