The story of when Phil Collins asked Madonna for her autograph

After becoming Genesis‘ frontman in the late 70s and then launching his extremely successful solo career in the 80s, Phil Collins became one of the biggest stars from that decade and was really everywhere in show business, not only in music but also on movies and TV. So he had the chance to meet all the biggest stars from that decade and one of them was Madonna, who was still rising to fame.

The curious thing is that the first time he had the chance to meet her, was at the backstage of a John Cougar show and she was with Sean Penn. That night, Collins asked for her autograph because his kids were really huge fans of her. But he also praised her and said he had a “soft spot” for her.

The story of when Phil Collins asked Madonna for her autograph

Phil Collins recalled that funny story  in an interview with David Sheff back in 1986 and praised her. “I’ve got a soft spot for Madonna. She has a lot of intensity. Maybe it’s that little innocent voice and the underwear she wears. Funnily enough, I met them–Sean Penn and Madonna. I went to see John Cougar in Los Angeles when I had my kids out with me. They are fans of his, so I took them backstage after the gig and there in the corner was this couple. Simon, my son, said, ‘Dad, that’s Madonna!’ I said, ‘Naaaa.’ He said, ‘Da-a-ad, it is, it is, it is. Get her autograph for me! Please.’

He continued:

“I collect autographs for them. (Also) I got Lionel Richie, Michael Jackson. I finally went over to Sean and said, ‘Hello, I’m Phil Collins.’ He said, ‘I know who you are, man.’ I thought he was going to hit me. I said, ‘Is it possible, Madonna, that you could give my kids autographs? They won’t speak to me if I don’t ask.’ So she quite nervously, embarrassed, gave me her autograph. She didn’t seem to be able to deal with it very well,” Phil Collins said.

In 1986, Madonna had only three studio albums out: “Madonna” (1983), “Like a Virgin” (1984) and “True Blue” (1986). She already had successful hits like “Holyday”, “Material Girl”, “Like a Virgin”, “Papa Don’t Preach” and “La Isla Bonita”.

Collins saw her with the actor Sean Penn, because he and Madonna were actually married from 1985 to 1989. She went on to become one of the most successful and influential pop stars of all time. Until 2024 she released 14 studio albums, the most recent one being “Madame X” in 2019.

She has sold an estimated amount of more than 300 million records worldwide. That number makes her the best-selling female recording artist of all time. Madonna is also the most successful solo artist in the history of the United States Billboard Hot 100 chart. She had simply 44 number-one singles during her career.

Other artists that Phil Collins admired a lot back in the 80s were Bruce Springsteen and the late Michael Jackson. He also had the chance to meet both of them.