Star Profile

Introduction

• Robert Peter "Robbie" Williams(born 13 February 1974) is an English singer-songwriter, and occasional actor.

• He is a member of the pop group Take That, but has found greater commercial success as a solo artist.

• Williams has sold more than 77 million albums and singles worldwide

• He is the best-selling British solo artist in the United Kingdom and the best selling non-Latino artist in Latin America.

Take That

• In 1990, the sixteen-year-old Williams was the youngest member to join Take That. According to the documentary Take That. His mother read an advertisement seeking members for a new boy band and suggested that he try out for the group. He met fellow member Mark Owen on the day of his audition/interview with Nigel Martin-Smith.

• In July 1995, Williams's drug abuse had escalated to the point of his having a near drug overdose the night before the group was scheduled to perform at the MTV Europe Music Awards.

• According to the documentary For the Record, he stated that he was unhappy with his musical ideas not being taken seriously by lead singer Barlow and Nigel Martin-Smith, because his desire to explore hip hop and rap conflicted with the band's usual ballads.

• The group confronted Williams about his attitude and stated they wanted to do the tour without him. He agreed to quit the band and left; it would be the last time for twelve years that they were all together. Despite the departure of Williams, Take That completed their Nobody Else Tour as a four-piece band.

• They later disbanded on 13 February 1996, Williams's 22nd birthday.

Take That part 2

• While it was rumoured that Williams would reunite with Take That on 12 November 2009 for a Children In Need charity concert at The Royal Albert Hall, they merely greeted each other warmly on stage between performances. However, both did join with the other acts in the final song of the evening, with Williams putting his arm around Gary Barlow and singing "Hey Jude".

• It was announced on 15 July that Williams had re-joined Take That. In November 2010 the Take That album Progress was released, becoming the fastest selling album since 2000 and the second fastest selling album in UK history. Williams explained that the long-standing friction between himself and Gary has been resolved, and how close they now were

• Owen announced that Take That will begin recording their 7th studio album in 2014.

Take That

1996–98: Life Thru a Lens and I've Been Expecting You• After leaving Take That, Williams launched his solo career starting off in

1996 by covering George Michael's "Freedom", the single reached number two in the UK Singles Chart.

• His debut album, Life Thru a Lens, was released in September 1997. The album launched with his first live solo gig at the Élysée Montmartre theatre in Paris, France. The album debuted at number eleven of the UK Album Charts.

• Williams released what would be the fourth single taken from his album. "Angels" became Williams' best-seller in the United Kingdom. The song, apart from becoming a hit around Europe and Latin America, caused sales of his album to skyrocket. The album remained inside the British top ten for forty weeks and spent 218 weeks there altogether, making it the 58th best selling album in UK history with sales of over 2.4 million. The album eventually managed to sell over three million copies in Europe

1999–2001: Sing When You're Winning and Swing When You're Winning• In 1999, Williams was signed to Capitol Records in the United States, a part of EMI.

• The first single taken from the album was "Rock DJ”. The video showed Williams in an attempt to get noticed by a group of females, first stripping and then tearing chunks of skin and muscle from his body, and caused controversy in the United Kingdom and many other countries.

• The video was edited by Top of the Pops for its graphic content and many other channels followed suit. The song became an instant hit, reaching number one in the UK

• The song went on to win "Best Song of 2000" at the MTV Europe Music Awards, "Best Single of the Year" at the BRIT

• When the album, Sing When You're Winning was released in August 2000, it topped the charts in many different countries

• "Beyond the Sea" was featured over the credits of the film Finding Nemo in 2003 and was also released on the film's soundtrack CD.

2002–05: Escapology and Intensive Care

• In 2002, Williams signed a record-breaking £80 million contract with EMI

• When Williams' fifth studio album, Escapology, was released in late 2002, it hit number one in at least 10 countries around the world

• Eight years after the release of "Angels", in February 2005 the British public voted it as the "Best Single of the Past Twenty-Five Years" at the 2005 BRIT Awards.

• In November 2005, Williams took home the MTV Europe Music Award for 'Best Male', but also, entered in The Guinness Book of World Records when he announced his World Tour for 2006, selling 1.6 million tickets in one single day

2006–09: Rudebox and Reality Killed the Video Star• Williams released his much anticipated dance/electro album,

Rudebox, on 23 October 2006

• On 20 October 2009 Williams opened the BBC Electric Proms at the London Round House

2010–13: In and Out of Consciousness, Take the Crown and Swings Both Ways• In October 2010, Williams released his second greatest hits album, In and

Out of Consciousness: The Greatest Hits 1990–2010, to celebrate 20 years as a performing artist.

• A single, "Shame", was also released, which was written and sung by Williams and Barlow.

• Williams was the opening act at the Diamond Jubilee concert held outside Buckingham Palace on 4 June 2012

• The album's lead single, "Candy", premiered on 10 September 2012 and was released on 11 September in most countries and 29 October in the UK. In the UK, "Candy" became Williams' first number one single since "Radio" (2004) and his seventh solo number one single.

• In its first week the song has sold 137,000 copies becoming the fastest-selling male artist single of the year.

Other work

• In 2005 Williams provided the voice of Dougal in the film adaption of The Magic Roundabout.

• On 26 August 2010, it was announced Williams would become a guest vocal coach on the ninth series of German reality television show Popstars: Girls forever to teach candidates for a girl group.

• On 20 September 2010, Williams released his second book called You Know Me in collaboration with Chris Heath. The book features a collection of photographs of Williams from the past 20 years of his career and discussion of them by Williams as transcribed by Heath.

• Williams launched a radio show titled Radio Rudebox on 6 October 2011 where he played music and interviewed Gary Barlow.

Charity

• Williams has set up a charity in his home town of Stoke-on-Trent entitled Give It Sum, its goal being to "improve local conditions and strengthen community life by giving money to those who are disadvantaged.

• Williams, with the help of friend Jonathan Wilkes, has organised charity football matches called Soccer Aid to raise money for UNICEF UK. A mixture of celebrities and professional football players have played Soccer Aid matches in 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2012 at Old Trafford in Manchester and Wembley Stadium in London.

• Williams has been the Patron of the children's charity the Donna Louise Trust, based in Stoke-on-Trent, since 2002. The charity offers respite and palliative care to terminally ill and life-limited children who are not expected to live past the age of 16