Listen to Robbie Williams on Batanga

Robert Peter Maximillion Williams was born in Stoke-On-Trent on Wednesday 13th February 1974. From a very early age the young Robbie demonstrated his star qualities, performing 'Summer Nights' from Grease on stage in Spain when only three years old. At school, Robbie's exam scores were less than perfect, perhaps because his mind and ambition was focused on his entertainment career. He was inspired to entertain by his father who was a comedian, and though Robbie's current gift is the ability to make great music, his sense of humour is always evident in every performance and interview he gives. Robbie's break, as everyone knows, came when he auditioned for the boyband "Take-That". In fact, Robbie and his mates hated boy bands, but he wasn't going to let that minor problem stand between him and fame. He spent five mischief packed years as part of the most successful boy band of the 90s, helping to provide great entertainment for the band's millions of fans, before the constraints of working as part of a group became too much for him. Robbie hadn't exactly been the major star of the band, and the world wondered whether Robbie could find the solo success that he craved. Despite knowing that he had the talent to make it on his own, Robbie's world went off the rails for a period, and he suffered from substance abuse while he fought a lengthy legal battle with his previous management for the right to pursue his own solo career. After six months wrangling, he won first his legal fight, and then his personal fight to pick himself up and start again. Fans were delighted to see this transformation, and his return to normality will be an example to others who find themselves in such a position. At first, the solo career didn't go as planned, with "Life Thru a Lens" selling only a few thousand copies, and four singles ("Freedom", "Old Before I Die", "Lazy Days" and "South Of The Border") having only limited success. It looked as though Robbie's many fans weren't buying his solo efforts, and his decision to quit the band wasn't looking too clever. However, in July 1997 with the release of "Angels" everything changed and Robbie was back. Once back, Robbie was determined to stay, and a stream of great singles, and two great albums ("I've Been Expecting You" and "Sing When You're Winning") have followed to make Robbie a superstar. It's very obvious to his fans that the more success he has, the more he leaves behind his boy band days, and makes the kind of music he likes. He also appears to be enjoying his music more and more, and that comes through in the energy of tunes like "Rock DJ". As well as his great love of music, Robbie clearly has ambitions to pursue an acting career one day. In almost every video he takes on a character that demonstrates he has the qualities for the big screen. It must be only a matter of time before acting becomes his number one priority, though hopefully he'll always have time for his music which continues to develop with every new track.