Starring Phil Collins As Himself

Back when Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories was released I read where Phil Collins appeared in the game as himself.  Being a fan of his music and all I thought that was neat, and then I filed away that bit of data in the back of my brain next to Elton John's real name and the story behind Billy Joel's "Piano Man".  For some reason that little piece of information bubbled back to the surface this morning, so I decided to see how the whole thing wound up.  Just what was Phil Collins doing in Vice City?

Collins made an appearance as himself in the 2006 PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 2 video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, set in 1984. He appears in three missions in which you must save him from a gang that is trying to kill him, the final mission occurring during his concert, where the player must defend the scaffolding against saboteurs whilst Phil is simultaneously performing "In The Air Tonight." After this, the player is given the opportunity to watch this performance of "In the Air Tonight."

Wow, that is interesting.  Yes indeed.  I'd like to see the performance, but who has time to play through another Grand Theft Auto game?  The fantastic potential of the Internet comes to the rescue once again, as the concert is available on YouTube.   Check out the whole six-and-a-half-minute performance or just skip ahead to the 4:08 mark for the awesome drum moment.  You know the one I mean.