Robert Peter Williams was born on 13 February 1974 in Stoke-on-Trent, the son of Janet (née Farrell) and Peter Williams (also known as Pete Conway), who ran a pub called the Red Lion in Burslem before becoming the licensee at the Port Vale Social Club.

In 1989, Manchester-based Nigel Martin-Smith set out to create a British male group modelled after New Kids on the Block. Martin-Smith was introduced to young singer-songwriter Gary Barlow, who had been performing in clubs since the age of 15. At 22, Howard Donald was one of the oldest to audition, Jason Orange had appeared as a breakdancer on the television programme The Hit Man and Her. Martin-Smith also selected 18-year-old bank employee Mark Owen and finally 16-year-old Robbie Williams to round out the group, which initially went by the name Kick It.

Take That released their debut single “Do What U Like” on 12th July 1991 which was a commercial failure, peaking at number 82 on the UK Singles Chart. The low-budget video for the track featured the band getting naked, showing their bare buttocks and smearing jelly over themselves, resulting in the video being banned from daytime television.

In November 1994, Williams’s drug use had escalated; he nearly had a drug overdose the night before the group was scheduled to perform at the MTV Europe Music Awards. On 17th July 1995 Robbie Williams left the group. Despite the departure of Williams, Take That completed their Nobody Else Tour as a four-piece. They later disbanded on 13 February 1996, Williams’s 22nd birthday.

Shortly afterwards, Williams was photographed by the press partying with the members of Oasis at Glastonbury Festival. Following his departure, he became the subject of talk shows and newspapers as he acknowledged his plans to become a solo singer, and he was spotted partying with George Michael in France.

Williams launched his solo career in 1996 with a cover of George Michael’s “Freedom”, which reached number two in the UK Singles Chart. Recordings for Williams’s first album began at London’s Maison Rouge studios in March 1997. Shortly after his introduction to songwriter and producer Guy Chambers (who had been in The Waterboys and World Party in 1986). In 1992, Chambers formed his own band the Lemon Trees. Williams has stated that he heard and liked The Lemon Trees after hearing them on Signal Radio in Stoke on Trent and this was the reason he connected with Chambers.

His fourth single “Angels” is Williams’s best-selling single, was voted the best song of the previous 25 years at the 2005 Brit Awards, and in 2005, the British voted it the song they most wanted played at their funeral. Williams has said he wrote “Angels” with Chambers in 25 minutes.

I’ve Been Expecting You was released in late October 1998 and debuted at number one in the UK Albums Chart. The album received more attention outside the United Kingdom, leaving its mark in the European and Latin American markets.The album spawned five singles, including lead single “Millennium”, which became Williams’ first UK number-one hit.

“Rock DJ” featured on his third studio album, Sing When You’re Winning (2000) released on 31 July 2000 reached number one in the UK and became Robbie Williams’ third number-one solo single. The music video features Williams trying to impress a female DJ by stripping naked and eventually resorting to removing his skin and muscles, ending up as a skeleton. The song won British Single of the Year, and the video won British Video of the Year at the 2001 Brit Awards.

When the album, Sing When You’re Winning was released in August 2000, it topped the charts in the UK, Germany, Ireland and New Zealand, as well as the top 10 in countries like Australia, Finland, Sweden and Switzerland. It spawned six singles: “Rock DJ”, “Kids” (with Kylie Minogue), “Supreme”, “Let Love Be Your Energy”, “Eternity”/”The Road to Mandalay” and “Better Man”.

Williams collaborated with Australian film star Nicole Kidman on a cover of Frank and Nancy Sinatra‘s “Somethin’ Stupid”. The single reached number 1 on the UK Singles Chart in 2001.

Williams has stated he feels great admiration for Freddie Mercury and Queen. In 2001, Williams, Brian May and Roger Taylor released a new version of “We Are the Champions” for the movie A Knight’s Tale. He also revealed that he was once asked to be the new frontman of Queen, but that he turned down the offer because of his “very low self-esteem”.

In 2002, Williams signed a record-breaking £80 million contract with EMI the biggest music deal in British history. When Williams’ fifth studio album, Escapology, was released in late 2002, it hit number one in at least 10 countries around the world.

On 1–3 August 2003, Williams played three consecutive concerts at Knebworth in England to 125,000 people each night, making it the biggest event in UK music history.

Williams has reportedly battled mental illness, obesity, self-esteem issues, alcoholism, and substance abuse throughout his life. He has discussed how his friend Elton John booked him into a clinic to cope with his drug use that emerged from the depression he was experiencing while still in Take That.

By 2008, Williams had sold more albums in the UK than any other British solo artist in history. His record sales stand at over 77 million worldwide, making him one of the best-selling artists of all time. Williams was entered in The Guinness Book of World Records when, after he announced his World Tour for 2006, 1.6 million tickets were sold in one day.

Ed Sheeran, in an interview with El Hormiguero, revealed the first album he ever bought was Life Thru a Lens by Robbie Williams.

After working with the band on new material in Los Angeles, on 15 July 2010 Robbie Williams announced he was returning to Take That. The band also announced that they would be embarking on a huge UK stadium tour entitled Progress Live, starting in Sunderland on 27 May and finishing with a record-breaking eight nights at London’s Wembley Stadium in July 2011.

Williams has a number of tattoos, many of which are related to British culture. These include an Ace of Spades, commemorating heavy metal band Motörhead.

In 2016, he moved into Woodland House, a £17 million mansion in the Kensington area of London. His next-door neighbour there is Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page, who has lived in The Tower House since 1972. In 2018, Page delayed Williams’ plans for an underground swimming pool, stating that construction work would damage The Tower House.

His twelfth studio album The Christmas Present was released on 22 November 2019, and features guest appearances from Tyson Fury, Rod Stewart, Bryan Adams and Jamie Cullum.

Williams has been the Patron of the children’s charity the Donna Louise Trust, based in Stoke-on-Trent, since 2002. The charity offers respite and palliative care to terminally ill and life-limited children who are not expected to live past the age of 16. He also set up a charity in his home town of Stoke-on-Trent entitled Give It Sum, its goal being to “improve local conditions and strengthen community life by giving money to those who are disadvantaged.”

Williams has won significantly more Brit Awards than any other artist, a record eighteen—Best British Male Artist four times, two awards for Outstanding Contribution to Music and the 2017 Brits Icon for his “lasting impact on British culture”, and eight German ECHO awards.

In 2022 XXV became Williams’s fourteenth number one album on the UK Albums Chart, surpassing Elvis Presley as the solo act with the most UK number one albums.

His total chart-topping UK albums across his solo work and records released with Take That now stands at 20. It places him in the top two acts of all time with the most No.1s across their catalogue – only The Beatles’ Paul McCartney has more.

In August 2024, Better Man, a biopic about Williams’ life, opened to critical acclaim at the Telluride Film Festival and later screened at the Toronto International Film Festival on 10 September 2024. Better Man received a record-breaking 16 nominations at the 2025 AACTA Awards.

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