Robbie Williams: biography, personal life, creativity. British singer and actor Robbie Williams

Robert Williams is a singer, songwriter and actor from the UK. A former member of the pop band Take That in 1990-1995 and 2009-2012, as well as a popular solo artist.

Robbie Williams: Biography

He was born on 13.02.74 in Stoke-on-Trent, United Kingdom. When Robbie was three years old, his parents divorced, and he stayed to live with his mother Janet and sister. At school, Williams behaved ugly, and as a result he never received a certificate of graduation. Deprived of much choice, Robbie went to the sellers, but fate intervened. His mother saw in the local newspaper an announcement about recruiting a music group. Knowing that her son has a singer's talent and acting skills, she organized his participation in one of the numerous auditions held in Manchester. As it turned out, the rebellious character that was shown in the school, Robbie did not interfere, as his performance ended in a grand success, and he began his hard way to glory.

Five years with Take That

In 1990, Nigel Martin-Smith created a "boy" band Take That. To the four participants, Mark Owen, Gary Barlow, Jason Orange and Howard Donald, the youngest - 16-year-old Robbie Williams joined. The biography of the singer for the next five years is marked by undoubted success. The compositions of the band from time to time led the charts, and she went on tour around the world, performing with concerts in crowded stadiums. But in 1995, Williams decided that it was enough, and announced his retirement from the band and the beginning of a solo career.

Intoxication of freedom

Take That's image obliged to lead the usual way for the participant of the "boy's" group, a way of life that corresponds to the average age of his fans. But as soon as Williams left the band, he hit the front pages of the newspaper because of his behavior. Robbie was obviously ecstatic from getting rid of his image and status as an idol of teenagers, and he was soon photographed at a party in Glastonbury with Oasis, which was far from the musical style and reputation of Take That. This was a silent demonstration of Williams' attitude to what he had been doing for the past five years. Soon he changed his image, began to wear dirty clothes, grew a beard and gained weight to acquire an impressive beer belly. It seemed that he intentionally distanced himself from the group that made him a star.

Solo career

Williams always wanted to work alone, and in 1996 his career with Robbie William Band began with a cover for George Michael Freedom's song, which reached number two on the UK chart. The recording of his debut album was launched in March 1996, and the meeting with the songwriter and producer Guy Chambers was a guarantee of success, leading to their long-term cooperation. Old Before I Die was the first single of the debut disc and took second place in the English chart. The Life Thru A Lens album appeared in September 1997.

Stormy parties in the first years after leaving Take That led the singer into a gloomy and apparently inevitable world of alcohol and drugs. Robbie Williams, whose biography is similar to the way of many celebrities, found himself in a rehab center before the recording of the album was completed. "Life through the lens" provided the singer a very mediocre success, and failing to lead the hit parade, and the third single South of the Border plunged into a soft non-existence outside the top ten. Some critics and fans have begun to wonder how long Williams will be able to perform alone and whether he can even achieve at least half of the success he had with Take That.

The first solo hit

Meeting with the record company, during which his future was discussed, was a turning point in the life of Williams. It was decided to release the fourth single, and Angels became the best in the UK, having twice received a platinum certificate. His sales around the world have exceeded two million copies, instantly lifting to the skies the popularity of Life Thru the Lens. The star status of a solo artist in the United Kingdom was finally reached, but Williams still had to prove himself on the international market.

"Millennium"

In 1998, Williams and Chambers began writing songs for the second album in Jamaica. Borrowing the musical design used by Nancy Sinatra in the bondessade "You Live Only Twice," they released the first single "Millennium" in 1998. He immediately went into the lead, shifting the track All Saints Under the Bridge. Ironically, while Robbie was engaged to one of the participants of this group, Nicole Appleton. When the album I've Been Expecting You was released, in the autumn of 1998, he quickly took the first line of the hit parade and became the best-selling release in the UK that year. Bearing in mind the failure of the debut album, Williams' recording company this time worried that the advertisement would go beyond the United Kingdom, and the single No Regrets was well received in Europe and Latin America.

Overseas

The next step for Williams was the conquest of the American market - an extremely difficult target for British artists. In the US, Robbie signed a contract with EMI and went on a promotional tour of the United States. However, after the release of the album "Millennium" in 1999, he became only 72nd on the Billboard Hot 100, and the debut overseas album entitled The Ego Has Landed reached only 63rd step. Despite the failure, Williams still got decent airtime and was nominated for the MTV Video Music Awards for the best male video. He was not awarded the award, but the nomination allowed him to significantly raise his authority.

