Robbie Williams

Robert Peter Williams (born February 13, 1974 in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire) is a British pop singer.

Biography

Take That

Williams' early pop career was with the hit boy band Take That that was fronted by singer-songwriter Gary Barlow. The band was formed in 1991 and proved to be highly successful, with 8 UK Number 1 singles to their credit. Their popularity led to a succession of similar bands in the UK. However, it has since been suggested that Robbie did not seem to fit as well as the other members in the band due to his 'roguish' qualities, and he frequently battled with his fellow band mates and his management. He left the band in 1995.

Related Topics:
Boy band - Take That - Singer-songwriter - Gary Barlow - 1991 - UK - 1995

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Solo career

After Take That

After leaving Take That Williams immediately seemed to immerse himself into the rock & roll lifestyle with Britpop band Oasis. This led him into a highly publicized battle with drug and alcohol addiction during which he put on nearly 40 pounds (18 kg) and was often seen in public poorly dressed, dirty and unshaven. After a well publicised fall out with Oasis, Noel Gallagher famously refused to recognise him as anything but "That fat dancer from Take That".

Related Topics:
Rock & roll - Britpop - Oasis - Drug - Alcohol addiction - Noel Gallagher

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The UK music media did not think that the badly behaved Williams would be a success as a musician. More credit was given to his former bandmates Gary Barlow, and to a lesser extent Mark Owen, as future successes.

Related Topics:
Gary Barlow - Mark Owen

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Life Thru A Lens

By 1996 Williams was ready to launch his solo career proper. His first single "Freedom", a cover of the George Michael tune from 1990, was released in August 1996. After a period in a 'detoxification' clinic, this was followed up by "Old Before I Die" in 1997. Both singles were considered to be successes after reaching number 2 in the UK charts. This led to the introduction of his first solo album, Life Thru A Lens, later that year.

Related Topics:
1996 - Single - Freedom - Cover - George Michael - 1997

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Life Thru A Lens contained both of his earlier singles - however the rest of the album was considered to be a disappointment, with the follow up singles "Lazy Days" and "South Of The Border" not being enthusiastically recieved.

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Angels

The last song to be released, in Christmas 1997, from Life Thru A Lens was the 'ballad' "Angels", it propelled Life Thru A Lens to number 1 on the album charts (28 weeks after the album was first released). This song on its own is credited with rescuing Williams' career, and has proved to be his most popular to date, making the UK top 10 singles chart.

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"Angels" was selected as the best song of the last 25 years in a special award at the 25th brit Awards ceremony, held at Earls Court, London, in February 2005.

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Williams quickly became a major celebrity in the UK with a number of other top ten singles, which would typically gather only minor interest in the USA. Millennium, built around a sample of the James Bond theme You Only Live Twice was a UK #1 hit in late 1998, but only peaked at #72 in America.

Related Topics:
Celebrity - James Bond - You Only Live Twice - 1998

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I've Been Expecting You

His second album "I've Been Expecting You" continued in the James Bond/spy theme and topped the UK charts in October 1998. In 1999 he collaborated with singer Tom Jones for a cover of Lenny Kravitz' song ?Are You Gonna Go My Way? on the album Reload.

Related Topics:
1999 - Tom Jones - Reload

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Sing When You're Winning

The album released in 2001 contained the #1 UK hit single "Rock DJ," the video of which led to massive controversy due to video content. This song was a minor hit in the United States in 2000, but continued the trend of never achieving the same level of fame and success there as he had in the UK. The video for the song featured Williams in a roller disco as he stripped nude and then proceeded to 'strip off' his own flesh, muscle tissue and organs and feed them to female dancers until he was nothing but a dancing skeleton. The negative reaction to the gruesome video has been cited as temporarily ending any momentum his career had going in the US. Interestingly though the video was nominated for an MTV Video Music Award.

Related Topics:
United States - 2000 - Roller disco - Nude - Flesh - Muscle - Organ - Skeleton - MTV Video Music Award

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It is said that the frontal nudity was edited out in the US while the gore was left in, whereas the opposite was true for the UK. Even so, the video's ending was cut by many TV stations around the world and the whole video was forbidden in some countries (VH1 Europe even made their own video out of recording studio footage). Williams has built quite a reputation for appearing nude (or nearly nude) in photographs, videos and live performances.

