Phil Collins Wrote “In the Air Tonight” After a Painful Divorce
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More than 40 years after its release in 1981, Phil Collins’ iconic song “In the Air Tonight” has received an unexpected update. With the kickoff of the 2023 NFL season, ESPN unveiled a new version of the track featuring Chris Stapleton and Snoop Dogg as the theme for its Monday Night Football broadcasts—introducing a new generation of fans to Collins and his music.
But while the new cover is meant to build excitement for viewers watching the big game, the circumstances behind the original are much bleaker and more personal. Collins, now 72, actually wrote the song following his failed marriage to his ex-wife Andrea Bertorelli. Its dark lyrics and moody drum sounds reflected the anger and sadness the musician felt leading up to and following their 1980 divorce.
“In the Air Tonight” became a career-defining hit for the longtime Genesis frontman, but Bertorelli feels the song has reinforced an inaccurate portrayal of their relationship and the circumstances leading to their split. Although Collins has justified his emotional response, even he has never offered a full account of the song’s meaning.
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Collins and Bertorelli’s Relationship
Long before they became jilted lovers, Collins and Bertorelli were actually childhood sweethearts. According to The Daily Mail, the pair met at age 11 as performers in the Barbara Speake Stage School in West London. They began dating as 14-year-olds and had an on-and-off relationship, until Bertorelli moved to Canada with her parents when she was 18.
Collins, meanwhile, became a drummer for Genesis in 1970. When the group made a tour stop soon after in Vancouver, Canada, he reunited with Bertorelli. She and her daughter from another relationship, Joely, moved to Great Britain to live with Collins, and the two married in 1975 at age 24.
But, according to Bertorelli, their happiness didn’t last long. She said in a 2015 interview that when Collins took over as Genesis’ lead vocalist that same year, his focus completely shifted to his career and away from his family. Within two days of leaving the hospital after she gave birth to their son, Simon, in 1976, Collins left to begin an extensive world tour with the band.
Bertorelli said she was miserable with Collins away, and the couple began arguing regularly. She accused the singer of raging at her over the phone and in front of their children. Eventually, she says, she admitted to Collins she had a brief affair with a man who was helping one of her friends renovate a house.
Soon after, she and their children moved to Vancouver to stay with family. Despite a last-ditch effort by Collins to save the relationship by moving to Canada, the two never got back together and divorced in 1980. Bertorelli, who is now 72, moved back to the United Kingdom to start her new life.
Writing “In the Air Tonight” and Its Impact
Genesis took a break at the conclusion of their 1978 tour, which allowed Collins and bandmates Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks to work on solo projects. For Phil, that meant writing songs, including “In the Air Tonight,” that would turn into his 1981 album Face Value.
Collins has admitted his breakup with Bertorelli influenced the song but has denied its dark content represents anything specific. “I’m not quite sure what the song is about, but there’s a lot of anger, a lot of despair, and a lot of frustration,” he told Rolling Stone in 2016. “Nobody knows what the song is about, and I kind of like the mystery.”
Listen to “In the Air Tonight” on Spotify, Apple Music, or Amazon Music.
Regarding the lyrics, Collins told the music outlet Mix he began singing, and the words spontaneously came out. When he listened back to the vocals, he wrote them down on a piece of paper.
Whether this claim is entirely true, listeners began forming conspiracy theories—particularly about the song’s reference to a man drowning and the vocalist refusing to “lend a hand.” One urban legend states that Collins witnessed a real-life incident in which a man was drowning and an onlooker refused to offer help. The singer told Jimmy Fallon that never happened in 2016.
The song’s famous drum sequence occurred somewhat by accident. According to American Songwriter, producer Hugh Padgham had the studio soundboard’s talkback system on in reverse to talk to Collins when he started drumming. “The most unbelievable sound came out because of the heavy compressor. I said, ‘My God, this is the most amazing sound!’” Padgham explained. He and a maintenance person modified a circuit that same night so the effect could be sent to the tape recorder.
Collins once compared the sound to “barking seals,” but the gated reverb technique became a major element of the song’s appeal. The track released in January 1981 and appeared on his debut solo album.
“In the Air Tonight” peaked at No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100, but the song’s staying power has been undeniable. The track is referenced in rapper Eminem’s 2000 hit “Stan,” and boxing star Mike Tyson humorously mimicked Collins’ drum break during a scene from the 2009 comedy movie The Hangover.
Meanwhile, critics have lauded the tune’s impact on music—particularly the drum arrangement—with Rolling Stone placing it among the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2021.
“He’s still playing the victim”
Collins has continued to insist that Bertorelli’s unfaithfulness instigated their breakup. In 1981, he memorably placed a paint can next to his piano during a performance of the song on the British television program Top of the Pops—a clear reference to her affair.
In October 2016, the singer revealed he and Bertorelli no longer spoke to each other. “She’s got a little bitter in the last 10 years. And she’s convinced that I’m not telling the truth. People have different perceptions of what happened and their reasons for what happened,” he told the Irish Independent. “I’ve not been spiteful. I’ve owned up.”
Collins has since been married and divorced twice, ending his relationships with Jill Tavelman in 1996 and with Orianne Cevey in 2006.
Meanwhile, Bertorelli is adamant her relationship with Collins was already broken by the time of her affair and that he had his own trysts. Still, “I hated what happened and suffered from immense guilt and shame,” she told The Daily Mail about her extramarital encounter. “It wasn’t something I wanted to do. I think I just wasn’t coping very well and made a bad decision, which I regret. But my relationship with Phil didn’t end because of it... It was a symptom of a bad marriage—not the reason the marriage ended.”
All the while, Bertorelli has felt the singer used her personal life as a marketing tool to sell records and, more recently, books. Soon after the release of Collins’ memoir Not Dead Yet in 2016, she announced she began libel proceedings to counteract “wholly false statements about myself and my marriage to Phil.” Any outcome from the lawsuit has never been revealed publicly.
“He’s made a lot of money singing about the breakup of our marriage and his heartbreak, and he’s never stopped to consider my feelings or those of our children. All these years on, he’s still playing the victim, and I think it’s time he stopped,” she said.
No matter where the truth lies, there’s no doubt their relationship will forever be tied to the iconic song.
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