The 24-year standoff between two music legends finally came to an end. Phil Collins revealed that an unexpected phone call with Paul McCartney helped the pair clear the air after years of tension.
The Phil Collins Paul McCartney feud began with an awkward exchange backstage at the Queen’s Jubilee Concert in 2002. What began with a Beatles book and an autograph request eventually became a decades-long grievance.
Phil Collins says an unexpected phone call with Paul McCartney led them to finally “kiss and make up”
Collins explained the story during an Oct. 2 appearance on Piers Morgan Uncensored. He had brought a rare first-edition Hunter Davies book about The Beatles for McCartney to sign. When McCartney called him “our little Phil,” Collins took the remark as patronizing. “I thought, ‘You a–hole,’” Collins admitted. He also conceded that he “probably made more of it than he meant,” though the incident stuck with him for years.
The issue resurfaced when Collins discussed the encounter while promoting his 2016 memoir Not Dead Yet. He later told The Sunday Times that McCartney had treated him “condescendingly.” McCartney subsequently emailed Collins, but the Genesis star chose not to respond.
The eventual thaw came earlier this year, thanks to an unexpected phone call. McCartney contacted Collins after learning he was collecting memorabilia for a King’s Trust charity auction. The conversation quickly turned toward their old disagreement.
Collins admitted he regretted how publicly he had handled the situation. McCartney then apparently wondered why they still had a problem, telling him, “I thought we were good, you know.” Collins recalled the exchange with a laugh and summed up the reconciliation simply: “So we kissed and made up.”
The two musicians had spent more than two decades carrying an issue that Collins now believes he had overblown. Their reunion also came as Collins prepared for his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction and organized the Nov. 19 charity auction. The feud with Paul McCartney, at least according to Collins, finally belonged in the past.
