Euro 200 Performer charts Archives overview Frontpage All charts
 
       
                     
     
                     
  TOP   APC   PEAK   title   YEAR  
  1   312   89   ANGELS   1997  
  2   450   162   FEEL   2002  
  3   710   332   CANDY   2012  
  4   718   231   BODIES   2009  
  5   1117   565   SHE'S THE ONE   1999  
  6   1178   540   SHE'S MADONNA   2007  
  7   1409   937   LOVE MY LIFE   2016  
  8   1737   758   YOU KNOW ME   2009  
  9   1787   975   TRIPPING   2005  
  10   1809   843   SHAME   2010  
  11   3303   1745   RUDEBOX   2006  
  12   3464   1708   ADVERTISING SPACE   2005  
  13   3529   2306   GO GENTLE   2013  
  14   3804   1599   ROCK DJ   2000  
  15   5682   3792   DIFFERENT   2012  
  16   6001   2360   THE ROAD TO MANDALAY   2001  
  17   6811   6114   ELECTRICO ROMANTICO   2019  
  18   6831   2760   LET ME ENTERTAIN YOU   1998  
  19   8078   3403   MILLENIUM   1998  
  20   8159   3700   MISUNDERSTOOD   2004  
  21   8526   4516   SIN SIN SIN   2006  
  22   8849   3809   ETERNITY   2001  
  23   8901   3839   SUPREME   2000  
  24   9253   5938   MORNING SUN   2010  
  25   10184   4864   RADIO   2004  
  26   10266   5626   LOVELIGHT   2006  
  27   10927   5131   COME UNDONE   2003  
  28   11283   7371   HEART AND I   2010  
  29   11455   5262   SOMETHIN' STUPID   2001  
  30   13211   6328   SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL   2003  
  31   13491   11131   PARTY LIKE A RUSSIAN   2016  
  32   15056   11160   I WANNA BE LIKE YOU   2013  
  33   15208   11270   GOIN' CRAZY   2013  
  34   15241   11293   BE A BOY   2013  
  35   15379   7544   SEXED UP   2003  
  36   17766   8038   FREEDOM   1996  
  37   17900   8879   NO REGRETS   1998  
  38   19078   14241   DREAM A LITTLE DREAM   2013  
  39   19348   9654  
STRONG
  1999  
  40   19448   19448   LOST   2022  
                     
                     
  Robert Peter "Robbie" Williams, born on February 13, 1974, in the working-class pottery town of Stoke-on-Trent, stands as one of the most successful, decorated, and enduring pop icons in British music history. Over a career spanning more than three and a half decades, he has undergone one of the most dramatic transformations in modern show business. He evolved from the cheeky, unpredictable teenager of the boyband Take That into a record-breaking solo titan, an international showman, and a deeply respected elder statesman of pop. His life story is not just a collection of multi-platinum plaques and sold-out stadiums, but a compelling narrative of immense talent, fierce ambition, and an ongoing battle with personal demons, addiction, and the overwhelming weight of fame.

His early years in Staffordshire laid the foundation for his theatrical destiny. Raised primarily by his mother, Jan, a florist, after his parents divorced when he was just four years old, Williams grew up with a deep emotional complexity that would later fuel his songwriting. He maintained a strong bond with his father, Pete Conway, a well-known comedian and club entertainer. Watching his father perform instilled in young Robbie an early love for the stage and taught him the mechanics of capturing an audience's attention. At school, Williams was rarely focused on academics, frequently acting as the class clown to mask his insecurities. However, he blossomed during stage productions, delivering a highly praised performance as the Artful Dodger in a local production of the musical "Oliver!". After leaving school with no academic qualifications, he worked briefly as a double-glazing salesman, a job he failed at miserably. Recognizing his natural charisma and desperation to escape mundane life, his mother spotted an advertisement in a local newspaper looking for members for a new male vocal group.

