Meeting Paul McCartney left Phil Collins with a nasty taste in his mouth.
Collins, 65, recalls meeting the former Beatle at a party at Buckingham Palace in 2002. But instead of receiving a warm greeting, he encountered cockiness. He prefaced the unflattering story by calling McCartney “one of my heroes.”
“McCartney came up with [ex-wife] Heather Mills and I had a first edition of ‘The Beatles,’ by Hunter Davies, and I said, ‘Hey, Paul, do you mind signing this for me?’” Collins told The Times.
What came next from McCartney, 74, completely caught Collins off guard. “He said, ‘Oh, Heather, our little Phil’s a bit of a Beatles fan.’ And I thought, ‘You f–k, you f–k.’ Never forgot it.”
Collins left feeling disappointed in his interaction with someone he truly respected.
“He has this thing when he’s talking to you, where he makes you feel … ‘I know this must be hard for you, because I’m a Beatle. I’m Paul McCartney and it must be very hard for you to actually be holding a conversation with me,’” Collins explained.