HE is already one of the most famous men in Britain, with a record 18 Brit Awards and record sales exceeding 80million.
And today, Robbie Williams has made history once again when his latest album Britpop soared to the top of the charts – meaning he has now surpassed The Beatles to become the act with the most No1 albums in UK history, with a total of 16.
In an exclusive chat after finding out the news, he said: “It’s absolutely insane.
“I’m still trying to take it all in and figure out what it all means.“I can just tell you that I’m glad that it’s happened to me.”
It comes a week after it was revealed he has quit the UK and is now splitting his time between the Bahamas and Miami, having only moved back to London from Los Angeles in 2022.
Revealing why he left the UK, he said of his new life in the sun: “Not going to lie, it’s not s**t. I’m done with bad weather.“
“I was out of the UK for like 24 years and then I was in the UK, and I know what I prefer.
“Unfortunately it goes dark and grey at the end of September. And if you’re lucky, it doesn’t stop being dark and grey until the end of May.
“So I’m doing away with that bit and just being in the sunshine. And if you can, why not? Why wouldn’t you?”
And maybe he’ll come back here in the summer?
“Yeah. I mean, everybody’s heading to the Cotswolds, aren’t they? I’d like to do that.”
I’m bigger than the Beatles and Jesus. There you go, there’s your headline.
Robbie Williams
Robbie’s incredible new chart feat was unveiled this afternoon, although neither of the surviving Beatles members Sir Paul McCartney or Ringo Starr had been in touch… yet.
He quipped: “No, but I’m bigger than the Beatles and Jesus. There you go, there’s your headline.
‘I’m a more monster’
“It doesn’t make any sense. The Beatles, the best band to ever exist. They did everything before they split up and then achieved what they achieved with their solo careers and stuff.
“And here’s this daft [bloke] from Stoke, wandering into the party and claiming some sort of record that overthrows them for five minutes.
“In my life and in my mind, I’ll have that mean happiness for me.
“But I also realise that the Beatles are the Beatles. Elvis is Elvis. And I should be stacking some shelves in an Asda in Stoke-on-Trent, so I’m just very, very lucky.”
It’s an astonishing feat, having landed his first solo No1 album in 1997 with Life Thru A Lens after leaving Take That – and also scoring seven No1 singles along the way.
Ayda’s coming in tomorrow and a few of the kids are coming in tomorrow too. I guess I’ll be celebrating by buying Ayda a handbag. She doesn’t do cheap handbags.”
Robbie Williams
Joining on a Zoom call from a lavish hotel suite in Paris, he said he will be celebrating there this weekend – and his wife Ayda Field will be reaping the rewards.
He admitted: “Ayda’s coming in tomorrow and a few of the kids are coming in tomorrow too. I guess I’ll be celebrating by buying Ayda a handbag.
“She doesn’t do cheap handbags.”
At only 51, there’s plenty of life in Robbie yet, and I won’t be surprised if he has loads more No1s in the future.
Asked if he has a total he wants to hit, he said: “I think this could be an end to want and need in this particular field…”
But then he conceded: “Oh, who am I kidding?
“I always want more. I’ve got a more problem. I’m a more monster. The hole is unfillable. So, yeah, f**k, scrap everything I’ve just said. I want more.”
And he is relishing the success.
On whether he knows where his other No1 awards are, he panned the camera over to a table featuring all 16.
“Why would I?” he chuckled.
“They’re coming everywhere with me now.
“There’s nothing in my house that would suggest I am me and I do what I do for a living.
“Those should be somewhere. Maybe in the garage where I could, if I’m just showing people around, go, ‘Oh, yeah, those. Oh, who put those there?’”
During the chat, he also let slip that he has “five albums ready to go”, so there will be more music to come in the next few years.
He explained: “They’re all demos right now. But I don’t think I will be writing, I don’t think I have to write for a long time. I’ve already done it all. There’s a vault full of stuff.”
But self-deprecating as always, he added: “Whether great swathes of the general public will want it from me, who knows and who cares? But I’ve got stuff to deliver.”