{"id":362394,"date":"2025-12-21T11:09:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-21T11:09:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/362394\/"},"modified":"2025-12-21T11:09:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-21T11:09:11","slug":"robbie-williams-is-back-i-want-more-i-have-a-more-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/362394\/","title":{"rendered":"Robbie Williams is back \u2014 \u2018I want more. I have a more problem\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is sleigh bells and whistles at Christmas with Robbie Williams, an entertainer who treats the festive period like his career: more is more. He has come a long way from the first Christmas that he remembers, as a four-year-old in Stoke-on-Trent in the 1970s \u2014 a \u201cmagical\u201d time with an Evil Knievel toy. Now he lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Ayda Field<\/a>, and their four young children. They have two trees and an indulgent amount of gifts for their kids (to \u201covercompensate for my needs not being met when I was growing up\u201d). <\/p>\n

On Christmas Day, Williams will eat a Chocolate Orange and go back to bed. Later a chef cooks a lavish dinner. \u201cI absolutely adore Christmas,\u201d he says, then pauses. \u201cBut I don\u2019t get birthdays.\u201d Why not? \u201cIt is your day to be a celebrity, but I\u2019m already a celebrity \u2014 so I get celebrated all the time. Birthdays are pointless for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Robbie<\/p>\n

Williams is a big fan of Christmas<\/p>\n

JASON HETHERINGTON. WHITE SUIT: CARUSO<\/p>\n

Williams is a lot \u2014 of fun, pain, vulnerability, stories and songs. Having broken out of Take That<\/a> in 1995, he has spent the past 30 years delivering hits and headlines. Angels is this country\u2019s modern hymn, while No Regrets, She\u2019s the One and Rock DJ proved equally cross-generational. He even made a Christmas album of covers in 2019. Come February he will release his first set of new songs in a decade. It is a rock riot of attitude, melody and self-awareness called Britpop, with the single Spies the most irresistible Williams has sounded since the 1990s. Another song contains the extremely Williams line: \u201cI know I\u2019ll die, but I\u2019ll never leave the stage.\u201d<\/p>\n

We meet in London, in the studio where he recorded some of the album, and he is a sight to behold. He is tall \u2014 almost 6ft, but with an imposing personality that makes him seem even bigger, never breaking eye contact. My gaze wanders to his many tattoos and his clothes \u2014 a cap from his fashion label, Hopeium; a huge pair of trainers; a T-shirt that he made emblazoned with a photo of all five members of One Direction under an Oasis logo. He shows me another one in this copyright-infringing series, this time with Morrissey\u2019s photo from the front of his Bona Drag album, but with \u201cGary Barlow\u201d written on it instead. <\/p>\n

Williams has had a busy 12 months. First, he was involved in narrating the bizarre, if rather brilliant, biopic Better Man<\/a>, where he is played by a CGI chimp. \u201cCommercial failure, cult classic,\u201d is his summation. Then he took on a role as Fifa ambassador and turned up at the Club World Cup final in July and the draw this month for the 2026 World Cup. \u201cWell,\u201d he says with a grin, \u201cthe chatter, the chaos in my head is insane and for a long time I was in my reactionary \u2018Everything can f*** off\u2019 era. But now I\u2019m in my grateful era and so if I\u2019m asked to do something of note as a 51-year-old? I love it.\u201d<\/p>\n

His \u201cgrateful era\u201d, though, has not dampened his competitive nature. Britpop was due for release in October, but that moved when Taylor Swift announced The Life of a Showgirl<\/a>, so Williams would have a better chance of a 16th No 1 album and, therefore, beat the record set by the Beatles.<\/p>\n

\"Singer<\/p>\n

With his wife Ayda Field<\/p>\n

AXELLE\/BAUER-GRIFFIN\/FILMMAGIC\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n

Why do such accolades still matter? \u201cBecause, through the rapids of life, as I am dragged downstream, I grab on to any branch to steady myself,\u201d Williams says. \u201cAnd a record like that gives me meaning. I have this chance to achieve something nobody\u2019s ever achieved in British music. Also, the safety of success is a nice cushion and there\u2019s still a chubby 11-year-old who needs assurance that I\u2019m valid. That\u2019s the therapy level. But also it\u2019s just, \u2018Great, I want more.\u2019 I have a \u2018more\u2019 problem.\u201d Is wanting more a problem? \u201cIf you point it in the right direction, it\u2019s not. Otherwise it\u2019s a gun going off \u2014 which is what happened in my past.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u2022 The 20 best Robbie Williams and Take That songs \u2014 ranked<\/a><\/p>\n

He largely means drink and drugs \u2014 in the 1990s. \u201cThere were 18 months of acute alcoholism and addiction,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd when I reached rock bottom, I got a spade and dug a basement. If I had carried on, I would have died. Look, the 1990s were a great time to have a bad time. The decades that followed were beige, but in the 1990s everybody was at it, from the radio plugger to the bin man. Hedonism was the north star to most people, but hedonism just made me fat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Williams was the useful bad boy, a mainstream celebrity off the rails at Glastonbury in 1995 in a red Adidas top that appears on his Britpop album cover. What did the big 1990s rock movement make of their pop hanger-on? \u201cI was despised,\u201d Williams says. \u201cI set out my stall that I am an entertainer, so they looked down at me like I was a walking fart. They were pretentious bullies. People thought I was a c***.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"Liam<\/p>\n

