Phil Collins has praised Taylor Swift, saying the pop celebrity “deserves” her place as “the hugest thing in the world” after being “blown away completely” the primary time he noticed her carry out 15 years in the past.
Speaking to Vernon Kay on BBC Radio 2’s Tracks of My Years, Collins recalled assembly Swift at a Songwriters Hall of Fame occasion years in the past, earlier than she reached her present stage of fame, and watching her carry out her track “White Horse.”
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“This very nice lady then got up on stage with a guitar and sang ‘White Horse,’ and it blew me away completely,” he mentioned. “Not only was the song great, and the sentiment of the song really got me, but she sang it beautifully. And it was just so simple, you know, her on a guitar.”
Collins mentioned he has “always had a soft spot” for the observe since. “I’m so pleased that she’s the hugest thing in the world now because she kind of feels like she deserves it,” he mentioned. “I mean it’s easy to knock someone that’s got so much success, but I think she really deserves it.”
Elsewhere within the interview, Collins revealed that his signature solo hit “In the Air Tonight” was largely improvised. “A lot of my lyrics are kind of improvised. The classic example of that would be ‘In the Air Tonight,’ which was pretty much 80% improvised,” he mentioned, explaining that the track’s atmospheric sound got here from a Prophet-5 keyboard and that he “certainly didn’t labour on it.” He described the consequence as “the scenario of luck… and good fortune” fairly than craft.
The feedback arrive throughout a landmark 12 months for Collins, who can be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist in 2026 — 16 years after getting into as a member of Genesis. Across his solo profession he scored seven No. 1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 through the Nineteen Eighties, together with “Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now),” “One More Night,” “Sussudio” and “Groovy Kind of Love.” “In the Air Tonight,” the 1981 debut solo single he referenced, reached No. 19 on the Hot 100 however turned probably the most enduring recordings of his profession, later discovering new life via movie, tv and a viral 2020 response video.
Swift, for her half, holds the report for essentially the most No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 amongst soloists with 15, and her most up-to-date launch The Life of a Showgirl debuted with a modern-era report of 4 million equal album models. “White Horse,” the track Collins singled out, appeared on Swift’s 2008 album Fearless and gained two Grammy Awards, together with Best Country Song.
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