Patrick Balls; Mary McCartney/MPL CommunicationsPhil Collins has been a fan of The Beatles since he was a kid, but he reveals in a recent interview with London’s The Sunday Times that a 2002 incident involving Paul McCartney has led to a feud of sorts with his fellow rock legend.
According to Collins, he and McCartney had both been taking part in the concert celebrating Queen Elizabeth II‘s 50th anniversary as the British monarch at Buckingham Palace, and he approached Sir Paul for an autograph, only to have him respond with a condescending comment.
“I’ve got to preface this by saying McCartney was one of my heroes,” Collins maintains. “But he has this thing when he’s talking to you, where he makes you feel…’I know this must be hard for you, because I’m a Beatle. I’m Paul McCartney and it must be very hard for you to actually be holding a conversation with me.'”
Phil notes that he had a first edition copy of Hunter Davies‘ 1968 Fab Four biography The Beatles with him and asked McCartney — who was with his then-wife Heather Mills — if he’d mind signing it. He tells The Sunday Times that Paul responded by saying, “‘Oh Heather, our little Phil’s a bit of a Beatles fan.’ And I thought, ‘You f***, you f***.’ Never forgot it.”
As previously reported, Collins will be publishing a memoir titled Not Dead Yet on Tuesday, October 25, and he just announced plans for his first tour in more than a decade — a brief series of June 2017 European dates dubbed the Not Dead Yet Live! trek.
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