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Swing When You're Winning

Also in 2001 he released a whole album of classics entitled Swing When You're Winning in which his image was tamed down and polished as he breezed through jazz, blues and pop standards from the fifties and sixties including "Ain't That A Kick In The Head" and "Mack The Knife". The album also included a cover of the Frank and Nancy Sinatra classic "Something Stupid," a duet with Nicole Kidman, hot off the Oscar-nominated success of her movie musical Moulin Rouge! (2001). Williams' cover of the Bobby Darin classic "Beyond the Sea" from the album was later included on the Finding Nemo soundtrack in 2003 and helped to re-establish his appeal in the US.

Related Topics:
2001 - Album - Jazz - Blues - Frank - Nancy Sinatra - Nicole Kidman - Moulin Rouge! - Bobby Darin - Beyond the Sea - Finding Nemo

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Escapology

In 2002 Williams stopped working with his long-term writing partner Guy Chambers. However, they reunited six months later to work on the next album, Escapology, which was released in late 2002. The first single from it, "Feel," was a massive European hit, accompanied by a stylish black & white video featuring Darryl Hannah. The intriguing cover depicts Williams dangling from a crane in bare feet, to symbolise the "escapology" theme.

Related Topics:
Guy Chambers - Darryl Hannah

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The video for the next "Escapology" single, "Come Undone," was heavily censored by MTV Networks Europe for depicting a debauched (but fully-clothed) Williams having three-way sex with two women. The video also showed unsettling images of insects and reptiles. During such furores at this time, it was confirmed that Williams and Guy Chambers were to officially part ways.

Related Topics:
MTV Networks Europe - Sex - Insect - Reptile - Guy Chambers

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Recent career

In 2002, the UK public voted Williams to be on the BBC's list of the 100 Greatest Britons. He was also voted 17th in Channel 4's 100 Worst Britons poll.

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A best-selling official biography written by Chris Heath "Feel", was published in 2004, and chronicled events that led up to to the "Live Summer Tour 2003", during which Williams performed live to more than a million people over three days in August at Knebworth Park in Hertfordshire; this has become known as the biggest rock concert ever. Former Take That band member Mark Owen appeared with Williams on the third day, while 3.5 million more watched live on television and on the Internet. Leading up to Knebworth, in December 2003, Williams toured Australia and New Zealand alongside Duran Duran.

Related Topics:
Mark Owen - Duran Duran

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Since the split with Chambers, Williams has begun to set out to prove his naysayers wrong. Armed with a new songwriting partner, Stephen Duffy, Williams has penned several new songs, including the retro electro-throb of the UK #1 hit "Radio" and the more reflective "Misunderstood".

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Both tunes are taken from Williams' 19-track "Greatest Hits" album, released in October 2004. In February 2005, Williams received the British music industry's award for the best song of the past quarter century, "Angels," the song Williams credits with giving him a career.

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Williams' also performed at the Live 8 concert in London in 2005 where he was acknowledged as one of the stars of the show. An amusing incident happened at Live 8 when he asked the crowd to sing along with his hit song 'Feel', in which not everyone in the crowd in Hyde Park was familiar with. He jokingly covered it up and got a well-recieved laugh from the incident.

Related Topics:
The Live 8 concert in London - 2005 - Hyde Park

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Following in the footsteps of Freddie Mercury from Live Aid twenty years before, Robbie got the entire crowd at Hyde Park to chant along with "We Will Rock You", showcasing Williams' ability to grab the crowd's energy.

Related Topics:
Freddie Mercury - Live Aid

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Williams' lifestyle

Williams is currently single and now lives in Los Angeles, California. Speculation about his ambiguous sexuality and romantic life is rampant in the British media. Williams seems to encourage an image as a smooth womanizer and there are numerous widely-circulated Internet accounts allegedly written by Williams' female sexual partners extolling his considerable prowess as a lover. A regular feature of his live performances is full-on french kisses with female fans plucked from the audience.

Related Topics:
Los Angeles, California - French kiss

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Appeal

Williams is regarded with bafflement by some observers, who note that he seems to have achieved huge success in the UK with only moderate looks, a mediocre singing voice and an unimpressive musical background. His time as member of a cheesy boyband does not seem to have hampered his 'cool' image.

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Much of Williams' success can be attributed to his 'cheeky chappy' persona and ironic sensibility much loved by his UK fans. This is perhaps a major reason why Williams has failed to make any impact in the USA - without appreciating his ironic persona Americans see him as arrogant and self-aggrandising. Williams has said in interviews he hates performing, and compares his style to old-school UK comedian Norman Wisdom. Yet UK fans highlight the energy and entertainment value of his live performances as a major part of his appeal.

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