Actors - Robbie Williams

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	Actors - Robbie Williams

Robert Peter Maximillian Williams (born 13 February 1974 in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire) is an English pop singer.

Biography

Take That

Main article: Take That

Williams' early pop career started with the hit boy band Take That. The band was formed in 1990 and proved to be highly successful, with 8 UK Number 1 singles to their credit. Their popularity led to a succession of similar bands in the UK. However, it has since been suggested that Williams' 'roguish' qualities meant that he didn't fit into the band, and he frequently battled with his fellow band members and his management. He left the band in 1995. After leaving the band, the final Take That album 'Nobody Else' was re-issued in some markets excluding songs where Robbie Williams' was the lead vocalist. The final Take That single 'How Deep is Your Love' is the only one that didn't feature Robbie.

In November 2005, ITV1 screened a documentary on Take That, including the reasons behind Williams' departure, including interviews with Williams and his former fellow band members. Robbie Williams declined the offer to reunite with the band but spoke to them via a pre recorded video message.

Take That, reformed without Williams and due to tour in early to mid 2006 have extended an open invitation for Williams to join them on stage if he wishes to. Williams has apparently given the reformation his blessing

Solo career

After Take That

After leaving Take That, Williams immersed himself in the pop lifestyle. This included an affected swagger and an infamous appearance during Oasis's headlining set at Glastonbury in 1995. This led to a highly publicised battle with drug and alcohol addiction, during which he put on nearly 40 pounds (18 kg) and was often seen in public poorly dressed, dirty and unshaven. After a well-publicised fallout with Oasis, Noel Gallagher famously refused to recognise him as anything but "that fat dancer from Take That".

At the time,the British media speculated that Williams would not be a success as a solo singer.

Life Thru A Lens

By 1996 Williams was ready to launch his solo career proper. His first single, "Freedom '90" (a cover of the popular 1990 George Michael tune) was released in August 1996. After a period in a drug rehabilitation clinic, this was followed up by "Old Before I Die" in 1997. Both singles reached number 2 in the UK charts and were considered successful. He then released the singles "Lazy Days" (Number 8) and "South Of The Border" (Number 14), but they were only moderately successful due to their poor chart positions. This led to his first solo album, Life Thru A Lens, later that year.

Angels

The next single from Life Thru A Lens was "Angels", released in December 1997. The song's popularity propelled the album to number 1 on the album charts, 28 weeks after the album was first released. The 'ballad'-style song is credited with single-handedly rescuing Williams' career, and has proved to be his most popular to date, although it never reached the top of the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number 4.

"Angels" was voted best song of the last 25 years by BBC Radio 2 listeners, and received a special award at the 25th Brit Awards ceremony, held at Earls Court, London, in February 2005.

Williams quickly became a celebrity in the UK with a number of other top ten singles, which would typically gather only minor interest in the USA. "Millennium", built around a sample of the James Bond theme "You Only Live Twice", was a UK #1 hit in late 1998, but only peaked at #72 in America.

I've Been Expecting You

His second album, I've Been Expecting You, continued in the James Bond/spy theme and topped the UK charts in October 1998. In 1999 he collaborated with singer Tom Jones of the Lenny Kravitz song, "Are You Gonna Go My Way?" on the album Reload, which they also performed together at the Brit Awards.

Sing When You're Winning

Williams' next album, Sing When You're Winning, was released in 2000. The album contained the controversial single "Rock DJ", which reached number 1 in the UK charts and was a minor hit in the United States.

Some controversy surrounded the single's accompanying music video, which featured Williams in a roller disco surrounded by ravenous female fans. In the video, Williams strips nude for the fans, then (using CGI technology) he is shown 'stripping off' his skin, muscle tissue and organs and feeding them to the female dancers. The video ends with Williams, now nothing but a skeleton, still dancing to the music.

The video was nominated for an MTV Video Music Award, but the combination of nudity and violence led to a negative public reaction, which has been cited as temporarily ending his career's momentum in the USA. It is said that the frontal nudity was edited out in the US while the gore was left in, while the opposite was true for the UK. Even after the editing, the video's ending was cut by many TV stations around the world, and in some countries the whole video was banned (VH1 Europe made their own video for the song out of recording studio footage). Williams has since built a reputation for appearing nude (or nearly nude) in photographs, videos and live performances.

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