Robbie Williams

Take That

Williams joined Take That in 1990 at age sixteen, the youngest member. His mother read an advertisement seeking members for a new boy band and suggested he try out. He met fellow member Mark Owen on the day of his audition with Nigel Martin-Smith. Williams performed lead vocals on three hits: "Could It Be Magic", "I Found Heaven", and "Everything Changes".

His use of alcohol and cocaine brought him into conflict with Martin-Smith over the group's behaviour rules. In November 1994, Williams nearly had a drug overdose the night before the group was scheduled to perform at the MTV Europe Music Awards. He was unhappy that his musical ideas, including an interest in hip hop and rap, were not taken seriously by Martin-Smith and lead singer Gary Barlow. Barlow later said Williams had stopped offering creative input.

Concerned about Williams's increasingly belligerent behaviour and poor attendance at rehearsals, Barlow and Jason Orange took their concerns to Martin-Smith. During one of the last rehearsals before the tour, the three confronted Williams and said they wanted to do the tour without him. He agreed to quit and left the group in July 1995. Take That completed their Nobody Else Tour as a four-piece and later disbanded on 13 February 1996, Williams's 22nd birthday.

After leaving, Williams was photographed by the press partying with the members of Oasis at Glastonbury Festival. A clause in his Take That contract prohibited him from releasing any material until after the group was officially dissolved, and he was later sued by Martin-Smith and forced to pay $200,000 in commission. After various legal battles, Williams was released from his contract with BMG and signed with Chrysalis Records on 27 June 1996. Williams rejoined Take That in July 2010, co-writing and performing lead vocals on their album Progress, which became the second-fastest-selling album in UK chart history and the fastest-selling record of the century at the time.

2010–2012: In and Out of Consciousness and Take the Crown

The subsequent stadium tour, which featured seven songs from Williams' solo career, became the biggest-selling concert in UK history when it sold 1.34 million tickets in less than 24 hours. In 2011, Gary Barlow confirmed that Williams had left the band for a second time to focus on his solo career, though the departure was amicable and Williams was welcome to rejoin in the future. Williams has since performed with Take That on three separate television appearances.

Solo career

Williams launched his solo career in 1996 with a cover of George Michael's "Freedom", which reached number two in the UK Singles Chart. Recordings for his first album began at London's Maison Rouge studios in March 1997. After being introduced to songwriter and producer Guy Chambers, Williams released "Old Before I Die", the first single from his debut album; it reached number two on the UK Charts but was largely ignored internationally. His debut album, Life thru a Lens, was released in September 1997 and debuted at number eleven on the UK Albums Chart.

The fourth single, "Angels", is Williams' best-seller in the United Kingdom. The song became a hit around Europe and Latin America, causing sales of his album to skyrocket. Life thru a Lens remained in the British top ten for forty weeks and spent 218 weeks on the chart, making it the 58th best-selling album in UK history with sales of over 2.4 million, and eventually sold over three million copies in Europe. Williams and Chambers started writing the second album, I've Been Expecting You, in Jamaica in early 1998.

The first single, "Millennium", accompanied by a music video parodying James Bond, became Williams's first number one single in the UK. The album was released in late October 1998 and debuted at number one in the UK. It included "She's the One", which became his second number one single. Williams' three concerts at Knebworth in 2003 drew over 375,000 people, the UK's biggest music event to that point.

His latest compilation album, XXV, was released in 2022. A film based on Williams' life, Better Man, was released in 2024.

Other projects

In 2010, Williams rejoined Take That to co-write and perform lead vocals on their album Progress. The subsequent stadium tour became the biggest-selling concert in UK history when it sold 1.34 million tickets in less than 24 hours. In 2011, Gary Barlow confirmed that Williams had left the band for a second time to focus on his solo career, though the departure was amicable. Williams has since performed with Take That on three separate television appearances, and collaborated with Barlow on a number of projects such as the West End musical The Band.

Personal life

Robert Peter Williams was born on 13 February 1974 in Stoke-on-Trent, the son of Janet (née Farrell) and Peter Williams (also known as Pete Conway), who ran a pub called the Red Lion in Burslem before becoming the licensee at the Port Vale Social Club. His maternal grandfather was an Irishman from Kilkenny. He attended St Margaret Ward Catholic School in Tunstall and participated in several school plays, most notably in the role of the Artful Dodger in a production of Oliver! In 2014, he was awarded the freedom of his hometown of Stoke-on-Trent and had a tourist trail created and streets named in his honour.