A Full Robbie Williams' Biography
( Taken from Robbie Williams: An Illustrated Biography )


Robbie Williams made pop history when he quit Take That, the most successful boy band of all time. The former teen idol promptly launched himself into a lifestyle of self-indulgence, boozing with Oasis at Glastonbury and bad-mouthing his former band-mates at every opportunity. Before long, things seemed to be spinning dangerously out of control...
But Williams wised up and stepped back from the brink, kick-starting his solo career with a string of hit singles, including the classic ' Angels '. His debut album, Life Thru A Lens, became a multi-platinum smash, and his Brits performance alongside Tom Jones stopped the show.
From Port Vale to Pop Stardom, this is the fascinating profile of one of the Nineties most charismatic stars.
Ask Robbie Williams and he'll tell you the only singer he's ever aspired to be, apart from himself of course, is Welsh wizard Tom Jones.
" I've got loads of old footage of him dancing and he's such a mover, " Robbie enthuses.
Such is his enthusiasm for Jones The Voice that his favourite record to rouse him on a post-razzle Sunday morning is ' Delilah ' - and this despite the fact it's a Stoke City football song and Rob's favourite team is local rivals Port Vale.
' I've always wanted to do a duet with him, ' Robbie recently confessed, adding that he'd written a song called ' Man Machine ' for his next album in the great man's honour.
The 1998 Brit Awards gave Robbie the chance not only to realise his ambition by sharing the stage with the man himself, but to also prove he was no longer a wild boy who's lost the plot but an artist who deserved to be taken seriously.
The show-stopping performance saw Robbie and Tom belt out a medley from hit movie The Full Monty, Williams kicking off proceedings with a throaty version of Steve Harley's ' Come Up And See Me ( Make Me Smile ) ' - a chart-topper in 1975, when Robbie had just celebrated his first birthday - to the delight of the London Arena audience.
Jones The Voice then emerged for a sensational rendition of Randy Newman's ' You Can Leave Your Hat On ' which provoked much groin-thrusting and gyrating from his partner throughout the seven-minute highlight.
Indeed Robbie gave an almost vaudevillian exhibition as he minced about the stage clad head to foot in black leather, not to mention a lick of mascara and stack-heel boots. Even then, though, he couldn't quite eclipse the sheer stage presence of a pro like Tom Jones.
It was obvious from the moment Robbie first stepped into the spotlight he was having the time of his life, up there doin' it with an artist he idolises; and loving every minute!
" You grow up singing into a hairbrush in front of the mirror saying ' I'm going to be famous, that's all I want to be ' Then you're famous you did it! "
It was all a far cry from the Brit Awards of two years previously when Take That announced they were splitting...
Robbie, who had already departed acrimoniously was setting out on his solo path of professional and private self-destruction.
Thanks to pop's ever-active rumour mill, the public announcement that the biggest boy band in the world had reached the end of the road actually came a week before the Brits Coming just seven months after Robbie's exit, fans were understandably devastated and Samaritan hotlines were set up to deal with their angst.
The statement on 13 February 1996, marked the end of the five-year rise to fame of five northern lads, one of whom had been born on that day just 22 years before - and, quite frankly, couldn't give a damn about Take That's final curtain.
" I did my grieving when I was kicked out, " he commented somewhat sourly, adding, " Frankly I'm more concerned with how Port Vale do in the Cup tonight. Anyway, it's my birthday and I'm off to celebrate! "
Robert Peter Williams had enjoyed a relatively normal childhood. His parents mum Theresa and dad Peter Conway ( a comedian who was a New Faces TV talent contest finalist in 1974 ) ran a pub called the Red Lion next to Port Vale's football ground. When he was just three, Robbie's parents separated and he, his mother and sister Sally went to live on an estate in Stoke. Of his parents' separation Robbie says, " It didn't have any effect on me, as I've always been loopy! "
Rob, as he was then known, inherited his father's comic ability and started playing the classroom clown at school. Though he could never be described as academic, he was good at sport and his affable manner made him a popular lad. He thrived pm the attention and from an early age decided he wanted to be an actor - and a famous one too. Joining the Stoke oon Trent Theatre company, he played minor roles in productions like Pickwick, Filddler On The Roof and Oliver. He even landed a very small part in TV soap Brookside.
" I'm Robert to my mum at home, always have been always will. I don't mind what other people call me and I've been called a few things! "
Leaving school at 16 and needing dosh, he took a job as a double-glazing salesman... which he absolutely hated.
