Phil Collins again extends deadline "to be taken seriously as a musician."

Musician Phil Collins has for the third time extended a deadline to fans and the media to start respecting him as a musician - or else. The deadline has now been moved to the end of May, after which time if Phil Collins still feels he is not getting the respect he feels he deserves, he will "withdraw all my music from circulation and never perform or write music again."

Collins, who achieved commercial success in the 1980s both as a solo singer and with the group Genesis, has frequently complained that the public, music historians and the media are not giving him the credit he feels he deserves.

In March, he stunned his followers when he issued a deadline to be taken seriously by the end of the month or he would retire from performing. The deadline expired with little effect leading Collins to issue a new deadline, this time threatening to retire from the business altogether. When that too failed to cause the desired shift in attitudes towards Collins, the singer and drummer issued a final deadline in which he threatened to "withdraw all my music from sale until people finally realise how much repect I deserve." This "final" deadline passed yesterday, leaving Collins to immediately extend it by another two weeks. "I'm losing my patience," he added "people need to realise that I'm serious. I am a great musician, and until I am treated as such, people can go to hell."