Adele called upon Phil Collins to collaborate with her on her third studio album. The legendary drummer and singer accepted the offer and finished a piece she sent him, but Collins never heard back.

"She's a slippery little fish," Collins told Q magazine via news.com.au. "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 reached her at a later date, and Adele attributed her lack of contact to personal obligations monopolizing her time.

"She said, 'No, no, I'm moving houses 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," Collins said.

Adele has not released an album since she released "21" in early 2011. The album went on to collect six Grammy awards including Album of the Year and Record of the Year for "Rolling in the Deep." The British singer-songwriter predicted in 2012 that she would release her third album in two years, but XL Records, who released her first two albums, ruled out a release in 2014, according to the BBC.

Collins name had been discussed as possible collaborators on the new albums. Other performers and producers mentioned include Kid Harpoon, James Ford, Ryan Tedder and Diane Warren. The former Genesis drummer and vocalist expressed his excitement about possibly working with the talented songstress earlier this year.

"I've just started to work with Adele," he told Inside South Florida in January. "I wasn't actually too aware... I live in a cave, but she's achieved an incredible amount. I really love her voice. I love some of this stuff she's done, too."

Adele has made no response to Collins' comments or when she will drop her next album.