Robbie Williams

Robert Peter Williams is an English singer and songwriter born on 13 February 1974. He originally found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995 before launching a successful solo career in 1996. Williams is recognized as one of the best-selling music artists of all time, having sold an estimated 75 million to 80 million records worldwide.

Williams was born in Stoke-on-Trent to Janet and Peter Williams. His father ran the Red Lion pub in Burslem before managing the Port Vale Social Club, and his maternal grandfather was from Kilkenny, Ireland. While attending St Margaret Ward Catholic School in Tunstall, Williams participated in school plays, including performing as the Artful Dodger in a production of Oliver!

In 1990, at sixteen years old, Williams became the youngest member to join Take That. He sang lead vocals on several hit songs, including "Could It Be Magic", "I Found Heaven", and "Everything Changes". Following personal conflicts and drug abuse issues, he left the group in July 1995. Williams rejoined Take That in 2010 to co-write and perform lead vocals on the album Progress. Although he departed again in 2011 to focus on his solo commitments, he has since reunited with the group for select television appearances and collaborative projects.

After signing with Chrysalis Records, Williams released his debut solo studio album, Life thru a Lens, in 1997, which featured his best-selling UK single "Angels". His second album, I've Been Expecting You (1998), topped the UK Albums Chart and contained his first two UK number-one singles, "Millennium" and "She's the One". He followed this success with Sing When You're Winning (2000), featuring the UK number-one single "Rock DJ", and the swing-inspired album Swing When You're Winning (2001), which yielded the UK chart-topping duet "Somethin' Stupid" with Nicole Kidman.

In 2002, Williams signed an £80 million contract with EMI, marking the largest music deal in British history. That year, he released his fifth studio album, Escapology, led by the international hit single "Feel". Over his solo career, seven of his singles and 13 of his 14 studio albums have reached number one in the United Kingdom. In 2006, he earned a Guinness World Record by selling 1.6 million tickets in a single day during his Close Encounters Tour.

Williams has earned a record 18 Brit Awards, eight German ECHO Awards, and three MTV European Music Awards. He was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2004 after being voted the Greatest Artist of the 1990s, and he received the freedom of his hometown of Stoke-on-Trent in 2014. His compilation album XXV was released in 2022, and a biographical film titled Better Man was released in 2024.