Genesis could be reborn

A Genesis reunion may be on the cards

Phil Collins - former drummer and singer with supergroup Genesis - has hinted that a musical reunion with his old bandmates may be in the offing.

Collins, 49, says on the band's official website that he is open to the idea of working with his colleagues again.

He and other band members Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford played a short acoustic set together two months ago at a private dinner.

Peter Gabriel, whom Collins replaced as lead singer in the band, was in the audience at the event, held in honour of the group's manager Tony Smith.

We get on great and I would definitely see us doing something together again.

Phil Collins

Collins told the website: "I've always said that the three of us - I'm not discounting, but I can't speak for Peter - but certainly me, Tony and Mike, we get on great and I would definitely see us doing something together again."

However, the new collaboration would not necessarily take shape under the Genesis name, he said.

"That would put us in a certain place and prevent us from doing anything other than Genesis, as opposed to just three people getting together and writing music and calling it something else," he explained.

Phil Collins won the Oscar for Best Original Song

London-born Collins joined Genesis in 1970, as the band's fourth drummer.

When lead singer Peter Gabriel left four years later, dozens of hopefuls were auditioned without success until Collins himself decided to "have a go".

Three-piece suite

The proposed reunion would effectively recreate the shape of the band between 1978 and 1986.

Then, in the recording studio at least, Genesis was a three-piece, with Collins on vocals, Tony Banks on keyboards and Mike Rutherford on boss and guitar.

This period saw the height of the band's commercial success, with albums such as ...And Then There Were Three..., Duke, and We Can't Dance.

Collins finally left Genesis in 1995 to concentrate on his already hugely successful solo career - begun in 1981 with the album Face Value.

In March this year, he won the Oscar for Best Original Song with You'll Be In My Heart, from the film Tarzan.

Genesis have continued to record and perform since Collins' departure, with replacement singer Ray Wilson, without ever recapturing the band's earlier successes.