Philip David Charles "Phil" Collins, LVO, is an English actor, singer-songwriter, and musician. He is best known as the drummer and lead vocalist for the progressive rock group Genesis, and later finding success as a solo artist from 1980 onward. He is also well-known for voicing Muk and Luk in the 1995 Universal Pictures animated film Balto.
In 1999, Collins, with the help of composer Mark Mancina, wrote and recorded the songs for Disney's animated feature film Tarzan. "You'll Be in My Heart", (which he performed at the following year's Oscars) won the Academy Award for Best Song. Four years later, Collins composed the songs for Disney's Brother Bear, including "Welcome", this time taking a bigger role in recording the score alongside Mark Mancina. He was also the voice of Lucky in The Jungle Book 2.
His song "In the Air Tonight" plays in a teaser for Deadpool & Wolverine.
In 2002, Collins was named a Disney Legend, claiming the record in shortest time after his first Disney-related contribution (in 1996, when he first started to write the music for Tarzan), until he was overtaken by Anika Noni Rose in 2011 for her role in The Princess and the Frog.
Collins was born at Putney Hospital in Wandsworth, southwest London. His father, Greville Philip Austin Collins, was an insurance agent for London Assurance. His mother, Winifred June (née Strange), worked in a toy shop and later as a booking agent at the Barbara Speake Stage School, an independent performing arts school in East Acton. Collins is the youngest of three children; his sister Carole competed as a professional ice skater and followed her mother's footsteps as a theatrical agent, and his brother Clive was a noted cartoonist. The family moved twice by the time Collins had reached two; they settled at 453 Hanworth Road in Hounslow, Middlesex.
Collins was given a toy drum kit for Christmas when he was five, and his two uncles later made him a makeshift set with triangles and tambourines that fitted into a suitcase. As Collins grew older, these were followed by more complete sets bought by his parents. He practiced by playing along to music on the television and radio. During a family holiday at Butlin's, a seven-year-old Collins entered a talent contest singing "The Ballad of Davy Crockett", but stopped the orchestra halfway through to tell them they were in the wrong key. Collins was also influenced by jazz and big band drummer Buddy Rich, whose opinion on the importance of the hi-hat prompted him to stop using two bass drums and start using the hi-hat.
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- Collins also sang the songs of Tarzan and Brother Bear in French, German, Italian, and Spanish.
- He has stated that "You'll Be in My Heart" was originally written as a lullaby for his daughter, Lily.[citation needed]