Phil Collins Tells Dan Rather ''You Can Only Write That Song Once

03-27-2023

Video still courtesy AXS TV

(AXS TV) "In the Air Tonight" was a breakthrough for Phil Collins as a solo artist. But the success of the track brought him a lot of pressure. During his conversation with Dan Rather, the London-born singer spoke about how people were asking for more songs from him like "In the Air Tonight" after the track's success.

"You're judged by that. Everybody says, "Why don't you write songs like that anymore?" And you only write that song once. You can only write it once, I can't ever use that drum machine again," Collins said. "I can't ever have that sound, really, because everyone says, 'You're imitating what you just did.'"

"It's kind of nailing your foot to the floor...'Oh dear, what do I do know?'"

But as we all know now, Collins would go on to a remarkable and diverse solo career after "In the Air Tonight," one that includes record-setting album sales, prestigious award wins, and nearly every other music honor you can think of. Catch his full conversation with Dan Rather on The Big Interview here.