Phil Collins calls Adele a 'slippery little fish' after being snubbed by singer on her new album

The former Genesis drummer called the singer a “slippery little fish” after he said she failed to get back in touch with him despite asking him to finish a piece of music for her.

The “In The Air Tonight” singer told Q magazine: “She’s a slippery little fish is Adele.

“She got hold of me and asked if I would write with her. She gave me a piece of music to finish and at first I didn’t know if I’d failed the audition as I didn’t hear back from her.”

Collins went on to explain that when he did hear from Adele she blamed her lack of contact on her hectic personal life.

“She said, ‘No, no, I’m moving house and the baby’s taking up a lot of my time, I’m not actually doing anything at the moment.’ And now I’ve heard there’s a [new album] coming out. I’m not on it, I know that,” he said.

Phil Collins said he never heard back from Adele after she asked him to write a song for her Adele’s anticipated third album is expected to be released in time for Christmas after the usually cagey star tweeted about it earlier this year.

“Bye Bye 25…See you again later in the year”, she said on the day before her 26th birthday, leading to speculation that her follow-up album to 19 and 21 will be called 25.

But the singer’s record label boss has dismissed rumours that Adele’s album will be out before the end of the year.

Martin Mills, chairman of Beggars Group that runs Adele’s XL Recordings label, told Billboard: “[There is] no truth in this”.

Earlier this month, XL Recordings appeared to release a statement saying: “There will not be a further release by Adele during 2014 and consequently there will be a fall in XL’s turnover and profits.”

Representatives for Adele declined to comment.