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Phil Collins is back in the headlines this week, and the timing is no accident. The 75-year-old Genesis frontman is due to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist on Saturday 14 November 2026 at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, and he has told the Hall of Fame he still thinks about touring again, saying “I never say exactly never”. No tour has been announced, and Collins has not performed live since Genesis closed their farewell tour at London’s O2 Arena on 26 March 2022. When that final show happened, the drummer keeping the beat was not Phil himself, who sang seated because of his health, but his son Nic Collins, then 20 years old. Nic Collins has spent the years since building a drumming career of his own, with his own bands and tours, while remaining the musician his father trusts most behind the kit.
Nic Collins — Quick Reference Profile
| Detail | Fact |
| Full name | Nicholas Collins |
| Known as | Nic Collins |
| Date of birth | 21 April 2001 |
| Age (November 2026) | 25 |
| Birthplace | Geneva, Switzerland |
| Nationality | Swiss |
| Ethnicity | Not publicly verified |
| Primary role | Drummer |
| Famous anchor | Phil Collins (father) |
| Mother | Orianne Cevey, Phil Collins’ third wife |
| Siblings | Simon Collins, Joely Collins, Lily Collins, Matthew Collins |
| Partner | Engaged to Isabella Serralles (announced July 2026) |
| Bands | Better Strangers; formerly The Effect |
| Touring work | Phil Collins Not Dead Yet tour; Genesis The Last Domino? Tour; Mike and the Mechanics |
| Height | Not publicly verified |
| Net worth | Not publicly verified |
| Social handles | Not publicly verified |
Growing Up Between Geneva and the Drum Kit
Nic Collins was born in Geneva, Switzerland, on 21 April 2001, the son of Phil Collins and Orianne Cevey, Phil’s third wife. He is the younger of the two sons from that marriage; his brother Matthew was born in 2004. Phil already had three older children from earlier marriages: Simon Collins, born in London in 1976, Joely Collins, and actress Lily Collins. People magazine, profiling all five of Phil’s children, confirms Nic’s birth date and place, and describes him as a drummer who began playing at the age of two. Like Colton Jack Mill, the youngest son of tennis legend Chris Evert, Nic grew up in a household shaped by elite performance and public attention.
Growing up with a father who was one of the most famous drummers in rock gave Nic an unusual education. His earliest memories, he has said, come from watching his father perform night after night, including on Phil’s Final Farewell Tour in 2004, when Nic was three years old. His drum heroes, named in interviews, include Danny Carey, John Bonham, Abe Cunningham and Stewart Copeland, a list that points towards the heavier, progressive end of rock rather than the pop hits his father is best known for.
That grounding mattered when the call came. Nic began playing drums for his father’s solo band at charity events as a teenager, and his equipment sponsor Gretsch, which has listed him as an artist since 2017, records that he was asked to fill in full time for the Not Dead Yet world tour, which ran from 2017 to 2019. By the age of 18 he had already played arenas and stadiums including the Royal Albert Hall, Hyde Park and Madison Square Garden.
Stepping Into His Father’s Drum Throne
The moment that defined Nic Collins publicly arrived in 2021, when Genesis announced their first reunion tour in 14 years. Phil Collins, whose spinal injuries and nerve damage had left him unable to hold a drumstick properly, could no longer play the kit. The band turned to Nic. He learned around forty songs, including the long progressive pieces Genesis had not played in years, and took the drum seat for The Last Domino? Tour, which opened in the UK in autumn 2021 and closed at the O2 Arena in London on 26 March 2022.
Phil had, by several accounts, tried to talk his son out of taking the job, knowing how gruelling it would be. Nic pushed for it, and the tour became the story of a handover in plain sight: the father singing from a chair while the son drove the band from behind the drums. Reviewers and fellow musicians noted that Nic did not simply copy his father’s parts. He channelled the ghost-note-heavy, aggressive yet melodic style Phil built his reputation on, while bringing his own heavier influences to the older progressive material.
Nic has been determined not to be only “Phil’s kid”. In 2022 he debuted his own band, Better Strangers, with bassist Yang Waingarten, guitarist Joey Rodriguez and singer Ricky deCasa, releasing a debut single that April. The band works in funk and hard rock, with unconventional time signatures and drum machines, a long way from Genesis. He also formed The Effect with Steve Maggiora, Emmett Stang and Trev Lukather, the son of Toto guitarist Steve Lukather, before announcing on Instagram in 2024 that he had left that band. Like Thomas Henty, another famous musician’s son who built his own career away from his father’s shadow, Nic has chased a separate identity rather than living off the family name.