" I just used to tell people they were over-priced and leave. " No surprise, then, that he didn't sell many windows, and the decision to pursue a career in acting followed.
He auditioned for anything and everything, but with little experience, success didn't look likely. Yet Robbie was far from feeling down-hearted: he knew he'd be famous, later commenting, " Stock a camera in front of me and I can't help myself. When I open the fridge door and the light comes on, I do a 20-minute stand-up routine. I turn it on and I love it. "
He was, he concluded, going to be ' the biggest star in the world. '
His luck changed when he responded to a newspaper ad from a new band looking for a fifth member.
His mother encouraged him to apply, even though it didn't fit in with his acting ambitions, and he was invited to audition for the band's mastermind and manager Nigel Martin-Smith.
He sang a song from Joseph And The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat and remembers thinking, " what a weird bunch of lads they were - I didn't really think we could ever be a band. "
Luckily for Robbie, the other band members ( Gary, Howard, Jason and Mark ) were left with a more favourite impression of him - Mark recalled the newcomer as being " very funny and very confident. "
Four weeks later he received the call offering him the place in Take That. " I was over the moon, " said Robbie - and, having failed all his GCSEs, the news couldn't have come at a better time.
He remembers dashing upstairs and flinging open his bedroom room window, shouting " I'm going to be famous! " Little did he know then just how celebrated he would become.
" I'm an actor who somehow found himself in the music business. I want to be a musician but I also want to be an actor. I don't think a lot of people have balanced them very well Madonna and Sting, for example... "
It was 1990 and rehersals began for the new toy boys of pop
Early rehearsals were a bit chaotic, according to Robbie. " I was terrible. I didn't dance well and kept getting everything wrong! "
For the first 12 months the group concentrated on an adult audience, camping about in cod-pieces, leather, studs and boots. It seems ironic that eight years later Robbie seems to have come full circle - back up on stage camping about in leather gear, make-up and boots!
By day they played in schools and radio roadshows, by night they travelled in the manager's well-worn Ford Escort. It was hardly glamourous, eating in motorway service stations, sleeping in tawdry B&Bs and imagining what it would be like when they finally hit the big time.
At times morale was low and the boys nearly chucked in the towel, but their self-belief kept them going. They released their first single, ' Do What You Like ', with a video of them squirming about in red jelly looking more like the Village People than teenage pop idols.
Almost by accident after playing at an under-18s club in Hull the group discovered their real market - screaming teenage girls! It took a couple more singles before the band really charted in 1991 with ' It Only Takes A Minute ', which went all the way to Number 7.
Though they would release another five singles before achieving a Number 1, Take That mania had already begun. Bedroom walls were covered from floor to ceiling with pin-ups of the five lads, and everywhere they went they were mobbed. Robbie had achieved his ambition to be famous - in fact he'd soon surpass it.
Fifteen million singles and eight Number 1 hits later here he was a much adored member of the biggest boy band in Europe, if not the world. Fans grabbed at their clothes, fainted at their feet and threw all manner of under garments at them whenever they appeared in public.
" I'm having a good time with myself. I've just realised I'm a pop star, only just realised it. I'm going to enjoy every day and whatever's thrown at me it's just a laugh. "
But after the hard slog and initial novelty at being a pop star, the glitz and the glamour wore off and Robbie started to get itchy feet...
It was obvious from the start that he was the square peg in one of five round holes, always mucking about and taking the mickey out of the others. While the rest of the boys were happy with their lot, obedient and pliant, Robbie was fractious, restless and keen for a life outside of the touring, photo shoots and awards ceremonies.
In interviews he was always the one with a joke, while in the first interview with Smash Hits he described the group as " Sex on legs! " - much to the exasperation of his manager! But the fans loved him. With his wide hazel Disney eyes framed by a shock of unruly black curls, mischievous grin, Robbie was every girl's dream date. Always ready with a quip, he was the bad boy of Take That.
Though on the outside he appeared a joker, Robbie used his sense of humour as a defence mechanism to cope with the increasing frustrations of being part of the biggest pop phenomenon of the 1990s.
The regime was strict: no school, no illegal substances, no women. Only 150 pounds pocket money a week, despite earnings of many thousands. Being constantly chaperoned, told what to say and how to behave pushed Robbie's ebullient spirit to the limit. He found it increasingly indulged in all three varieties of forbidden fruit.
