Phil Collins Reveals the Unexpected Call That Ended His 24-Year Paul McCartney Feud

Phil Collins began to dislike Paul McCartney in 2002. Collins said that he asked McCartney to sign a book, which led McCartney to make a remark Collins regarded as condescending. After years of bad blood, Collins said a recent phone call helped him set the dislike aside.

Phil Collins said he resented Paul McCartney after one remark

In 2002, Collins and McCartney performed at the Queen’s Jubilee Concert. Collins wanted the former Beatle to sign a limited edition book. 

“We had a rehearsal at Buckingham Palace, and I had a first edition Hunter Davies book [on The Beatles], which was very quite rare,” Collins explained, per Entertainment Weekly. “I took it to the rehearsal so Paul could sign it… Paul came up behind with Heather Mills, who he was married to at that point, and I said, ‘Paul, could you sign this?’”

Collins said he hated the way that McCartney responded.

“He probably didn’t mean it like it sounded, but he said, ‘He’s a big Beatle fan, is our little Phil,’” he said. “And I thought, ‘You a**hole.’ I couldn’t help it. That’s just what I thought.”

While he felt that he might have taken the comment more to heart than he should have, he didn’t think McCartney’s tone was appropriate.

“I knew Paul. This wasn’t the first time I met him. I played on one of his albums. I played live with him with the Prince’s Trust,” he said. “I’d given him an award at an award show in London, so I kind of knew him. So I was kind of surprised at that particular tone of reply.” 

Thus began a lengthy, perhaps one-sided feud.

Phil Collins shared how he set the Paul McCartney feud aside

Collins wrote about the incident in his 2016 memoir and also spoke about it on the press tour. McCartney reached out to him via email, but Collins ignored it. McCartney later contacted him about a King’s Trust charity auction. After they discussed donating music memorabilia, McCartney addressed Collins’ dislike of him.

“He said, ‘While we’re on the phone.’ I thought, ‘Oh, here we go,’” Collins said. “So he said, ‘What is all this about?’ I said, ‘I wish I’d never said it, Paul. I wish I’d never said it.’ He said, ‘I thought we were good, you know.’”

He explained that they “kissed and made up” after chatting more on the phone.

“I said I was sorry, because I really didn’t wish him…” Collins said. “I mean, obviously, this had been bugging him because he likes to be liked, as we all do! Maybe him more than some other people. But we all like to be liked. I understand that.”