Phil Collins in hospital, postpones shows after fall

Pop veteran Phil Collins on Thursday put off dates on a long-awaited comeback tour after he fell in his hotel room and required hospital care.

The pop singer, who recently opened in his native England his first tour in a decade, said he slipped and hit his head on a chair when he got up at night to use the toilet at his hotel.

“He was taken to hospital where he had stitches for a severe gash on his head close to his eye and is recovering well. He will be kept under observation for 24 hours,” he said in a statement on his Facebook page.

The 66-year-old singer — known for a string of hits in the 1980s including “Against All Odds” and “In the Air Tonight” — postponed shows scheduled Thursday and Friday at London’s Royal Albert Hall.

Collins rescheduled the dates for November but plans to maintain the rest of his tour, playing next week in Cologne and then in Paris.

“Phil sends his sincere apologies and thanks to fans,” the statement said.

“He has had a fantastic week at his first shows in 10 years, cannot thank people enough for their warm reaction and is excited to return,” it said.

Collins, also known as the frontman of Genesis, has said he has recovered from alcoholism. But until his tour he had chosen to live in semi-retirement in Miami, saying he hoped to be a stay-at-home father, and only played occasional charity shows.

He last released an album of original songs in 2002.