" I was a teenager, " Robbie was to say later. " If I hadn't taken drugs and slept with lots of girls when I was in a pop group, then I would be abnormal. " He started dyeing his hair, drinking and playing the fool. " I was never allowed an opinion. That was all down to conditioning. We were told what to say, how to behave, how to dress, where we could and couldn't go. All of the thinking was done for us. It was a prison, I lived in that prison for six years! "
As far as Robbie was concerned it was time to break out...
" It is all about the future now. But sometimes I don't know if I'm a kid or a grownup do you know I mean? "
One sunny June weekend at Glastonbury was all it took to bring the progress of the most profitable pop sensation of the decade to a shuddering halt.
And though it took a year to fully hit home, there's no doubt that it was the sight of a blond spiky-haired Robbie, beer bottle in hand, cavorting about the stage like a demented aardvark with manic Mancunians Oasis that brought about the eventual demise of Europe's biggest boy band.
Claustrophobic from the shackles of stardom and the pressures of living the life of a teenage hero, the world witnessed Robbie's pathetic attempt to break free and stick two fingers up at the very institution that had brought him the fame he so craved.
Robbie's memory of the event, though understandably hazy, is that he'd had enough of toeing the line and being controlled. " I nicked 16 bottles of champagne from a charity do, stuck them in the back of a Jag and arrived like a nonce at Glastonbury, " he reminisces affectionately. " I pulled up, saw Liam walking towards me and he goes, ' Take F***ing What? ' I thought ' Right that'll do for me, ' popped the hood and there's all this f***ing champagne in there! "
From that moment on, the black sheep of Take That immersed himself in an orgy of drink, drugs and rock'n'roll.
" I made sure I did every interview, every photo shoot, I made sure every camera shot got me and I made sure I did every interview pissed as well, " recalls Robbie. His blatant v-sign to record company RCA, the rest of Take That and their manager had the desired effect - they were furious!
Just one month later, the headlines appeared to tell the story that Robbie Williams, the rebellious one in Take That, had decided enough was enough.
A press statement issued on Monday 17 July stated that " Robbie Williams is to leave chart-topping group Take That. He has left the group as he was no longer able to give Take That the long-term commitment they needed. "
It was a measure of the sheer enormity of the band and its members' popularity that the story became front-page news across all the papers, broadsheet and tabloid alike, and even appeared on TV's News At Ten.
" I kind of put myself through the University of Nights Out. I'd never got to do any of those teenage things, like getting slaughtered and waking up late and doing it all over again. "
Fans were devastated by the news and rumours circulated about hysterical teenagers crying in despair, attempted suicides and helplines apparently blocked with girls inconsolable at the heartbreaking revelation.
Robbie's own statement said, " At the moment I am very scared and confused. I read the press statements yesterday and feel it is of great importance that I must apologise to everybody who feels let down by a decision for me to leave the band. I still love all the boys and I'm sure there is also a lot of love for me. But things have changed and I need to do something else for my own peace of mind and health. " Never once did he actually say, " I quit! " And that was no mere chance.
In reality, Robbie had been asked to leave the band immediately, despite his intention not to let his fans down and to continue until the end of the forthcoming tour of America.
However, the band and their manager thought otherwise, asking him to leave with immediate effect. " You know it was terrible leaving Take That even though I wanted to, " Rob wistfully recalls. " A five-year marriage to these people 24 hours a day, over just like that. "
It seemed Robbie had not jumped but had been pushed... and he was understandably angry. " Even if I had to go I still wanted to do the tour. "
For Robbie, one of the hardest things about the way he left was not being able to say goodbye to the fans properly.
Privately the singer was all at sea, cast adrit with no job, no manager, no friends. " It was like I'd been protected from the world for so long - and then someone threw me from the top of a 200 ft building saying,"' See how you get on when you land! "
Feeling isolated and lacking direction, he escaped firstly to his family; but then, bored and restless, he headed to the bright lights of London and embarked on a new career as man about town, professional ligger and party-goer.
" I used to go into interviews and just give everything away. It actually wasn't that I needed press I'm already quite famous, thank you very much. It was me going: ' Like me. Like me '. Quite sad, really. "
During 1996, fuelled by drink, bitterness and self-pity Robbie devoted much of his energies to bad-mouthing both his former Take That colleagues and their manager.