With Liam Gallagher at Glastonbury in 1995<\/p>\n

BRIAN RASIC\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n

Has he dealt with any of these bullies since? \u201cYes, but I can tell that I am still a figure of fun,\u201d he says. \u201cLook, I\u2019m not asking for respect. I\u2019m just asking to be treated like a human. I know which lane I\u2019m in, but there was definitely this indie archetype with rules set in stone. \u2018You can\u2019t sell out.\u2019 But I never bought in. I did the Do What U Like video for Take That naked with jelly on my bum when I was 17, so my dignity was never there. Having dignity wouldn\u2019t have served me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Age, sobriety, success, therapy and family \u2014 he met Field in 2006 \u2014 have calmed him and given him control, but has he talked to his children (Teddy, 12; Charlie, 10; Coco, 7; Beau, 5) about his wilder years? \u201cIt all exists in a very humorous place,\u201d he says. \u201cAll the addictions, alcoholism, ADHD, dyspraxia, dyslexia, dyscalculia, self-obsession and narcissism \u2014 Teddy, in her iPad contacts, has me under \u2018Narcissistic Dad\u2019. So we exist in this place of humour and they wouldn\u2019t understand how problematic real life is, but my wife\u2019s and my love language is taking the piss out of each other and we have this gallows humour that the kids are picking up on.\u201d<\/p>\n

I hear this wit in Britpop: honesty couched in catchy tunes. \u201cI\u2019m just trying to make self-obsession a pretty colour,\u201d Williams says. \u201cWe are told from an early age that fame and fortune is a salve to fix all, which is why I sought it. But actually it causes an existential crisis and I will be explaining my findings about that until the day I die.\u201d He grins, full of mischief. \u201cI\u2019m a journalist, but with one subject: me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

With Take That in 1991<\/p>\n

PAUL RIDER\/CAMERA PRESS<\/p>\n

And so on the subject of him, in Better Man<\/a> Williams says that the best thing Nigel Martin-Smith, the Take That manager and a longtime foe, did for him was to suggest he change his name from Rob to Robbie. But surely the best thing he did was to choose him for Take That? \u201cWell,\u201d Williams says, with his eyebrow very arched, \u201ca bit of me thinks, \u2018Do I have to thank him for noticing I am great?\u2019 The question to you is: I turned up, someone spotted my wares. They have their own wares and we combine and sell our wares together. Who thanks who?\u201d He pauses. I say nothing. \u201cSeriously, I\u2019m asking you a question.\u201d<\/p>\n

So is Williams suggesting that, without Martin-Smith, his talent would have been found anyway? \u201cTalent,\u201d he near spits. \u201cI was 16. What did I have? A bit of charisma and a wink. Let\u2019s not say I wandered in there as Leonard Cohen.\u201d So Martin-Smith did discover something? \u201cI would have forged my path one way or another,\u201d Williams insists. \u201cI\u2019ve got a very good work ethic and a bottomless pit of need. Those two things are explosive. So I\u2019m very grateful to have had my life transformed, but I turned up with my own set of goods and I can thank him, but it would be empty of me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Take That took off quickly \u2014 how was it going home after that? \u201cI became alien,\u201d Williams says, sadly. \u201cAll of a sudden I was on Mars. My reality shifted and I was too young to understand what was happening.\u201d After years of public animosity in the wake of Take That\u2019s split, Williams is now on good terms with his former bandmates (and Barlow even co-wrote a song, Morrissey, on Britpop).<\/p>\n

\"Robbie<\/p>\n

\u201cApparently I\u2019m cool, but also cringe,\u201d Williams says<\/p>\n

JASON HETHERINGTON. WHITE SUIT: CARUSO<\/p>\n

Now, though, Williams seems \u2014 physically, mentally \u2014 in a good place? \u201cI am,\u201d he says, proudly. He thinks after \u201cdecades of being misunderstood and maligned\u201d that Better Man and his Netflix documentary<\/a> in 2023 changed public perception. Also, at a gig this year, he pointed out how ripped his body looks now. \u201cYes, this is a product of Big Pharma,\u201d he says, laughing \u2014 he was an early adopter of weight-loss jabs. \u201cBut it also comes from being called \u2018Blobby Robbie\u2019 in the press for a decade, when it was pointed out that a pop star shouldn\u2019t be fat. So if I\u2019m the opposite? I am going to point it out. Which is not to say that hedonism once again might make me fat.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022 Read more music reviews, interviews and guides on what to listen to next<\/a><\/p>\n

What a showman \u2014 the last great one this country produced before Simon Cowell turned pop bland: as camp as Christmas with Halloween skeletons in the closet and nobody knows it better than him. He grabs his laptop. He has been looking up comments online. He starts to scroll through a document he has compiled of the yin and yang ways that he has had to deal with public scrutiny since he was a teenager. <\/p>\n

\u201cSo apparently I\u2019m cool, but also cringe,\u201d he starts reading. \u201cPeople love seeing how relaxed I am, but also I\u2019m on coke. I look like Freddie Starr, but I\u2019m also really sexy. I\u2019m a cruise-ship singer who is the best entertainer on the planet. I get better with age, and should just stop.\u201d He laughs loudly. He is truly the only person who gets a kick out of reading about themselves online, but then all of his life is material. \u201cAnd they call me an attention seeker but, well, my profession is seeking attention.\u201d He bellows, a man with the last, loudest laugh. \u201cBeing desperate for relevance? That\u2019s my job.\u201d <\/p>\n

Britpop is out on Feb 6<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your favourite Robbie Williams single? Let us know in the comments below<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It is sleigh bells and whistles at Christmas with Robbie Williams, an entertainer who treats the festive period…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":362395,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[64,63,134,136],"class_list":{"0":"post-362394","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-music"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362394","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=362394"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362394\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/362395"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=362394"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=362394"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=362394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}