After Peter Gabriel quit Genesis in 1975 and carried on as a solo artist, Phil Collins became the number-one man of Genesis and handled the main vessel.
Nowadays, his name is synonymous with the band, as the drummer/singer comes up as the top name of any Google search. Even though for many Collins’ image belongs with Genesis, there was one band the rocker admitted he would leave the mothership for.
Phil was answering fan questions through The Guardian in 2016 when one fan asked whether he would’ve joined the Who if they’d invited him after Keith Moon’s passing. Collins said:
“Absolutely would have joined The Who. I would have left Genesis to join The Who. But they’ve got a great drummer now in Zak Starkey. He’s fantastic. Someone with the balls that Keith Moon had.”
Luckily for Genesis and fans, the offer never arrived, as guitarist Peter Townshend recruited Kenney Jones in the late drummer’s place. However, after Jones left the band in 1988 due to creative differences and Roger Daltrey’s feud with him, the band recruited Zak Starkey in 1996, whom Collins praised by calling ‘fantastic.’
Still, one might wonder how things would’ve gone down if the Genesis drummer were to replace Moon. However, there also remains the possibility that things might not have gone so well, as when Collins filled in for John Bonham in 1985, things didn’t go well for him with Led Zeppelin, and that gig sparked a feud between Collins and Jimmy Page.