That audition led to the formation of Take That in 1990, managed by Nigel Martin-Smith. Alongside Gary Barlow, Mark Owen, Howard Donald, and Jason Orange, the sixteen-year-old Williams was thrust into an intense spotlight. Take That quickly exploded into a cultural phenomenon, dominating the European charts and triggering a level of fan hysteria unseen since the days of Beatlemania. With iconic tracks like "Pray", "Relight My Fire", "Everything Changes", and the global smash "Back for Good", the band defined the sound of early nineties pop. Although Gary Barlow was positioned as the musical mastermind and primary lead vocalist, Williams emerged as the undisputed fan favorite. His roguish charm, expressive face, and unpredictable energy on stage made him the group's ultimate entertainer. Yet, behind the scenes, a bitter friction was brewing. Williams felt stifled by the strict, clean-cut image imposed by management and grew increasingly jealous of Barlow's creative control. Seeking validation outside the boyband sphere, he began hanging out with Liam and Noel Gallagher of Oasis, immersing himself in the hedonistic Britpop scene. His escalating use of drugs and alcohol made him unreliable, and during tense rehearsals for the "Nobody Else" tour in July 1995, the group gave him an ultimatum. Williams walked away, leaving the band at the absolute peak of their fame and sending millions of teenage fans into deep mourning.

The transition from boyband member to solo artist is historically treacherous, and Williams’s early solo career seemed destined for failure. Bound by legal disputes with his former management, he initially released a cover of George Michael's "Freedom" to prove his independence. When his debut solo album, "Life thru a Lens", arrived in 1997, early singles like "Old Before I Die" performed moderately well, but subsequent releases stalled. The British press began writing career obituaries, mocking him as a tragic ex-boyband casualty. Desperate for a hit, Williams and his newly found songwriting partner, Guy Chambers, released a mid-tempo power ballad as a fourth single. That song was "Angels". It became a monumental cultural turning point. "Angels" resonated deeply with the public, transforming into an anthem for weddings, funerals, and football stadiums alike. It single-handedly rescued his career, pushing "Life thru a Lens" to the top of the charts and establishing Williams as a legitimate solo force.

The partnership between Williams and Chambers became one of the most lucrative and creatively fruitful collaborations in pop history, defining the musical landscape of the late nineties and early thousands. They struck gold again with his sophomore album, "I've Been Expecting You" in 1998, which featured his first solo number-one singles, the James Bond-inspired "Millennium" and the vulnerable "She's the One". Williams had mastered a specific brand of pop music: self-deprecating, emotionally raw lyrics delivered with the swagger of a rock star. His third studio effort, "Sing When You're Winning" in 2000, became a global juggernaut. It was driven by the massive success of "Rock DJ", a track accompanied by a highly controversial, award-winning music video that saw Williams strip down to his bare skeleton. The album also featured "Supreme" and the hit duet "Kids" with Kylie Minogue. Proving his versatility, Williams took a massive creative gamble in 2001 by recording "Swing When You're Winning", a collection of big-band standards recorded at the legendary Capitol Studios. He channeled his inner Frank Sinatra, winning over an entirely new generation of listeners and scoring another worldwide smash with a sultry cover of "Somethin' Stupid" alongside Hollywood actress Nicole Kidman.

By 2002, Williams was arguably the biggest pop star on the planet outside of North America. He signed a historic, multi-album deal with EMI Records worth a staggering £80 million, the largest in British music history at the time. He validated this massive investment with "Escapology", an album that served as a grand artistic statement. It featured "Feel", a haunting, cinematic masterpiece that became his signature international hit, alongside the defiant "Come Undone". The peak of this golden era occurred in August 2003, when Williams performed three consecutive nights at Knebworth Park. Over 375,000 fans attended the shows, setting a record for the largest live music event in British history. Footage of Williams standing atop the massive stage, commanding the ocean of people with a mere wave of his hand, cemented his status as the ultimate entertainer of his generation. He followed this live triumph with "Intensive Care" in 2005, which featured the melancholy tribute "Advertising Space", proving that his ability to craft hit records remained intact.

