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Robbie Williams

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Robert Peter Williams (born February 13, 1974 in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire) is a British pop singer. Originally a member of boy band Take That, he split from the group in the late 1990s and launched a solo career. This following a highly publicized battle with drug and alcohol addiction during which he put on nearly 40 pounds (18 kg) and was often seen in public poorly dressed, dirty and unshaven.

In 1996 he released his first solo single "Freedom", a cover of the 1990 George Michael hit. Though this was a sucess it was not until the release of single "Angels" that his solo career took off in Europe. Although it reached number one in many countries it only managed to get to number four in the official UK singles chart in December 1997 – he would have to wait until September 19 1998 for his first number one with single "Millennium". He quickly became a major celebrity in the UK with numerous top ten singles.

He broke the United States in 2000 with his hit song "Rock DJ" The video featured Williams in a roller-disco as he stripped nude and then proceeded to strip off his own flesh, muscle tissue and organs until he was a dancing skeleton. (A point of interest in social differences between Europe and the US: it is said that frontal nudity was edited out in the US while the gore was left in, whereas the opposite was true for the UK). The video's ending was cut by many TV stations around the world and the whole video was forbidden in some countries (VH1 Europe even made their own video out of recording studio footage). Williams has built quite a reputation for appearing nude (or nearly nude) in photographs, videos and live performances.

His United States and global success was cemented after a duet cover version of the Frank and Nancy Sinatra song "Somethin' Stupid" with Australian actress Nicole Kidman, who was fresh off of her Oscar-nomnated performance in Moulin Rouge. In 2002 he released an album called Swing When You're Winning in which his image was tamed down and he sang jazz, blues and pop standards from the fifties.

Williams appears in the 2002 List of the "100 Greatest Britons" (sponsored by the BBC and voted for by the public).

His next album Escapology was released in late 2002. The first single from it, "Feel", had big success arround Europe. The video for the next single, "Come Undone", featured Williams having sex at a party, and also images of insects and reptiles. Therefore a censored version was released that MTV UK chose to edit it a little more and to play it only to the half.

He toured Australia and New Zealand in December of 2003 with Duran Duran and performed the title song for the movie Johnny English. An official biography, "Feel", has become an instant bestseller in the UK since its publication in September 2004. Williams currently lives in Los Angeles.

Discography

Albums

UK number one singles

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