Angels (Robbie Williams song)

Did You Know?

• In 2009, Williams performed "Angels" at the final of the sixth series of The X Factor with Olly Murs.
• On 14 June 2018, Williams performed "Angels" with Russian soprano Aida Garifullina at the 2018 FIFA World Cup opening ceremony.
• On 23 June 2018, Williams performed "Angels" with Taylor Swift at Wembley Stadium during her Reputation Stadium Tour.

Authorship

Robbie Williams stated that he wrote "Angels" with Guy Chambers in 25 minutes, inspired by a water fountain they were watching outside a café. Williams said it was the first song they wrote together and expressed irritation that some assumed Chambers was the sole author. Chambers said he wrote the music, and Williams the lyrics and melody, describing the collaboration as very equal. The Irish singer-songwriter Ray Heffernan asserts that he wrote the first version of the song in 1996 after his girlfriend had a miscarriage, with lyrics about loving an angel instead of a baby. Heffernan says he met Williams by chance in a Dublin pub that year and played him an incomplete version, after which they recorded a studio demo. Williams confirmed the demo session but said he rewrote the song significantly with Chambers, and has never confirmed Heffernan's authorship, calling him a "fantasist". Before the song's release, Heffernan accepted an offer from Williams to buy the rights, initially offered £2,500, which rose to £7,500 when he asked for a writing credit. He is thanked in the UK CD2 single liner notes. Williams said they could have gone to court but he gave Heffernan money to make the matter go away. In 2011, Heffernan said he was once angry but that the song earned him connections with publishing companies. In 2023, he said he did not regret earning no royalties, as that would have enabled his drug use, but was hurt that Williams accepted an Ivor Novello Award for writing the song without acknowledging him. As of 2023, Heffernan was working as a language teacher in rural Italy.

Sales

"Angels" arrived as the fourth single from Robbie Williams' first album, Life Thru a Lens, with a music video shot by Vaughan Arnell. It peaked at number 4 on the UK singles chart, hanging around the top 10 for 12 weeks and staying inside the top 75 for 17. In Britain, it ranked as the 38th best-selling single of 1997, the 25th best-selling of 1998, and the 34th best-selling of the entire decade. By 2014, UK sales had topped 1.16 million copies. Across the Atlantic, the song came out in 1999 after Williams' US debut with "Millennium," climbing to number 53—his highest chart position in America. It later reappeared on the ARIA Top 100 at number 91 on 5 May 2008. A 2022 rework, "Angels (XXV)," from the compilation XXV, reached number 92 on the UK chart on 10 June.

Reception

Aberdeen Press and Journal called "Angels" perhaps the strongest cut from the album. John Bush of AllMusic noted Williams' crooning. Larry Flick of Billboard described it as a sweet ballad that never gets sappy, with first-rate production, thoughtful lyrics, and a chorus to kill for. Daily Record felt Williams had come of age with the melodic pop ballad. The Irish Independent called it an epic ballad. Music & Media wrote that the song distinguished itself from Williams' indie rock-inspired predecessors with a mellow, piano-based arrangement. Music Week gave it four out of five, likening it to Elton John and suggesting Williams would be more successful than his former bandmate Gary Barlow. The Pitchfork writer Michael Sandlin called it a pink feather-boa'd Elton John mishap. In 2017, ShortList declared it genuinely brilliant with an understated vocal. The Guardian critic Alexis Petridis wrote in 2022 that the song was so ubiquitous for so long that it was an unavoidable fact of daily life. In 2025, the Guardian writer Ian Gittins described it as the ubiquitous national anthem of the 90s. The song won the Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically in 1999. Q named it the 237th-best song of all time in 2003. In a 2004 VH1 poll, it was voted the best single that never reached number one. At the 2005 Brit Awards, the British public voted it the best British song of the past 25 years. In a 2005 survey, Britons chose it as the song they would most like played at their funeral.

Cover versions

Jessica Simpson's cover of "Angels" was the fourth and final single from her album In This Skin in 2004, produced by Billy Mann. Its video shows Simpson on an empty stage rehearsing, anxious and losing confidence, but as white roses appear she regains confidence and finishes the song with a youth orchestra. Simpson's version failed to enter the Billboard Hot 100 but reached number six on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart and entered the top 30 in Australia and Canada. In 2005, Yuridia released "Ángel", a Spanish version she had performed on La Academia, as her debut single from La Voz de un Ángel. It became an instant hit in Mexico and Latin America, leading her album to Diamond status in Mexico. "Ángel" reached number 32 on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart and led the Mexican charts for 13 weeks. David Archuleta covered the song during the seventh season of American Idol in 2008, and a studio version was made available as a digital download exclusively via iTunes for a limited period.