Hits (stylised as ...Hits) is the first greatest hits album by the English drummer and singer-songwriter Phil Collins. It was released on 5 October 1998 in the United Kingdom, and one day later in the United States. The collection included fourteen top 40 hits, including seven American number one songs, spanning from the albums Face Value (1981) through Dance into the Light (1996). One new Collins recording, a cover of Cyndi Lauper's "True Colors", also appeared on the collection and was a popular song on adult contemporary stations. Hits was also the first Phil Collins album to include four songs originally recorded for motion pictures (all of them US number-one hits) as well as his popular duet with Philip Bailey, "Easy Lover" (a UK number-one hit).

In 1998, the album reached number one in the United Kingdom and number 18 in the United States. It was reissued in 2008, following the usage of "In the Air Tonight" in a successful Cadbury advertisement campaign. On 4 August 2008, it became the number one album on the New Zealand RIANZ album chart. In July 2012, the album re-entered the US charts, reaching number six on the Billboard 200 when the album price was deeply discounted very briefly by Amazon. It has sold 3,429,000 in the US as of July 2012.

The compilation's cover features stylised versions of the cover art for Collins' first six albums, the collection's primary sources of songs.

Since the release of Hits there have been further compilations of Phil Collins songs. The Platinum Collection and Love Songs: A Compilation... Old and New were both released in 2004, while The Singles appeared in 2016.

Track listing

Track notes Track 1 features David Crosby on backing vocals. Track 2 features Babyface on backing vocals, keyboard and drum programming, and Sheila E on percussion. Track 3 features Philip Bailey on vocals. Tracks 4, 11–13, 15 feature Daryl Stuermer on guitar. Track 6 features Eric Clapton on guitar. Tracks 8, 13 feature Nathan East on bass. Track 9 features Marilyn Martin on vocals. Track 16 features Peter Gabriel, Sting, and Helen Terry on backing vocals.

Personnel

Phil Collins – vocals, keyboards (1, 3, 6, 8, 11, 14–16), drums (1–9, 13–16), tambourine (4, 6), all instruments (10), drum machine (11, 12, 15, 16), backing vocals (11, 13, 16), kalimba (13), horn arrangements (13), percussion (various tracks) Babyface – keyboards (2), drum programming (2), backing vocals (2) Greg Phillinganes – acoustic piano (2), Wurlitzer electric piano (2) Lesette Wilson – keyboards (3) Peter Robinson – acoustic piano (4), glockenspiel (4), vibraphone (4) Rob Mounsey – keyboards (7) Nick Glennie-Smith – keyboards (9) David Frank – keyboards (12), Minimoog bass (12), Oberheim DMX (12) Brad Cole – keyboards (13) Dominic Miller – guitars (1, 8) Michael Thompson – guitar (2) Daryl Stuermer – guitars (3, 4, 8, 9, 11, 12, 15, 16), lead guitar (13) Michael Landau – guitar (5) Eric Clapton – guitars (6) Ronnie Caryl – rhythm guitar (13) Leland Sklar – bass (1, 11, 16) Cornelius Mims – bass (2) Nathan East – bass (3, 8, 13) John Giblin – bass (4, 15) Freddie Washington – bass (5) Pino Palladino – bass (6) Sheila E. – percussion (2) Paulinho da Costa – percussion (5) Eric Rigler – Uilleann pipes (2) The Phenix Horns Don Myrick – saxophones (8, 12), sax solo (11) Louis Satterfield – trombone (8, 12) Rhamlee Michael Davis – trumpet (8, 12) Harry Kim – trumpet (8) Michael Harris – trumpet (12) Arranged by Tom Tom 84 (8, 12) The Vine Street Horns Andrew Woolfolk – saxophones (13) Arturo Velsaco – trombone (13) Daniel Fornero – trumpet (13) Harry Kim – trumpet (13), horn arrangements (13) L. Shankar – violins (15) Arif Mardin – orchestra conductor (7, 9), string arrangements (11) Anne Dudley – orchestra conductor (14) David Crosby – vocals (1) Philip Bailey – vocals (3) Alex Brown – backing vocals (8) Lynne Fiddmont – backing vocals (8) Marva King – backing vocals (8) Marilyn Martin – vocals (9) Amy Keys – backing vocals (13) Arnold McCuller – backing vocals (13) Peter Gabriel – backing vocals (16) Sting – backing vocals (16) Helen Terry – backing vocals (16)

Additional credits Chris Blair – mastering at Abbey Road Studios (London, UK) David Costa – art direction, design Janfranco Caro – art direction, design, illustrations

Charts Weekly charts +Weekly chart performance for Hits Chart (1998) PeakpositionCanada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)1Danish Albums (Tracklisten)1Estonian Albums (Eesti Top 10)2European Albums (Music & Media)1Italian Albums (FIMI) 3Japanese Albums (Oricon) 5Malaysian Albums (IFPI)6Portuguese Albums (AFP)4Singapore Albums (SPVA)1Spanish Albums (AFYVE)3 Chart (2002) Peakposition Chart (2007) Peakposition Chart (2013) Peakposition

Year-end charts + 1998 year-end chart performance for HitsChart (1998)PositionAustralian Albums (ARIA)15Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)22Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)35Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)18Canadian Albums (RPM)46Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) 23European Top 100 Albums (Music & Media) 17German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)32New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)33Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)11UK Albums (OCC)15 + 1999 year-end chart performance for HitsChart (1999)PositionBelgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)100Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)51Canadian Albums (RPM) 46 Danish Albums (Hitlisten) 88Dutch Albums (MegaCharts) 60European Albums (Music & Media)48German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)50UK Albums (OCC)98US Billboard 200103

Certifications

References