Describing them as, " selfish, greedy, arrogant, and thick. " In an interview with gay magazine Attitude, Robbie revealed the strength of his feelings about his former singing pals. " I never liked them. I felt manipulated from the off. From day one I was being deliberately ostracised. "
He also spoke with open hostility about his ex-manager, quipping " I'd like to be in an out-of control fork lift truck chasing ( him ) around a shed! "
But it was the force with which he launched such a bitter personal attack on lead singer Gary Barlow that caused the major furore. " When you walk into an audition, you sit down and see a guy with spikey hair, looking really dated in these horrible tracksuit bottoms and trainers, with a clueless bloke who says, ' I write the songs because I'm Gary Barlow '. "
Such open hostility did nothing to help Robbie's image as a self-indulgent wild child, spiralling out of control and heading for the scrap-heap. What was worse, Gary Barlow remained the perfect gentleman throughout the onslaught. " I don't show my emotions a lot, " he commented, " but ( the break up with Robbie ) really upsets me - and continues to upset me. "
He also came up with the understatement of that particular year when he said, " Obviously he ( Robbie ) resented me a hell of a lot. " Robbie rounded off his verbal onslaught by slating Take That's which should have been called ' How Deep Are Your Pockets '. "
" The worst thing you can do is try to be cool. If you try to be cool it's the most uncool thing in the world. Just be a dick and people respect you for it. Honesty is the best policy it's a cliche but it's true! "
The press, not known for their benevolence, seized upon Robbie's new-found image as an overweight buffoon, a drunken lout with a gob on him.
No longer the teen hero, he was depicted as a lager-swilling, pie-eatingm, foul-mouthed brat whose only interest in life was to get drunk, throw up, fall over and do it all again.
Professional party-goer Robbie was always the first to arrive and the last to leave. Nor did he attempt to dispel the rumours about his new lifestyle.
When answering questions about his disappearance from the pop scene, he would inanely grin and say, " I was just sat on my a*se, eating pies and drinking lager! " earning himself the nickname Blobby Williams.
In his more introspective moments, though, Robbie hated himself for many of the things he'd said and the way he'd behaved.
An interview with teen bible Smash Hits saw him bare his soul. " I'm disgusted with myself for saying those things, " he admitted. " I'm so upset, I want to phone Gary and tell him how sorry I am. The stupid thing is, I didn't mean it. They aren't my feelings but when I did that interview I was still swimming with the Take That thing... and... I've got no-one to blame but myself. "
The most sensible course of action would have been to create some new music, but legal wrangles made even this impossible. " There was a leaving members clause that stopped me leaving RCA Records when I left Take That, " he explained. " But because the proven talent in the band, Gary, was still signed to RCA he was always going to be priority in my opinion. "
Unwilling to play second fiddle, Robbie dug in his heels: it would post him 400,000 pounds in legal fees alone to extricate himself from the record company, but as he emphasised " it wasn't about money - it was about freedom ".
" Not having anything to do was the hardest thing, " he continued. " I let myself waste away doing nothing, and for a while I bought into that rock'n'roll myth. Actually I wanted to be back at work months ago but professionally I've been frozen out by the court case. "
Though he'd done a little TV presenting on shows like Top Of The Pops, Big Breakfast, Going Live and had appeared on MTV, he hadn't produced any music for over a year.
Robbie still maintains he has no regrets. " I stood up for myself and I'm proud of that. I paid the record company a lot of money to let me go, all the money I've earned basically, but that shows I have belief in myself. "
Without that amazing self-belief it's doubtful whether Robbie would still be performing now. Since splitting with Take That, he has had four different managers and been dogged by a number of legal battles costing him millions of pounds: " I've been a millionaire three times, " he claims nonchalantly. First came his highly publicised dispute with manager Nigel Martin-Smith, then contractual difficulties with manager number two, Kevin Kinsella.
The last difference of opinion came with Tim Abbot, whom Robbie sacked just after he had negotiated the singer's multi-million pound record deal with Chrysalis Records.
Abbot was furious, commenting, " We are extremely disappointed that despite all our efforts over the past year and the tremendous change in Rob's career we have achieved, he should choose to bring our relationship to an end at such a crucial stage. " The singer simply said, " Basically I feel it's time to move on. I want total artistic freedom in the creative direction of my album, " before admitting in usual cavalier moment, but it's getting sorted. "
The war between Gary and Robbie continued as the two embarked on solo careers, both releasing their debut singles within a month of each other.
