Robbie Williams
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At St Margaret Ward High School in Stoke, Robbie was always the class joker and had a particular gift for singing and acting. His great love then (and now) is Port Vale FC. His mum used to own a pub just down the road from their training ground. |
No longer a part of Take That, Robbie was a member of the group from 1990 through until 1995. We therefore thought it right to keep his biography here.Robbie loves to tell the story of the time he threw £2,000 out of the window on a match day! You can be sure that his mum loved him for that (not!), especially when her bras and knickers followed! It was with his mum Jan, that he joined a local theatre group, and was often seen starring in various musicals and plays, his biggest part was playing the Artful Dodger in 'Oliver'.
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Robbie joined Take That when he was only 16 (that's him on the left hand side of the picture!). He had only one job previous to that, as a double-glazing salesman, but apparently he wasn't very good - he would tell customers not to buy them because they were so bad!
For five years, Robbie became the joker of the band, always smiling and playing gags on people as they rose to record-breaking stardom. |
Robbie's
mum was the person responsible for him joining the band. She
saw the advert for auditions and suggested that Robbie apply.
He did so, and as soon as the other members saw him, they
knew he was the right man for the job. However, on July 17th 1995 all that was to stop, when Robbie left the band. The headlines in all the newspapers read 'I Quit', but, over the following weeks, Robbie gave interviews to the effect that he was actually sacked after he had given in his 6 months notice to quit the Band.
Since then there have been many rumours and misquotes about what Robbie has said and what the other members of Take That have said about Robbie's time in the band. What Robbie confirms is that he felt that being a member of the band was constricting. Never being allowed to be his own person. Robbie was the one that no-one took seriously, he gave up putting input into the band from early on and just did what he was told.
The Band had strict rules about how they should behave and Robbie, being the extrovert that he is, found these 'rules' unbelievably hard on him. He saught refuge in Cocaine and Alcohol, both of which were ready available to him with no arguments.
Various legal battles ensued until finally, on June 27th 1996 Robbie held a press conference at a London hotel where he announced that his contract with BMG was ending and he had signed to 'Chrysalis Records'.
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Robbie's
first ever solo single on this label would be George Michael's
'Freedom', which was released on July 29th 1996 exactly one
year after his departure from Take That. He performed it live at the Capital Radio Fun Day at Clapham Common on Sunday 28th July 1996 (one of his first gigs as a solo performer). "Freedom" reached No 2 in the UK charts, narrowly beaten by the Spice Girls. He released his second single 'Old Before I Die' on 14th April 1997 which also reached No 2 in the charts. At the beginning of June 1997, after many bad reports in the media and following the advice of Elton John and George Michael, Robbie checked himself into Clouds House Drink and Drugs Rehabilitation Clinic in Salisbury, Wilstshire to undergo treatment for his addiction to alcohol and drugs. Rob was photographed (right) as he left for the rehab centre joking about the lack of attention he was receiving compared to other celebrities that have gone down the same road as him previously.
After spending just 4 weeks at the centre Robbie emerged as a slim 11 stone figure, having lost 2 stones (28lbs), sporting a new extremely short haircut, and hopefully feeling much better. The release of 'Lazy Days' followed soon after on July 14th, and made it's first appearance in the UK charts at No 8, to be followed shortly after by South Of The Border. The songwriting partnership with former "Lemon Trees" member Guy Chambers was soon blossoming and became very productive.
December 1997 was the real beginning for Robbie, he released 'Angels' as his Christmas single, never knowing quite what an impact it would have on the market. Into the new year of 1998 it was still in the charts and Life Thru A Lens shot back into the album charts. Robbie Williams truly had arrived, signing up thousands of new fans daily.
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He began to gain respect from every quarter of the music business and showed that he definitely was NOT the next Andrew Ridgely! With songs from the last album I've Been Expecting You gaining him even more credebility in the pop world (Millennium being his first solo number one back in September 98). His third album Sing When You're Winning was released on 28 August 2000 and included several successful singles like 'Rock DJ', 'Surpreme' and 'Kids', a duet with Kylie Minogue for whom Guy Chambers and Robbie had penned some tunes. With the video to 'Rock DJ' where he literally stripped down to the very bones, he shocked and drew the public attention again. A sold-out tour followed, taking him all over Europe.
 In
2001 Robbie Williams really was on top of the European pop scene,
being a household name all over the continent. So the man did
take it all one step further and presented a totally different
side of him - the swingin' Robbie.At a magical performance at the Royal Albert Hall in October 2001, he revived all the unforgettable tunes from Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr. and Dean Martin which were later in the year released on an album, too -- cheekily titled Swing When You're Winning. |
After
a well-deserved year off his fifth solo album Escapology was released in November 2002 and went straight to number one all
over Europe. Critics and fans were impressed by the noticeable improvement.
Robbie wrote 2 of the 12 album tracks by himself, a signpost to
his future career without his songwriting partner Guy Chambers.
His attempt to break America sadly failed.
Not much has been heard from Robbie for some time. He has been reported in the Press as wanting to return to the UK. You can find out more about Robbie by visiting his website www.robbiewilliams.com or www.purerobbie.com (fans website)