Striptease under the ban

Despite the concerts constantly given by Robbie Williams, the singer still found time in 1999 to record his third album. The first single released by Rock DJ sparked controversy. Not because of their content, but because of the video - in doing a striptease, Robbie ripped off his skin and muscles. This led to the censorship of the clip in Top Of The Pops, and other music channels followed suit. Nevertheless, the track was a hit all over the world, winning several awards, and was named the best song of 2000 at the European MTV Awards ceremony, and also the best single of the year in the UK.

The release of the album in August 2000 brought Williams success all over the world, he came out on top in the English charts, and Kylie Minogue turned to Williams with an offer to write a few songs for her CD Light Years. Instead, the couple played the single Children's duet and went on a joint two-month tour of the United Kingdom.

Change of musical orientation

After the success of his third album, Williams decided to change the musical direction. He made a two-week break on his tour to record his fourth studio album, the sound of which was significantly different from the previous ones. This is what Robbie Williams always dreamed of. Music, born of the love of the singer to Frank Sinatra, combined with the success of the jazz composition from the movie "Bridget Jones Diaries" early 2001, Sing When You're Winning was released in 2001 and instantly became world-wide popular. The first single Something Stupid he sang together with Nicole Kidman. Cover of the hit Frank and Nancy Sinatra was the fifth hit of the artist in the UK, and the album was the 49th best selling in the United Kingdom. Subsequently, Robbie also fulfilled his dream, having performed with a solo concert in London's Royal Albert Hall.

In 2002, the singer signed the largest in British history contract with EMI for a record sum of £ 80 million, proving that the unfinished school-born Stockman is a real megastar. After a year's break, he began working on his fifth album. Escapology marked a new era for Williams. He did not quite part with his long-time associate Guy Chambers - both sides made opposing statements. This allowed Robbie to participate more actively in the creation of the new disc, proving his confidence in the recording studio, and the three tracks were the first ones written without the participation of Chambers.

With the release in 2002, the album topped the UK's hit parade, but in the United States it took only 43rd place. The gigantic summer tour of 2003 ended with three concerts in Nebuworth with a record number of spectators - to listen to Williams came 375 000 fans. The show was released as the artist's debut live album in 2003, which became the best-selling, double the Oasis figures. A year later, Williams decided that it was time to step out of the shadows and refresh his career by collaborating with new talents. In 2004, he began working with the British composer Stephen Duffy, and in the same year a collection of the best hits was released, which came out on top in 18 countries.

"Intensive therapy"

Robbie Williams hits without interruption. A year after his tour of Latin America, in October 2005, he recorded the sixth studio album Intensive Care, whose circulation in six weeks exceeded 2 million. Noting that Williams managed to dominate the charts for many years of his solo career since leaving Take That, former members of the group, which broke up in 1996, agreed to rejoin London in a preview of the documentary that was to be broadcast on the ITV1 channel. When he left the band, many rumors circulated about the reasons for this decision, and most of them concerned Robbie's dislike of Gary Barlow. However, everyone believed that Williams would probably leave the past alone and join the show. Nevertheless, he refused to meet, disappointing fans and once again leaving the rest of the group.

Failure

Rudebox's seventh studio album received mixed reviews. The premiere of the first single under the same name was held on BBC Radio 1 in the Scott Mills DJ show, provoking controversy, as the release date set by the record company has not yet come. The composition was criticized and, ironically, the officially reunited band Take That sold more copies of its album Beautiful World than Robbie Williams. The biography of the singer was marked by the release of the lowest-soldable brainchild for the solo career of the musician. It seemed that he was mistaken with a change of style and recorded a disc that was not swept off the shelves. This was not the end, because right after the announcement of the world tour in 2006, a world record was set - 1.6 million tickets were sold for the day.

Personal life

Williams managed to quarrel with the British media since his move to the United States. He several times stated in the press that he prefers a way of life in Los Angeles, because there he has more freedom and seclusion than in the UK. Constant battle with drugs and alcohol abuse negatively affected his personal life. Robbie made a frank public announcement that he suffers from depression by taking part in the BBC documentary directed by Stephen Fry about bipolar disorder. He also acquired the reputation of a person who can not maintain a relationship for a considerable period of time. After the break with Nicole Appleton in the late 90's, he only briefly met with several celebrities, including Rachel Hunter, but finally found love with the American actress of Turkish origin Aida Field. The future wife of Robbie Williams participated in the filming of a documentary about UFOs, which the singer did for BBC Radio 4 in April 2006. The couple married at a solemn ceremony held at the singer's house in Los Angeles 07/07/2010. Robbie Williams' wife gave him two children: a daughter Theodore (2012) and son Charlton (2014).