Robbie panned Gary's effort ' Forever Love ', which nevertheless reached Number 1, as " awful " - but went on to say that " on the strength of his music alone, Gary should have a brilliant solo career. He's a very good songwriter. "
For his part, Robbie chose to release a cover version - the choice of George Michael's ' Freedom ' seemingly a salute to his break with his previous record label. Despite scepticism from the press, it stormed up the charts to Number 2 ( behind the Spice Girls' ' Wannabe ' ), giving Robbie a springboard to use for more adventurous fare.
" ' Freedom ' is more a statement than a single, " he admitted. " The lyrics tell my story. After this, I'm going to go away and re-invent myself, then come back with my own stuff. "
But it would be another year before he could work on new songs, having got his life back together, and he now reflects that ' Freedom '96 ' represented " my vain attempt to go, ' I'm here, don't forget about me! ' "
His first solo live performance came at Capital Radio's Music Jam in the summer of 1996 where he sang his single to a rapturous reception - it was obvious Robbie Williams' career as a pop star was far from over.
Being on stage on his own for the first time made Robbie feel special. " Walking on stage and seeing 50,000 people take one step closer gave me such a buzz, " he admitted. " It made me think, ' Oh yeah, this is what I'll do for a living. ' I'd almost forgotten. "
Even during that lost year of 1996 Robbie was good tabloid fodder, forcing him to admit he'd become one of those people who are simply famous for being famous.
As he once remarked, " I'm more famous now after a year of not releasing a record! I am the Amanda de Cadenet of Take That! ".
Late in 1996 Robbie finally recognised that the drink and drugs were no longer just a way to have a good time but a serious problem. He went to see Beechy Colclough, the therapist to the stars whose clients have included Elton John and Michael Jaskson in an attempt to get his life back in order.
Indeed it was Elton who'd pointed him in the right direction. Over-indulgence in the good life had seen Robbie's weight balloon - and regaining his former svelte figure would prove a driving motivational force in sorting out his problems. " I want to be thin, " he said. " I like looking good and I know I look a mess and I'm p*ssed off with the way I behaved. I'm bored with being p*ssed. I'm bored with being fat and I'm really bored with depression. "
Despite the thickening waistline, women still found it hard to resist his obvious charms. He'd been linked to a string of women since leaving Take That, including his long-term relationship with Jacqui Hamilton-Smith with whom he split up in 1996.
Ex-Brookside star Anna Friel was also linked to Robbie after the very public break-up of her relationship with You Bet! host Darren Day, who'd ended the affair by declaring his love for Coronation Street's Tracy Shaw.
Robbie denied all the rumours, saying simply that " Anna's a good mate and still is, despite what the papers say. For a time we were both vulnerable and needed support and gave it to each other. But there was no bitter break-up and we now have a really good friendship. " She continued to be a supportive friend while Robbie was in rehab, revealing that she was writing to him regularly.
He also dated Sporty Spice, Melanie Chisholm, shortly before meeting Nicole Appleton of All Saints. " I've had loads of girlfriends and I have been a bit of a tart in my time, " he admits with a smile.
The future was looking distinctly rosier for Robbie as cutting down on drink helped him shed those extra pounds, leaving a slimmer, more energetic singer. Not that he'd be getting complacent. " I'll never be happy with the way I look. The only thing I really like about myself is my huge willy! "
" I really would like to settle down with someone, but once I get them to like me I'm not interested any more. It's bonkers, isn't it. I can't have a family life if I carry on like this, can I? "
The success of ' Freedom '96 ' had made him eager to start writing songs for himself, even though he had no track record.
Take That had relied on Gary Barlow plus a clutch of carefully chosen covers.
In October 1996 he parted company with manager Tim Abbot, cut a deal with IE Management and Tim Clark, and began the search for someone with whom he could collaborate in songwriting for his first album.
Robbie found him in the shape of Guy Chambers, formerly of World Party and founder member of the Lemon Trees. Guy and Robbie clicked immediately and work on the album began - which was just as well, given the amount of over-optimistic pre-publicity Robbie had given it!
" Last year I went around saying, ' Writing songs is easy. ' I made out I had loads of songs and I hadn't. I was lying. By the beginning of the year I was getting worried about what I was going to do. Then Guy Chambers walked into my life and he helped turn things round. The songs just started flowing out! "
His musical appetite had started to return with a vengeance. " The more I write the quicker I get and the more I want to write, " he explained. " I wrote three songs last week, I wrote two the week before that. It becomes compulsive after a while - conversations, jokes, theories, just things that happen to you, you want to make everything into a sign. " And that's just what he did.
