Pop star Phil Collins donates the world's biggest private Alamo collection to Texas museum

Collins donated 200-plus pieces related to the 1836 battle to Alamo Museum

It includes 4 rifles belonging to Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie's famous knife

In 2012, Collins wrote book, The Alamo and Beyond: A Collector's Journey

Collins says: 'Some people buy Ferraris, others buy houses, I bought old bits of metal and old bits of paper'

If Phil Collins has taught us anything, it is that You Can't Hurry Love - especially when its a love of collecting historical artifacts from a Wild West battle almost 180 years ago.

After spending his life scouring the earth for memorabilia from the Battle of the Alamo, the Genesis singer appears to have finally completed his quest ... and is donating the trove to a Texas museum.



The 63-year-old Genesis singer-drummer joked he'd spent 'all the money that I made from music' on 200-plus pieces related to the battle where 1,500 Mexican troops laid siege to 200 Texans in 1836.



The Alamo: After spending his life scouring the earth for memorabilia from the Battle of the Alamo, the Genesis singer appears to have finally completed his quest ... and is donating the trove to a Texas museum

Homecoming: Collins made the announcement under the shadow of the Alamo itself in Texas

'Some people would buy Ferraris, some people would buy houses, I bought old bits of metal and old bits of paper,' Collins said. 'It's at my home, in my basement in Switzerland. I look at it every day, but no one else was enjoying it.'

Collins has been an Alamo aficionado since growing up in London and watching actor Fess Parker portray Davy Crockett in 1955 Disney miniseries, 'Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier'.



The series chronicled the frontier legend of Crockett, who eventually died as one of the defenders of the Alamo.



'I've had a love affair with this place since I was about 5 years old,' said Collins, who sweated in a button-down shirt and spectacles before a cheering crowd of dignitaries and tourists who gathered in front of the Alamo for the occasion. 'It was something that I used to go and play in the garden with my soldiers.'

Last stand: The 'last stand' at the Alamo on March 6, 1836 came after a small band of Americans held out for 13 days against the army of Mexican dictator General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna (pictured: a painting of the battle which hangs at the museum)

Lifelong passion: Collins, 63, said he became fascinated with the Alamo story when he was growing up in the 1950s watching the television series 'Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier' starring Fess Parker (right) as the eponymous hero (pictured with co-star Buddy Ebsen)

Collins said his favorite artifact was also his first, purchased for him in the 1990s by his then-wife: a receipt for the sale of the saddle of John W. Smith, an Alamo messenger who rode through Mexican lines and pleaded for reinforcements before the battle.

The collection also includes a rifle owned by Crockett, his leather shot pouch and a pair of powder horns Crockett is believed to have given to a Mexican officer before his death — as well as muskets and musket balls that belonged to Mexican soldiers.

Cherished: For 178 years, the Battle of the Alamo has been one of America's most cherished historical events and has been re-enacted in film on numerous occasions, including in the 2004 movie, The Alamo (pictured)

Another important relic is Jim Bowie's famous knife with which he is reputed to have fought tirelessly, killing many Mexicans during the onslaught. It was after him that the Bowie knife was named.



In 2012, the year after he announced his retirement from music because of health problems caused by drumming, Collins wrote a 384-page book, The Alamo and Beyond: A Collector's Journey.



THE BATTLE OF THE ALAMO: A DEFINITIVE MOMENT IN US HISTORY

For 178 years, the Battle of the Alamo has been one of America's most cherished historical events. Celebrated in song, story and cinema, the story of heroism against all the odds helped define the young nation's pursuit of liberty. The 'last stand' at the Alamo on March 6, 1836 came after a small band of Americans held out for 13 days against the army of Mexican dictator General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. The leaders of the group included Davy Crockett (pictured), already famous as a frontiersman, storyteller and crack shot, and James Bowie, known for his distinctive knife. It has long been part of the Alamo legend that Crockett died fighting. News of the resistance helped garner support among the rebels, who defeated Santa Anna's army at the Battle of San Jacinto amid cries of 'Remember the Alamo!'

The historic victory cemented the status of the newly formed Republic of Texas. The legend was firmly established by the 1955 Disney TV show in which the hero was seen swinging an empty rifle as the hordes of Mexican soldiers closed in for the kill. It has since been the subject of a host of Hollywood movies, including a 1960 John Wayne epic and a 2004 version with Dennis Quaid and Billy Bob Thornton.

He added: 'I'm just an enthusiastic amateur. What I know is out there to be learned, it's just that I took the time to do it, because of the book and to find out what I was buying.'

Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson said Collins would pay to ship the artifacts to Texas with the understanding that the state would use public funding and private donations to eventually spruce up the Alamo site — including erecting a building to house the collection. In the meantime, some items will be displayed as soon as October.

The collection is worth millions but Collins said, 'Being British, we don't talk about that kind of thing.'He promised to keep buying artifacts and 'once I've lived with whatever I buy for a month, I'll ship it over here.'

He told the Guardian: 'I'm not extravagant in other ways, I live a very simple life. Pretty simple. I mean, I came down here from New York in a private plane so it's not that simple. But on the other hand, I don't buy extravagant items like cars, expensive houses, jewellery. I've got no other expensive interests. My interests, for the last 25 years anyway, have been relics, buying things that are attached to something that I feel very interested about. Even I have a limit … I was offered something once for a million dollars.'

He said his love affair with the battle itself centred on the fact that 'people came here and made a stand here – for good or bad'.

'That's another political can of worms,' he told the paper. 'But for good or bad they came here knowing they were going to die, hoping they weren't but knowing they probably would, and that appealed to me even at six or seven, the idea of being that brave.'

Collins mostly retired from music in 2011 but first came to the Alamo in 1973, while on his first U.S. tour with Genesis. He, singer Peter Gabriel and the tour manager had three days off and each got to pick a destination. Gabriel picked Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas and Collins chose San Antonio.