InterscopePhillip Phillips’s new album Collateral is out now. For the past three years, the American Idol champ was tied up in a legal battle against Idol’s parent company, 19 Entertainment, and wasn’t allowed to release any music. But there was silver lining: He says in a weird way, it helped his marriage.
Phillip married his longtime girlfriend Hannah in October of 2015, while the suit was in progress, and at first, it was rough because he essentially had nothing to do. “It was a lot of just sitting at home,” he tells ABC Radio.
“I’d go write for like a week or two, and then come home…and then be like, ‘All right, we’re gettin’ freakin’ bored,'” he recalls. “Everyone says, ‘Your first year’s tough’…It was tough, but we got to know each other even better.”
“I think that first year…to have that time off…we learned a lot about ourselves and about our relationship,” he adds. “I think it kinda helped!”
But during that time, Phillip was also struggled with songwriting.
“I was having to really search within myself and push to overcome all that…I wasn’t really inspired,” he tells ABC Radio. But he eventually got his mojo back, and he’s now relieved that he can share his new music with fans.
“It’s good to have these feelings out,” he notes. “It’s kinda like you write in a journal or something…and you don’t let anybody read it.”
And from what he’s heard so far, his fans are happy to have him back.
“They said it’s been worth the wait…so it’s just awesome,” Phillip says. “I was a little nervous ’cause it’s been so long…I said, ‘Man I’m hopin’ people don’t forget.’ So yeah, this seems like they’ve been waiting, so it’s good!”
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