" Before Guy Chambers cam I'd written nothing of any great standard. I'd written about 30 songs, but only one of them is on the album it was the first time I'd tried doing it. We went into the studio, banged up four songs in one day and ended up writing the album in a week. "
Robbie Williams' debut album, Life Thru A Lens, was released on 29 September 1997, over two years on from his departure from Take That.
It's a very personal journey through his past experiences and is stamped all over with his indefatigable personality... right up to and including the poem, a fingers-up piece of verse directed at an old school teacher, included as a hidden track ten minutes after the end of closing song ' Baby Girl Window '.
He says of the songs, " They're stories about me and my experiences. It's been really good for me to write them, it's been like having my own counselling sessions. I've written a song called ' Teenage Millionaire ', which is a kind of autobiographical. "
It didn't seem to worry him that his soul was laid bare. " My lyrics are really personal but that's just the way I write. Anyway, so much of my private life is on display, why should I worry? "
He wrote all the tracks in collaboration with other artists, Guy Chambers having the major influence as co-writer of nine tracks and producer of the album along with Steve Power.
Life Thru A Lens surpassed expectations by getting good reviews in the press. " I'm immensely pleased with it, " admitted a chuffed Robbie. " I love listening to good music - and I can't stop playing my album! "
He claims to have written the record in seven days, " Most of the songs just take two hours or even an hour to write. "
" The album is very personal, very in-depth as to how I was feeling. Miserable in places and ironic and funny in others. "
Before releasing the album in October 1997, Chrysalis released three singles in a steady build-up of interest and excitement.
The first, ' Old Before I Die ', was a song he'd co-written with Americans Eric Bazilian and Aerosmith/Bon Jovi collaborator Desmond Child. Released in April 1997, the month before Gary Barlow's second single, it went to Number 2 in the charts.
Its raw guitar-pop sound was well received by the music press. The Gallagher brothers' influence would come through strongly on this single, a fact Robbie freely admitted. " It's understandable that people say it sounded like Oasis, " he noted, " but Oasis sounded like The Beatles and they were both my influences for that single. As much as I love that song and even though it's about the tough times I went through, the rest of the album is more me. "
But he makes no secret of the fact that he wanted to produce a rock'n'roll album in a similar vein. " Well, I wanna write songs like Noel. I don't mean identical ones, but I want them to have as much power, to be as good and to hit home as hard as his songs always do. "
Following the success of ' Old Before I Die ', Chrysalis released the second single - ' Lazy Days ', and old Lemon Trees song - in July.
Its singer " wanted to capture the feeling you get on a summer day when you're drunk and you're rolling about on the grass with the person you love next to you. "
Its Brit-Pop/Beatles feel confirmed Robbie was no longer aiming at the tennybop market. Record-label boss Mark Collen was clearly delighted when he said, " ' Lazy Days ' marks definite progression for Robbie. This is a major repositioning exercise in his career, but it isn't something we've forced on him. "
Collen admitted it wouldn't be easy to ' reinvent ' the former Take-Thatter, but was adamant that " his personality is big enough to do it. " The song's success backed up that view - it became an instant hit that gained a tremendous amount of airplay and entered at Number 8, despite the fact that having checked into rehab Robbie wasn't available to do any promotional work.
He eventually realised there was a problem after friends and family began trying to get him to seek help.
Though the album was finished, it had taken a long time than was strictly necessary. " He had good days and bad days, " revealed EMI group A&R executive Chris Briggs, " but Robbie was very aware of where he was, and what he'd have to do to get off that path. And it gave him something to write about. "
After several weeks Robbie was starting to clean up his act.
" The problem was me, it wasn't the drink and drugs, they were a symptom. It's the same with any addiction, like an eating obsession, it's not the food that's the problem but the person. So I checked into rehab to sort my head out. I've learnt to be comfortable with myself and I feel proud of what I've done. "
" I don't feel safe in clubs unless I'm with a big group of people then I don't stand out and get bothered. I spend a lot of time with music industry people because I understand them and they understand me. "
The next title on the singles roster was ' South Of The Border ' which hit the shops a week before the release of the solo album.
A personal song written about the pain of the previous year, Robbie was candid about its content.
" ' South Of The Border ' is about me losing the plot last year and then regaining it after a visit to my mum's. I wrote it at Stoke-on-Trent station platform, waiting to return to London to pack up my stuff and move back to my mum's, which scared me. "
On the agenda after the album's appearance was a 14-date nationwide tour in October 1997 - his first since the split.
