It’s bizarre how badly some people age. It’s not as if Phil was ever a big drug user. Yes he was an alcoholic for a while. I guess he took too many pain meds for a while. Played the drums too much…..wore himself out in the 80s….dude was everywhere. Even after reading his autobiography-and the last third was painful- it wasn’t clear to me what he did wrong other than marry the wrong women. His friend Clapton, for example was a bad heroin, cocaine and alcohol addict for two decades and yet aged nowhere near as badly. I think some people are just lucky (better genes) and are able to withstand the abuses more. I mean I think Phil was a relatively clean guy compared to the Keefs and Jimmy Pages of the world.
Anyways happy birthday Phil!