Robbie Williams

Entertainer, showman, hit machine. At the age of only 32,
Robbie Williams has already been a household name for 15
years, transforming from boy-band pin-up to the nation’s
favourite entertainer.

For five years in Take That and the last ten years as a solo performer, he has produced a constant stream hit singles (24 top ten hits, six number ones in the U.K.). Robbie’s solo songs soundtrack the soap opera of his life and the times in which he has lived it, chronicling his rise to superstardom and his struggles as a man.

Back in 1995 Robbie’s pop career was looking done and dusted by the time he was barely 21. That summer he walked out on Take That, the boy band with whom he enjoyed eight straight number-one hits and became a teen idol. A result of refusing to be controlled as a pop puppet any more, his departure prompted the group’s split a year later.

Boys who break up successful bands seldom prosper on their own. And true to form, solo success proved hard to find at first. Robbie’s first singles and debut album brought only modest success by the chart-topping standards to which he was accustomed. Then, as Christmas 1997 approached his epic soaring ballad ‘Angels’ became the anthem for a generation. Before long his first solo album ‘Life Thru A Lens’ hit number one – six months after its release.

The summer of ’98 saw Robbie conquer Britain. He suddenly started winning a new generation of grown-up admirers. He was voted the year’s best male singer not only by his old Smash Hits fans, but also the discerning readers of NME and Melody Maker. The defining moment of the year – indeed of Robbie’s entire career – was Glastonbury’s mass singalong to ‘Angels’ by the biggest crowd ever gathered in front of the Pyramid Stage. Followed by similar scenes at Slane, V98 and T-in-the-Park.

The ego really had landed. And with the Britpop bubble bursting, Britain had finally found a new star. From then, it’s been a story of unparalleled success. His next single, ‘Millennium’, gave Robbie his first number one single. A month later his second album, ‘I’ve Been Expecting You’ (October 1998), followed it to the top of the charts.

The following year was his most successful yet. In January 1999 he became the first act for seven years to have two albums in the top ten at the same time – and in November ‘She’s The One’ (a double-A-side with ‘It’s Only Us’) gave him his second chart-topping single. In between, he took his third sell-out tour to 13 cities around the UK and Ireland, with all 220,000 tickets selling out in hours. His show at Slane Castle sold out faster than any previous headliner, among them Queen, REM, Bowie and Springsteen.
In the new millennium, success kept on coming. Another number one single with ‘Rock DJ’ – equally memorable for Robbie’s controversial video – paved the way for another new entry at number one for his next album, ‘Sing When You’re Winning’ (August 2000).

For his next project, Robbie indulged his love of old-time swing music, paying tribute to the Rat Pack – Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr – with ‘Swing When You’re Winning’ (November 2001). A collection of old standards, it featured duets with a host of guest superstars including, thanks to the wonders of modern technology (and the permission of the Sinatra estate), Old Blue Eyes himself. Robbie ended the year, as it had begun, at the top of the charts - with his fifth number one single, ‘Somethin’ Stupid’, a duet with Nicole Kidman.

Leaving London for Los Angeles in search of peace and the chance to recharge his batteries, Robbie planned 2002 as a well-earned year off. Instead, he spent the year writing and recording and by the end of the year he had another new album. Released a year to the day after its predecessor, ‘Escapology’ (November 2002) followed all four of his previous albums straight to number one.

Robbie Williams returned with a bang in the summer of 2003, a massive world tour which played to 1.3 million fans including three days at Knebworth, which drew 375,000 fans to the Hertfordshire estate in August, and have been hailed as the biggest open-air shows ever staged in the UK. He was voted ‘Best British Pop/Rock Male Artist’ by the 2003 World Music Awards.

The last notes had barely echoed into the distance before the shows were swiftly followed by ‘Live At Knebworth’ (September 2003), which instantly became the fastest-selling live album in UK chart history. Likewise, ‘What We Did Last Summer’ became the fastest-selling and biggest-selling music DVD of all time.

The stats continue to pile up. Robbie’s global album, single and DVD sales now stand at 51 Million. Meanwhile, his bulging trophy cabinet includes a record 15 Brit Awards and three Ivor Novello awards, including one especially-prized for songwriting (with Guy Chambers).

His critically acclaimed biography, ‘Feel’ (written by Chris Heath) topped the book charts for weeks and his first ‘Greatest Hits’ album, featuring the No.1 single ‘Radio’, was one of the biggest selling albums of 2004.

Released in October 2005, ‘Intensive Care’ was Robbie’s fastest selling album ever due to biggest week one sale of over 380,000 units. It was 2005’s 3rd biggest album of the year, after Coldplay and James Blunt. Internationally it had 18 number 1 debuts – which was a personal best.
Robbie’s ‘Close Encounters Tour’ kicked off in South Africa in April 2006 and saw him play 14 different countries, on 44 different dates to more then 3 million people around the world. On the very first day of tickets going on sale, he broke world box office records, selling over 1.6 million concert tickets, valued at an estimated £80 million.

The tour culminated in September with Robbie playing over five nights at the Milton Keynes Bowl. His performance also managed to raise the highest viewing figures on Sky since 2002 when his Leeds gig was broadcast in high definition.

October 2006 marked the much anticipated dance/electro album, Rudebox. The first single ‘Rudebox’ was a worldwide hit and reached number one in countries around the world including Chile, Germany and Italy amongst others. It has also been nominated for a prestigious Ivor Novello award. It was the second best selling single in Europe for a number of weeks and was also fifth best-selling single in the World for a brief period. The album itself reached #1 in eleven countries worldwide, including the UK, Australia, Germany, Hong Kong and Argentina.

Released a decade after first taking the stage solo, November this year saw the release of ‘And Through It All’, a DVD featuring Robbie Williams Live 1997- 2006. The definitive live retrospective footage charts Robbie’s meteoric rise to global superstardom, from the nervous intimacy of his very first show in Paris back in 1997,  to his recent record breaking ‘Close Encounters’ tour that swept through Europe this summer.

Robbie Williams recently moved into film, commissioning a series of seven short films by up and coming directors to compliment his Rudebox album.
Robbie’s album sales currently stand at nearly 47 million worldwide and he has sold approximately 15 million singles around the world. In the UK alone he has sold nearly 5.5 million. This brings his total sales to more than 60 million records. He holds 8 number one albums and 6 number one singles in the UK.