It seemed Robbie had finally put most of his problems behind him and was keen to rediscover the excitement he got out of performing. " I get a real buzz out of being on stage and having all those girls screaming and shouting and throwing their knickers at me, " he admitted with a trademark twinkle in the eye.
Surprisely, his mother played a central part in the production of the album. " I've played her all the tracks and she seems quite impressed, " Robbie revealed, while admitting that " I still cringe at times though, when the lyrics are a bit too personal. "
Every track is about his life and the people in it, and he wrote ' One Of God's Better People ' specifically as a thank-you for his mum. " It's dead nice. I sang it down the phone to her and she was extremely chuffed! " he cooed proudly. " She cried. It meant a lot to her. "
He feels guilty for causing his mother, to whom he's plainly devoted, so much grief.
" Mum's handled it well - she's a drugs counsellor, so she'd sit down and chat to me. In the song I wrote for her there's a line in it which goes, ' It must hurt to see your favourite man lose himself again, and again, but I know you're my only friend from way back when my wish was pure '. If I go out and mess up again, she'll go, ' Well come on, let's bet started again from today '. I really owe her. "
Though Life Thru A Lens was critically acclaimed, it took time to reach the heady heights of the charts - unlike Gary Barlow's album.
Though Robbie admits he would like to see everything he released go to Number 1, he's matured enough to realise that it means more if he is proud of what he's achieved.
Little did Robbie know at that point that the release of his next single, an untypically tender ballad entitled ' Angels ', would be the biggest milestone in his career. That said, he did realise it was a special song. " I wrote the words and the music in 25 minutes and it'll probably be the biggest soppy, ' I love you ' ballad and all that business... it's sort of about guardian spirits. "
Robbie certainly must have his own guardian angel - because a mere three months before the release of that fifth single and his highly acclaimed Brit Awards appearance, Life Thru A Lens had been all but regulated to the bargain bins.
Its tumble down the charts made Robbie look like another ex-superstar band member who never quite made it as a solo performer.
He was fully aware of how fickle the pop market can be - yet ironically, it was this very capriciousness that turned his ailing fortunes. ' Angels ' took the UK and Europe by storm, its success revitalising album sales to such an extent that Life Thru A Lens bounced back to register its highest position, Number 2 in the UK chart, in February 1998 - as well as making a big impact in Europe.
EMI's vice president of international marketing, Craig Logan, summed up the general feeling that ' Angels ' was something special: " We always believed that it would be the big hit. We've made a lot of growth with the other singles we'd already put out and worked with Robbie, but this is the one that's really establishing him. "
While many critics had questioned Robbie's ability to make it as a solo artist, he himself had no such doubts.
" I always land on my feet and I knew something would happen. I just knew I'd get there, so now I can sit back and breathe a sign of relief. "
It seems Robbie may now also be taken as a serious singer-songwriter at long last. " There are still people who can't believe it when they hear me sing. You can see them thinking, ' Hey, he actually has a good voice. ' People have a preconceived idea if you're in a boy band, they think you have this much ( demonstrates not very much ) talent. But it doesn't worry me now, because as far as I'm concerned I've proved to myself I have talent. "
Yes, Robbie Williams has finally gown up. Life Thru A Lens has gone double platinum and he now commands enough clout to be invited on chat shows such as Parkinson - his appearance, alongside fellow guests Ewan McGregor of Trainspotting fame and impressionist Rory Bremner, brimmed with self-confidence and charisma. This may well signal a shift in appeal to a wider, more mature audience following ' Angels ' across-the-board success.
So what's next for the Grant Mitchell of pop? After the huge success of his tongue-in-cheek pop performance with Tom Jones, it appears Robbie Williams has achieved the impossible - converted his hormone-frenzied teenage audience into a more mature, music-driven fan-base.
Appearing alongside a singer of Jones' magnitude and talent has given Robbie the credibility to advance his career as a professional rock musician and talented all-round performer. The Monty medley was such a hit that it was swiftly included as a bonus track on the next single, the Rolling Stones/INXS-styled rocker ' Let Me Entertain You ', released in March 1998.
A further single from the album looked likely in the shape of the title track, ' Life Thru A Lens ', written about the lifestyle of ' It ' girl Tara Palmer-Tompkinson.
