It is common for online music publications and websites to publish lists of the “Top Stuttering Songs” from time to time, featuring songs one would expect, such as “My Generation” by The Who, “Changes” by David Bowie, “Bennie and the Jets” by Elton John, and “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” by Bachman-Turner Overdrive.

One song that always makes these lists is “Sussudio” by Phil Collins, which topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 1985.

Two years ago, in 2024, the Stuttering Foundation recognized Elton John’s “Bennie and the Jets” on the milestone 50th anniversary of its reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. It was the first song with stuttering vocals to reach the number one position, breaking the glass ceiling for other songs to follow.

Other songs with stuttering vocals that later reached number one included “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” by Bachman-Turner Overdrive (1974), “Jive Talkin’” by the Bee Gees (1975), “Saturday Night” by the Bay City Rollers (1976), “My Sharona” by The Knack (1979), “The Reflex” by Duran Duran, and a couple of others.

Phil Collins will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for a second time on November 14, 2026, in a ceremony at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. He will be inducted as a solo artist, having first been inducted in 2010 as a member of Genesis, along with bandmates Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford, and Peter Gabriel.

“Sussudio” was the second song released from Collins’ 1985 solo album No Jacket Required, following “One More Night,” which also hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100. These two number one hits gave Collins three consecutive number one singles, including “Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)” from 1984.

This feat made Collins one of only five artists in the rock era to have three consecutive number one singles, the others being Elvis Presley (five in a row), Andy Gibb, Michael Jackson (five in a row), and George Michael (four in a row).

In addition, Collins is one of only three rock artists to have sold more than 100 million album units both as a solo artist and as a member of a band, the other two being Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson.

The album No Jacket Required followed his first two highly successful solo albums, Face Value (1981) and Hello, I Must Be Going! (1982).

“Sussudio” entered the Top 40 in the U.S. on May 11, 1985, and stayed there for 14 weeks. It topped the chart for a single week on July 6. The video immediately received heavy rotation on MTV.

Oddly, the song peaked at only number 12 on the UK Singles Chart. It topped the charts in Peru and Panama and was a top-ten hit in countless other countries.

The video for the song was filmed at the Shepherd’s Bush in West London, a pub that was owned at the time by Virgin founder Richard Branson, who coincidentally has identified himself as a person who stuttered early in life.

“Sussudio” was criticized for sounding too much like a Prince song. Collins addressed this criticism by saying that he is a big fan of Prince and had to make the original version of the song sound less like one of Prince’s songs.

Collins has described the word “Sussudio” as a pseudoword he came up with during a practice session. It was a word he made up to verbalize the sound of the drum roll he uses on the track.

In a 1997 installment of VH1 Storytellers, he explained how the word was improvised while he was tinkering with the drum machine and added, “I kinda knew I had to find something else for that word, then I went back and tried to find another word that scanned as well as ‘Sussudio,’ and I couldn’t find one, so I went back to ‘Sussudio.’”

In an interview with Record Mirror, he elaborated on the song’s other lyrics: “It’s about everything and yet it is about nothing. Seriously, it’s about a younger man’s fantasy for an older woman.”

A year after “Sussudio” Collins reunited with Genesis for an album, and the band had its first number one hit with “Invisible Touch” in July 1986.

Phil Collins was born in London on January 30, 1951, and began playing drums at age five. His mother was a talent manager, and a 13-year-old Phil Collins can be seen as an extra in the crowd in the 1964 Beatles movie A Hard Day’s Night; the shot of the young Collins in the famous movie can be seen on YouTube.

He joined Genesis in 1970 as its drummer and moved up to lead vocalist when Peter Gabriel left the band in 1975.

He played drums on the highly successful 1984 charity single “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” by Band Aid. In July 1985, he famously played at both Live Aid concerts in London and Philadelphia, traveling by helicopter and Concorde and becoming the only person to perform at both concerts that day.

After “Sussudio,” he scored four more number one hits in the U.S.: “Separate Lives,” a duet with Marilyn Martin in 1985; “A Groovy Kind of Love” in 1988; “Two Hearts” in 1989; and “Another Day in Paradise” in 1989.

Overall, as a solo artist, he has placed 21 songs in the Top 40, including 14 top-ten singles, in addition to selling more than 100 million albums worldwide apart from Genesis.

Collins left Genesis in 1996 to concentrate on a solo career, but he has since reunited with his old bandmates twice for Genesis tours. In 2007, the classic Genesis trio lineup of Phil Collins, Tony Banks, and Mike Rutherford toured Europe and North America on Turn It On Again: The Tour.

In 2021, the same classic lineup embarked on The Last Domino? Tour, which ran from September 2021 through March 2022 and was presented as Genesis’s farewell tour. The band’s final show was held on March 26, 2022, at London’s O2 Arena.

For the band’s farewell tour, Collins was unable to play drums because of health issues, so his son Nic handled the drumming while Phil sang seated.

Phil Collins has retired from touring and regular live performances because of multiple health issues. In his remarkable career as a member of Genesis and as a solo artist, he has achieved highly distinguished milestones in recording history, in addition to winning eight Grammy Awards and receiving 19 additional nominations. He also won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2000 for “You’ll Be in My Heart” from Disney’s animated film Tarzan.

We recognize “Sussudio” as one of the few songs with stuttering vocals to have topped the Billboard Hot 100. We congratulate Phil Collins on his second induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and wish him all the best as he faces his health challenges.

From the Fall 2026 Magazine