Phil Collins shares update on his decades-long feud with Paul McCartney

Connor McCrory Updated Sat, October 3, 2026 at 4:43 AM UTC Phil Collins says he and Paul McCartney have made peace after a 2002 snub (Image: Getty) Phil Collins says he has made peace with Paul McCartney, more than two decades after a brief encounter at a royal concert left the Genesis drummer feeling slighted by the former Beatle. Collins , 75, said the two patched things up during a recent phone call in which he apologized for repeatedly telling the story in public. "I said I was sorry because I really didn't wish him to sort of... I mean, obviously this had been bugging him, because he likes to be liked, as we all do. Maybe him more than some others," Collins said Friday on Piers Morgan Uncensored. The news follows Piers Morgan's demand that a new Princess Diana book be pulled from shelves . "But we all like to be liked, I understand that. And we kissed and made up." The friction dates to 2002, when both musicians performed at Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee concert at Buckingham Palace. Collins had brought along a first-edition copy of Hunter Davies' book on the Beatles. Davies is the only writer to have produced an authorized biography of the band while it was still together. Collins asked McCartney, now 84, to sign it. "He said, 'Oh yeah.' And he probably didn't mean it like it sounded, but he said [to then-wife Heather Mills], 'He's a big Beatles fan, is our little Phil?'" Collins recalled. "And I thought, 'You asshole.'... I probably made more of it than he meant, and I did make more of it, but when I was writing the book and I wanted to write about how I felt about certain things..." Collins first shared the story in 2016 while promoting his memoir, telling The Sunday Times that he found McCartney condescending. McCartney sent an email afterward hoping to clear the air, but Collins never wrote back. That same year, Collins told Billboard that McCartney had contacted him because he was "upset" by the account. Collins, 75, said the two patched things up during a recent phone call in which he apologized (Image: Getty) "I certainly didn't get any flowers from him; I got more of a 'Let's just get on with our lives.' And I'm sorry he's upset that I kinda said something nasty about him - well, it wasn't really nasty," Collins said then. "If people don't tell people that sometimes their attitude could be a bit better then you're not gonna get any better, y'know?" The silence ended "a month or two ago," Collins said, when McCartney called after receiving a letter Collins had sent to a number of musicians asking for memorabilia to donate to a charity auction. "He said, 'While we're on the phone...' And I thought, 'Oh, here we go.' He said, 'What is this all about?' I said, 'I wish I'd never said it, Paul. I wish I'd never said it.' He said, 'I thought we were good,'" Collins said. "I mean, it's not fair for me to tell you what he said to me, but that's basically the gist of the conversation. So we kissed and made up." The auction, which benefits the King's Trust, is scheduled for November 19. Items include the outfit Collins wore at Live Aid in 1985 and handwritten working lyrics to the Genesis song That's All. Collins is also marking the 45th anniversary of his debut solo album, Face Value, and will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist in November.