" It's true I wrote the song for her, " Robbie reveals, " but it's not a particularly nice one. In fact it's not really about Tara at all - it's about that sort of society girl. "
he went on to explain that it's actually concerned with everybody, including him, who leads that type led for the past few years which is pretty false - I got a song out of it if nothing else. "
Having cleaned up his act, Robbie is now in a position to concentrate on promotion, something he hasn't done much of up till now. Trips to Europe are planned, with festival dates being lined up in various territories in the summer of 1998, along with promo trips for the next album.
He was due to start work on this in April and May, stating he wanted it to be a mixture of " country, hip-hop and The Beatles. This time I wanted to create a buzz with the album, but the next one nobody will be able to ignore! " Though he writes most of the lyrics on his own, Robbie pays tribute to Guy Chambers for his vital assistance. " I really feel lucky to have Guy, " he says, adding that " it's a partnership I really want to grow. " Chambers' involvement has undoubtedly added to Robbie's credibility as an ambitious musician and no longer a teenage pop icon.
Indeed, some say he's fast becoming this generation's answer to David Essex! With that impish grin, wild-eyed look reminiscent of a young Mel Gibson and his love of life it's easy to see his appeal.
If Robbie's immensely likeable personality has posed problems for him in the past, it's only now he's found he can just be himself.
In the past he's proved something of a chameleon, forever changing his persona as he pursues an overwhelming desire to e liked and make people laugh. " I know that if I stopped wanting people to like me so much it would help me enormously, but I can't seem to be able to able to do it... I've been like it since a kid. "
This ability to change his spots according to the situation filters through to his music: the album is a eclectic mix of different sounds, sharing obvious influences with Brit-pop bands like Oasis and the Lightning Seeds while nodding to ' mature ' artists like Elton John and George Michael.
Though he reveals his personal side quite openly in the lyrics, the real Robbie doesn't come through in the music. But that's all about to change in his second album, due for release in November 1998, which should see Robbie translate his new-found confidence into the search for his very own sound.
" Every spare moment I get is taken up with writing the second album, " he revealed early in '98. " I don't want it to stop, I had a good couple of years off going to parties, doing what I wanted, now it's time to work. "
" I've just discovered I'm the best industry in the world. "
It's also a measure of his confidence and contentment that he's finally buried the hatchet with Gary Barlow
At Princess Diana's Concert of Hope in December 1997, they joined forces on stage in a rendition of The Beatles' appropriately titled ballad ' Let It Be '. " It was great to see Rob again, " Gary confirmed. " As soon as I saw him I just went over and hugged him. It's great to be working together again for such a good cause. "
Nicole Appleton's description of his Brit Award performance was delivered with gushing enthusiasm. " He was absolutely amazing and I am very proud of him. He has worked very hard and has so much pressure to deal with. But he is brilliant... just fantastic. " Nic, herself a two-time Brit winner after just six months of stardom, continued.
" He is always going to be in the public eye because he was in Take That and that does put pressure in any relationship. He is one of the sweetest people I have met and I can't imagine how he's managed to cope with all that reputation for being wild but that is not the Robbie I know. We didn't want everyone to know about us at first because it makes things so difficult. It's hard for us to be together because we are both so busy all the time and don't get to see each other as often as we would like. But Robbie is so much fun. He makes me laugh, and I hope we last a long time. "
Having spent the last couple of years on a painful journey to a personal and musical maturity Robbie can sit back and talk quite candidly about his close encounter with disaster - indeed, he can now see the funny side, describing it as " a rollercoaster ride. "
He happily describes his former incarnation as " mad for it! ", a kid who'd try every sweet in the shop. In conversation with Michael Parkinson, he recalled leaving his mum's in Stoke one New Year's Eve, telling her he was going out to a party in London. It turned out to be one hell of a party, 'cos it wasn't until New Year's Day 12 months on that he got back, carrying the same bag, to his mam's; when it comes to telling a good yarn, Robbie's a pro.
For a lad who's still only 24 he's still got a lot of living to do, admitting " that this is just the beginning; we're going to keep cracking away. "
His marketing manager Craig Logan - who should know, being a former teen star himself as a member of Bros - says with conviction that the singer " could be the biggest star of his generation. " If the quality of his debut solo album is a barometer of his talent, then we agree.
And if hat dream comes true, this time Robbie will have only himself to blame!
" I suppose of your wife fancies some pop star and you see him walking down the street, then you might want to take a bit of direct revenge. That's what kept me fit between tours running away from big fellas! "