Phil Collins doesn't believe Noel Gallagher really thinks of him as “the Antichrist”. After over thirty years of public barbs, the British musician has ironically dismissed one of the most famous rivalries in English rock, explaining in an interview with Mojo that he is convinced that behind the provocations of the Oasis guitarist there is no genuine hatred.
The clash between the two dates back to the early nineties. Already in 1994, at the beginning of Oasis, Noel Gallagher declared that the band's goal was to “make Phil Collins disappear from the charts”. In the following years he increased the dose, going so far as to define the former leader of Genesis as “the Antichrist” of pop music and claiming that his enormous commercial success was not synonymous with real artistic relevance.
It wasn't just their respective musical ideas that divided Collins and Gallagher. The two have often found themselves on opposite positions even on a political level: Collins has long been associated with the British Conservatives, while Gallagher supported the Labor Party, even joking in 2005 that no one would want to see Collins back in the United Kingdom in the event of a new Tory victory.
In recent years, however, the image of Phil Collins has been profoundly reevaluated. After having publicly spoken about his health problems and thanks to the rediscovery of his repertoire by the new generations, also fueled by the numerous samples in rap and hip-hop music, the ex-drummer and frontman of Genesis has seen its prestige grow again. Already in 2015 he had predicted with self-irony that, sooner or later, he would become “cool” even in the eyes of his detractors.
In the Mojo interview, Collins even tried to explain Gallagher's hostility. According to him, everything could date back to a Genesis concert he saw in the 1980s, during which Noel would have been struck by the dark atmosphere of “Mama” and the famous disturbing laugh that characterized his live performance. “I assume you don't really believe I'm the Antichrist,” he commented sarcastically.
Gallagher, however, in the past attributed his aversion above all to “You Can't Hurry Love” (cover of a famous Supremes hit by Diana Ross), accusing Collins of having monopolized the British charts with that success. In reality the single only stayed at number one in the UK for two weeks. However, the long war of jokes could experience an unexpected chapter next November in Los Angeles. Phil Collins and Oasis will in fact both be celebrated with entry into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and, before the ceremony, they will participate in a lunch reserved for the awarded artists: an occasion that could finally bring two protagonists of British rock divided by over three decades of provocations and barbs face to face.
Daniel D`Amico for SANREMO.FM
