Top 5 Musicians Who HATED Phil Collins

Phil Collins — the voice behind *In the Air Tonight*, the face of Genesis, and the man whose drums defined an era — is one of the most successful and recognizable musicians in modern history.

But despite a mountain of hits, Grammy wins, and even an Oscar, not everyone in the music world has looked at Collins with admiration.

In fact, a surprising number of legendary artists have gone out of their way to throw serious shade at him over the years.

Whether it was his soft rock sound, his massive 1980s media presence, or just bad blood behind the scenes, Collins became — intentionally or not — a lightning rod for criticism.

Some artists mocked him playfully. Others took aim with full-on contempt. And a few never forgave him for a single night that went wrong.

These are not harmless jabs — these are the musicians who *genuinely* disliked Phil Collins and made no effort to hide it.

One of the most infamous examples came from **Jimmy Page**, the guitar god behind Led Zeppelin.

Their feud began at Live Aid in 1985, during a disastrous reunion performance that Collins was dragged into at the last minute.

After finishing a set with Sting in London, Collins jetted across the Atlantic to join Led Zeppelin’s reunion in Philadelphia — a move that sounded exciting on paper, but quickly turned toxic.

Collins later revealed he thought he’d be casually jamming with Robert Plant and Page, not performing full-on Zeppelin classics without rehearsals. With no proper preparation and zero chemistry, the show bombed.

Collins struggled to follow the set, and Page was openly frustrated. Years later, Page accused Collins of not knowing the material and nearly ruining the performance.

Collins fired back, admitting he wasn’t at his best but resented being scapegoated for what he saw as a collective failure. Decades later, Page still hadn’t let it go.

**Roger Waters**, the brooding mastermind of Pink Floyd, didn’t attack Collins over a bad performance — he hated what he stood for.

Waters saw himself as an artist driven by pain and purpose, while Collins, in his eyes, represented polished pop with no soul.

In a 1992 interview, Waters mocked Collins as a “pretend songwriter” and symbol of shallow music culture.

He was especially annoyed by Collins’s silly on-stage antics and music videos, seeing them as a betrayal of artistic integrity.

For Collins, who never claimed to be a poetic prophet, Waters’s attacks were both baffling and a little cruel.

Collins eventually admitted he was never really into Pink Floyd during their prime, and the feeling clearly went both ways.

Then there’s **Paul McCartney** — not exactly known for feuds. But Collins, a lifelong Beatles fan, described a moment that changed his view of the icon forever. In 2002, Collins asked McCartney to sign a first-edition Beatles book.

Instead of a warm gesture, McCartney reportedly told his then-wife Heather, “Oh, our little Phil’s a bit of a Beatles fan,” in a tone Collins found patronizing and dismissive.

The moment stuck with him for decades.

Even when McCartney reached out years later, Collins felt the response lacked any real understanding or apology.

It was a small insult, but it cut deep — especially coming from one of his childhood heroes.

**Kurt Cobain**, frontman of Nirvana and symbol of grunge, didn’t just dislike Collins — he loathed what Collins symbolized.

In the early ’90s, Cobain lashed out in interviews, mocking Collins for representing what he saw as corporate, sanitized, emotionless pop.

One particularly brutal quote had Cobain saying he’d only wear a tie-dyed shirt “if it was dyed with the urine of Phil Collins.”

To Cobain, Collins was the musical establishment that Nirvana was trying to tear down. Clean, mainstream, overly emotional — everything Cobain wanted to destroy in rock and roll.

Collins, to his credit, never retaliated, but his stripped-down 1993 album *Both Sides* felt like a quiet effort to reclaim his artistic credibility — even if he never fully won over Gen X cynics.

And finally, there are the more subtle feuds — the kind that stem not from hatred, but disappointment.

Collins has always admitted he wasn’t cool. He knew he wasn’t edgy or underground.

But he was everywhere in the ’80s — on the radio, on TV, in Disney films, in sitcoms, even on the stage at Live Aid — and that visibility made him a target.

Whether it was Led Zeppelin fans blaming him for one bad night, progressive rock purists dismissing his pop ballads, or punk icons mocking his clean image, Collins became the artist that cool musicians loved to hate.

But through it all, he kept playing. He kept writing. And he kept selling millions of records.

For all the drama, Collins never descended into public beefs or diss tracks. He let the music speak, flaws and all.

And in doing so, he proved that even if you’re the guy everyone loves to hate — you’re still *Phil Collins*.