Phil Collins Personal life
 Collins was given a toy drum kit for Christmas when he was five. Later, his uncle made him a makeshift one that he used regularly, and his drumming skills improved. As Collins grew they were followed by more complete sets bought by his parents. He practised by playing alongside the television and radio, and never learned to read and write conventional musical notation; instead, he uses a system he devised himself.
Collins looked for every opportunity to perform. His professional training began at fourteen when he entered Barbara Speake Stage School. He began a career as a child actor and model, and won his first major role as The Artful Dodger in a London production of Oliver!. He appeared in The Beatles' A Hard Day's Night as one of hundreds of screaming teenagers during the climactic concert sequence. Although only an extra in this sequence, Collins receives a close-up all to himself: his mother was hired to cast the extras in this sequence, and she arranged for her son to receive a brief close-up in the film. He also auditioned for the role of Romeo in Romeo and Juliet (1968). In 1970, the 19-year old Collins played percussion on the George Harrison song The Art of Dying; Harrison credited him in the liner notes to the remastered CD version of the album released in 2000. In addition, Collins was among the last three finalists for the role of I.Q on the classic children's American television show The Bugaloos. He lost out to English actor/musician John McIndoe.
Despite the beginnings of an acting career, Collins continued to gravitate towards music. While attending Chiswick Community School he formed a band called The Real Thing and later joined The Freehold. With the latter group, he wrote his first song titled Lying Crying Dying.
Collins' first record deal came as drummer for Flaming Youth, who released a single album, Ark 2 (1969). A concept album inspired by the recent media attention surrounding the moon landing, Ark 2 failed to make much commercial success despite positive critical reviews. Melody Maker featured the album as Pop Album of the Month, describing it as adult music beautifully played with nice tight harmonies. The album's main single, From Now On, failed on the radio. After a year of touring, band tensions and the lack of commercial success dissolved the group.
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