Iconic English Band Featuring Phil Collins Landed Only U.S. No. 1 40 Years Ago

By 1986, Genesis had logged a dozen studio albums and nearly as many full-time band members. The English group had also produced several songs that cracked the top five of Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart, with some of those tracks also having success on the outlet's Hot 100.

One thing that Genesis did not have up to that point was a No. 1 hit in America. They'd come close with 1983's "That's All" (peaked at No. 6 on the Hot 100), but were still looking for that elusive chart-topper.

They wound up finding it was the titular song off their 1986 album Invisible Touch.

Two months to No. 1

"Invisible Touch" was released as a single on May 19, 1986, a couple of weeks before the full album came out. Exactly two months later, on July 19, 1986, the song reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

It also had a three-week stint atop the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart and sparked Genesis' greatest run of success in the United States. Beginning with "Invisible Touch," five consecutive singles from the band cracked the top five of the Hot 100, with "Throwing It All Away," "In Too Deep," and "Land of Confusion" and "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" being the other four in order.

Remembered fondly by Phil Collins

The legendary British musician joined Genesis in 1970 and held down lead and backup vocals until 1996. He would also fill those roles in 2000, 2006–2007 and from 2020–2022.

In a 2014 interview with The Guardian, Collins recalled "Invisible Touch" as "my favourite Genesis song" and claimed "it came more or less out of nowhere."

He also threw a funny jab at Peter Gabriel, one of Genesis' founding members. Gabriel's smash hit "Sledgehammer" knocked "Invisible Touch" out of the top spot on the Hot 100 after one week.

"I read recently that Peter Gabriel knocked us off the No 1 spot with Sledgehammer," Collins said. "We weren't aware of that at the time. If we had been, we'd probably have sent him a telegram saying: 'Congratulations – bastard.'"

This story was originally published by Men's Journal on Jul 19, 2026, where it first appeared in the Entertainment section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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This story was originally published July 19, 2026 at 1:33 AM.