But before this discussion of his personal life sometimes reached the point of absurdity, when his inability to connect his life with a woman gave rise to speculation about his sexual orientation. It went so far that in 2005 he won a libel case against MGN and Nothern & Shell, who in their articles claimed that he was a latent homosexual. The fighters for gay rights offered Williams to donate the significant amounts of compensation received to charitable organizations for homosexuals, claiming that his case shows that he was offended by the way he was called. In the example, the similar case of Jason Donovan was cited, which alienated many gay fans from him. The long-time friend of the singer, actor and musician Max Bizli, expressed in the press that some things written about him make him furious - for example, rumors that he is gay. "It's a lie." I've never met a smaller gay man in my life! "

Creative stagnation

October 4, 2007, Williams returned to the scene after almost ten months of a break as a guest at the concert of Mark Ronson in Los Angeles. He performed the classic song The Charlatans The Onle One I Know, included in the Ronson Version album. In January 2008, a long silence since the release of Rudebox in 2005 gave rise to rumors that Robbie Williams did not record albums, as he announced a strike to his EMI label. His manager Tim Clark denied these speculations and insisted that the plans just had to be postponed. The new EMI owner Guy Hands told the Financial Times that: "The company does not have problems with Williams." His manager, and not Robbie himself, made the statements. "Williams recorded and performed for many years for a full day and wanted to rest in 2008. There is no need to push him to record the disc. "Tim Clark, Williams manager, declined to comment.

Reunion Take That

Two years later it was announced that Robbie was going to release a second collection of his best compositions from 1990-2010. Robbie William: In the Out Of Consciousness: Greatest Hits 1990-2010, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of being in this business. The album included a song called Shame, written together with an old friend of the band Gary Barlow. This collaboration intensified rumors about the Take That reunion.

July 15, there was an official announcement that Robbie Williams is working with his former team on the release of the new album. The statement published at that time said that: "The rumors are true ... The Take That team in the original composition wrote and recorded a new album, which will be called Progress and will be released before the end of this year." On September 20, 2010, the singer published his second book co-authored with Chris Heath "You know me". It publishes photos of the star throughout the 20-year career and comments on them. In October of the same year, Media Control announced that Robbie Williams is a singer of the millennium, as his compositions have been leading in German charts for the longest time. Progress was released in November 2010 and became the second fastest-selling album in the history of the UK.

The group announced its intention to tour in 2011. The tour under the name Progress Live 2011 also became the fastest-selling for all time of existence of English charts and ended with eight concerts at the Wembley Stadium. On July 15 and 16, 2011, the band was due to give sold-out concerts in Denmark's Copenhagen capital as part of the world tour, but they were canceled for the first time in the history of Take That, as Robbie picked up the intestinal infection.

Coming back to pop music

On October 6, 2011, British singer Robbie Williams launched Radio Rudebox radio show. During the transfer, he interviewed Barlow and played music. In late 2012, Robbie released a solo album titled Take The Crown, produced by Barlow. Then in 2013, there was another swing album called Swings Both Ways. After an interview with Barlow Radio Times, rumors began circulating that Robbie Williams Take That had once again left. Already after it turned out that he meant that the group took a break, as now all the singers are implementing their own solo projects.

The singer returned to the bosom of pop music in late 2016, releasing his 11th album The Heavy Entertainment Show. Composition Entertainment became his 12th hit # 1 in the UK, providing the singer with the title of the most successful solo artist in the history of the English charts.

Participation in the cinema

There are also films with Robbie Williams in one or the other hypostasis. He voiced Dougal in The Magic Roundabout (2005) and starred in Gangsta Granny (2013), Robbie Williams: Take the Crown Live (2012), The Short Cut (2011), De-Lovely (2004), Robbie Williams: Rock DJ ( 2000), Hooves of Fire (1999), etc. His songs are played in the tapes: "X-Men: First Class" (2011), "Bridget Jones Diary" (2001), "In Search of Nemo" (2003), "Knight's History "(2001)," Maps, money, two trunks "(1998) and many others. Also saw documentary films with Robbie Williams about the participation of the singer in the band Take That and the tape about his solo performances.