The Genesis Handover and the Family Bond
The Collins family story has always been public, sometimes painfully so. Phil’s marriage to Orianne Cevey ended in divorce in 2006, and the couple later remarried and divorced again. Nic and his younger brother Matthew were raised between that turbulence and their father’s long absences on the road, yet the father-son bond around music has stayed close. Phil has said publicly that Nic is the one who taught him how much of his own drumming the younger generation still knows, and Nic has said his father taught him everything he knows about the drums.
The family marked a lighter milestone in July 2026, when Nic announced on Instagram that he is engaged to Isabella Serralles. People magazine reported the announcement, though few further details about Serralles have been made public. Nic’s half-sister Lily Collins, the actress, is the most famous of the five siblings, while Simon Collins is also a musician. Matthew, the youngest of the five, has kept a lower public profile than his siblings.
Meanwhile the wider family remains in the news. Phil’s second Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction, following his 2010 induction with Genesis, takes place on 14 November 2026, and a King’s Trust charity auction of his memorabilia, most of its 348 lots given by Phil Collins and Jill Collins, closes with a live event in Los Angeles on 19 November 2026.
Money, Tours and the Business of Drumming
No verified figure for Nic Collins’ net worth has been published, and none is claimed here. His income comes from touring work as a hired drummer, from his own bands, and from endorsement as a Gretsch artist since 2017. Touring with Genesis and with Mike and the Mechanics, for whom he covered regular drummer Gary Wallis on the 2023 Refuelled tour and returned for the 2025 Looking Back – Living the Years tour, puts him in the professional tier of session and touring drummers, but session fees and tour pay for such work are not publicly disclosed.
That is a different financial world from his father’s. Phil Collins’ fortune has been estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars by celebrity wealth sites, but those figures are unverified estimates and are not repeated here as fact. What can be said is that Nic has chosen the working musician’s route: learning forty songs for a stadium tour, forming his own bands, and taking freelance gigs with other acts, rather than relying on a famous surname. For a drummer whose father once filled stadiums, the most telling detail may be the one his own bandmates note: he still practises the hard progressive material, including complex Opeth tracks, simply to prove he has the chops.
| Income source | Status |
| Touring drummer fees (Genesis, Mike and the Mechanics) | Not publicly disclosed |
| Own bands (Better Strangers, formerly The Effect) | Not publicly disclosed |
| Endorsements (Gretsch artist since 2017) | Not publicly disclosed |
| Net worth | Not publicly verified |
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Nic Collins?
Nic Collins, born Nicholas Collins on 21 April 2001 in Geneva, Switzerland, is a Swiss drummer and the son of Phil Collins and Orianne Cevey. He played drums for his father’s Not Dead Yet tour, for Genesis on The Last Domino? Tour, and for Mike and the Mechanics, and he fronts his own band, Better Strangers.
How old is Nic Collins?
Nic Collins is 25 years old. He was born on 21 April 2001, which makes him 25 in November 2026.
Is Nic Collins related to Lily Collins?
Yes. Nic Collins is the half-brother of actress Lily Collins. Both are children of Phil Collins, from different marriages. Phil has five children: Simon, Joely, Lily, Nic and Matthew.
Did Nic Collins play drums for Genesis?
Yes. Nic Collins was the drummer for Genesis on The Last Domino? Tour in 2021 and 2022, the band’s first reunion in 14 years and their farewell tour. He took the drum seat because his father, who sang seated, could no longer play drums due to spinal injuries and nerve damage.
Is Nic Collins engaged?
Yes. Nic Collins announced in July 2026 that he is engaged to Isabella Serralles, sharing the news in a post on Instagram, as reported by People magazine.
What is Nic Collins’ net worth?
Nic Collins’ net worth is not publicly verified. No reliable source has published a figure for his earnings or wealth, so no estimate is given here.
Is it true Nic Collins only got the Genesis job because of his father?
That is the obvious question, and the honest answer is mixed. Being Phil Collins’ son is certainly how Nic got the audition, and he has never hidden that. But he had to learn around forty songs, including demanding progressive pieces, and hold the drum seat for a two-year arena tour in front of audiences who knew every fill. The job was opened by family; keeping it took drumming.