However, the relentless pressure of maintaining his status as a stadium-filling superhero began to tear at his mental health. Having parted ways with Guy Chambers to seek new sonic directions, Williams released "Rudebox" in 2006. The album was heavily experimental, incorporating electronic dance music, hip-hop, and eighties synth-pop. While it achieved commercial success, hitting number one in several countries, it was savagely panned by critics and alienated a significant portion of his core fan base. The negative backlash, combined with a grueling world tour, triggered a severe emotional collapse. Plagued by extreme stage anxiety, depression, and a dangerously escalating addiction to prescription medication, Williams abruptly withdrew from the public eye. He moved to Los Angeles, seeking anonymity and entering rehab to save his life.

During his years of isolation in California, Williams slowly rebuilt his health and personal life. A pivotal moment of healing occurred in 2010 when he reconciled with Gary Barlow, burying a fifteen-year feud that had fueled endless tabloid headlines. This reconciliation led to Robbie rejoining Take That for the album "Progress". The reunion was a historic media event; the album became the fastest-selling record of the century in the UK, and the subsequent stadium tour broke all existing ticket records. For Williams, the tour was deeply therapeutic, allowing him to experience the joy of performing without bearing the entire weight of the show on his shoulders. He received the closure and brotherhood he had lacked since his teenage years.

Reinvigorated by the success of the reunion, Williams launched a triumphant second phase of his solo career. He returned to the top of the singles chart with the infectious pop track "Candy" from his 2012 album "Take The Crown". He revisited his love for big-band music with "Swings Both Ways" in 2013, and continued his streak of chart-topping albums with "The Heavy Entertainment Show" in 2016 and his festive double-album "The Christmas Present" in 2019. In 2022, he celebrated his quarter-century as a solo artist with "XXV", reworking his greatest hits with the Metropole Orkest, reminding the world of the sheer volume of classic songs he had gifted to pop culture.

The year 2026 marked another historic milestone in his legendary career with the release of his fourteenth studio album, "Britpop". The album debuted at the number-one spot on the UK Albums Chart, securing Williams his sixteenth solo number-one album. With this achievement, he officially surpassed the legendary record held by The Beatles for the most number-one albums by a solo artist in the United Kingdom. When combined with his early work in Take That, Williams has accumulated an astonishing twenty-three number-one albums across his entire career, a feat unmatched by almost any contemporary peer.

Behind the glitz of his musical achievements lies a deeply grounded personal life that Williams credits with keeping him alive. In 2006, he met American actress Ayda Field, who became his emotional anchor. The couple married in Beverly Hills in 2010 and have since welcomed four children: Teddy, Charlie, Coco, and Beau. Field's stabilizing presence transformed Williams from a chaotic pop star into a devoted family man. His complex journey through fame, mental illness, fatherhood, and recovery was laid bare in a critically acclaimed, raw four-part Netflix documentary series in late 2023, followed by the innovative cinematic biopic "Better Man" in late 2024. In recent years, Williams has also found immense peace in visual art, using painting as a therapeutic outlet for his hyperactive mind, resulting in successful exhibitions at prestigious modern art venues like the Moco Museum.

With global record sales exceeding 85 million copies, a record-shattering eighteen BRIT Awards, and an induction into the UK Music Hall of Fame, Robbie Williams's legacy is secure. He bridged the gap between the manufactured pop of the boyband era and the authentic, guitar-driven swagger of Britpop, carving out a unique space where pop music could be theatrical, vulnerable, mass-appealing, and deeply personal all at once. He remains the definitive British pop star of his era—an artist who wore his heart on his sleeve and invited the world to watch him conquer his demons, one stadium at a time.		  
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
                     
 
                   
Euro 200 Performer charts Archives overview Frontpage All charts