Saying that drummer Chester Thompson (second from left) is a legend is a bit of an understatement, and he’s been on stage with everyone from Frank Zappa to the BeeGees. He was first recruited to join Genesis as a touring drummer in 1977 and later stayed with Collins when he went solo. It wasn’t easy going, though, and when Rolling Stone interviewed him in 2021, he and Collins hadn’t spoken in years.
Collins, he recalled, didn’t even audition him — he’d heard his music and said the job was his. He called it “the biggest adjustment I’ve ever had to make, musically and culturally,” saying that being the American in the all-British band was very, very lonely. He did, however, connect with Collins over their shared love of American jazz musicians, and “we hit it off immediately.”
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Thompson said that he never doubted that he was anything but Collins’ backup drummer, he said that “with Phil, you’re one of a cast of thousands.” When any mistakes were made in live shows, he’d look to Thompson, and after an on-again, off-again relationship, Thompson joined him again in 2010. “I didn’t know about the stuff that was going on in Phil’s life,” he explained. “I had no idea. … One day, he got pretty frustrated with me and literally cussed me out in front of everybody. He told me that I sounded like crap and all that. The vibe just changed. It was different.” Thompson added that although he’d moved on, it kicked off years of silence.
