What was the first solo studio album by Phil Collins?

Face Value is the debut solo studio album by English singer-songwriter Phil Collins. It was released in February 1981 on the Virgin label internationally and Atlantic Records in North America. The album topped the UK Album Chart on its initial release and was well-received by critics. It opens with his successful debut single "In the Air Tonight", which had a dark mood inspired by the separation from his wife Andrea and rose to number two on the UK Singles Chart in January 1981. The album was reissued, with bonus tracks included, on 29 January 2016. The reissued version's cover art is taken in the same fashion as the original's, except it features a present-day Collins instead.

By 1978, Phil Collins had been part of the progressive rock band Genesis for eight years. After spending the first five of those years as a drummer, he reluctantly accepted the role of front man of the group following original vocalist Peter Gabriel's departure at the end of the tour for their concept album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. Collins took over vocals for 1976's A Trick of the Tail. While still featuring the complex progressive rock the group had been recording since its 1970 album Trespass, it also featured a more mainstream sound which attracted a larger audience. Their 1978 album, ...And Then There Were Three..., featured their first crossover hit single, "Follow You Follow Me".