Phil Collins open to Genesis reunion

TEL AVIV, Israel - British singer and songwriter Phil Collins says he is open to a reunion of his old band Genesis, a day before he is set to perform in Israel as part of his what he calls his final tour.

"I'm open for it," said Collins, 54, the most prominent international music star to perform in Israel since the start of a Palestinian uprising more than five years ago.

"I'm happy to sit behind the drums and let Peter (Gabriel) be the singer. If (a reunion) happens, I'll be there. If it doesn't happen ... it would just be because there are too many things in the way," Collins told reporters in Tel Aviv.

Collins' concert on Monday in Jaffa, a quarter of Tel Aviv, is part of his "First Final Farewell Tour." He said that he would stop touring "soon" in order to be able to spend more time with his family, but would like to continue to record music.

Collins said he wasn't afraid in Israel, where Israeli-Palestinian violence has raged for more than five years, although attacks have largely decreased during the past year since a February truce. He performed in Lebanon a day earlier.

"I wish it wasn't like this," Collins said of the conflict. "I sit and watch stuff on the television, I think, 'Why, why, why."'

Groups like progressive rockers Jethro Tull, boy band Westlife and metal bands Megadeth and the Scorpions, have performed in Israel during the uprising. Other artists, such as Madonna, have cancelled planned concerts, though she visited Israel last year on a Kabbalah pilgrimage.

The progressive rock group Genesis formed in 1967 and were internationally successful for more than 30 years. Collins, the band's first drummer, took over as singer after Gabriel quit the group in 1975 to become a solo artist.

Collins left in 1996 to concentrate on his own solo career having already scored solo hits in the 1980s with "Against All Odds" and "In the Air Tonight".

After a shuffle of band members, including an Israeli drummer, Genesis finally called it quits in 1998.

- REUTERS