ROBBIE WILLIAMS

"I hate fame. It's not all it's cracked up to be. I think I'm going mad. I just want to find a nice woman and settle down. I don't know why people buy my records." Another day, another Robbie revelation. It would be difficult to find a more contradictory, vain, egotistical pop star than Robbie Williams. It would also be difficult to find a more brilliant showman and one whose refreshingly honest personality seems to have drawn him to the bosom of the nation as the country's top pop star.

When the former fat dancer from Take That (c. Noel Gallagher) decided to quit Britain's best selling boyband in 1995 little was given for his chances of solo stardom. Our Stoke-on-Trent born hero had always played the cheeky chappie role to perfection within the band but solo success was quite a different matter. And anyway, everyone's money was on Take That songwriter Gary Barlow to crack solo stardom. Up until then only George Michael had successfully made the transition from teen pop pin-up to mature solo artist and Robbie announced his intentions to go down the same route with his debut single, 1996's George Michael cover, Freedom '96. Sandbagged by legal hassles, a booze addiction and a fast food intake that would have made Michelle McManus blush, Robbie still managed to reach No.2 in the charts, beaten to the top by the Spice Girls' debut, Wannabe.

Following a spell in a detox clinic, Robbie emerged seemingly wiser and definitely slimmer, blinking into the sunshine and walking straight into a recording studio to lay down his debut album, Life Thru A Lens, written together with his sideman, songwriter Guy Chambers.

The comparative critical failure of the album's first few singles didn't bode well even though they were chart hits. Old Before I Die was greeted with cries of "sub-Oasis rock" while the quirky latin rock of South Of The border and the psychedelic Beatles-esque haze of Lazy Days didn't fill the critics with glee.

It was left to the Christmas 1997 release Angels to single-handedly revive Robbie's career, elevating him in the process into the position of the country's No.1 pop star. Robbie said its success was down to its use at "hatches, matches and despatches" - births, weddings and funerals. It caused the Life Thru A Lens album to climb to the No.1 spot 28 weeks after it was first released. Never before had so many predicted failure and been forced to eat a pie called humble.

Robbie continued his renaissance with Let Me Entertain You, an autobiographical tale of Robbie's song and dance career to date complete with a Kissed-up, spandexed Robbie gurning in the video. It became the soundtrack to every football clip used on TV for months to come. In June, Robbie announced his engagement to All Saints star Nicole Appleton (she would later reveal in her autobiography that she aborted Robbie's baby without telling him). Professionally, Robbie was everywhere. In June he performed a triumphant weekend at Glastonbury and in September he consolidated his all-conquering success with Millennium, a John Barry-sampling slice of knowing pop which entered the chart at No.1 in September 1998. The resulting album, I've Been Expecting You, which also contained the self-deprecating Strong and Neil Tennant assisted No Regrets, entered the UK charts at No.1 in November 1998, helping Robbie to end the year as the UK's biggest selling album artist.

The following year would see Robbie trying to crack America in support of his US only release The Ego Has Landed - An amalgamam of his first two albums. But the US audience failed to embrace the Robster's unique brand of cheeky Northern chappie humour and his peculiar sarcastic wit. Never mind. UK success still burned brightly that year. After picking up three gongs at the 1999 Brit Awards (Best Male, Best British Single - Millennium and Best British Video - Let Me Entertain You), Robbie topped the UK charts later that year with his World Party cover, She's The One. Guy Chambers was ironically, at one point a member of Karl Wallinger's World Party outfit.

Robbie previewed his new material in August 2000 with the No.1 single, Rock DJ, a strange pop-rap hybrid which was accompanied by a controversial vid which saw Robbie cavorting naked with models (natch) but also biting lumps of flesh from his own body! The resulting album, Sing When You're Winning was released in September 2000. Again with confessional tunes like Better Man, Supreme and the Kylie duet, Kids, the album shot straight to the top of the charts.

Williams was now unassailable as the country's most talked about pop star. After his split with Nicole Appleton he was still looking for love in all the wrong but highly entertaining places and highly publicised flings with various models du jour.

Eyebrows were raised when Williams announced his intention to record a Ratpack covers album, Swing When You're Winning, including a beyond-the-grave duet with Frank Sinatra and a duet with actress Nicole Kidman on the 2001 Christmas No.1 Somethin' Stupid. Eyebrows were lowered when the album went on to become a runaway success, complimented by a sellout gig at London's Royal Albert Hall where Robbie performed the 50's era tunes with his own big band. Williams, who demonstrated an uncanny appreciation of the songs, said it was because his father, Peter Conway, a nightclub singer and comedian, would play Frank Sinatra tunes when he was young. "I know the songs, I grew up with them," said Robbie.

In 2002 Robbie returned to the fray by announce a record-breaking £80m contract with EMI Records with the label promising to break Robbie in the States in return for a bigger cut of his merchandising and non-recording activities. "It's better that the money goes to me than some faceless corporate guy in a suit," reasoned Robbie before exclaiming, "I'm rich! Rich beyond my wildest dreams!" Well, you would wouldn't you?

The first fruits of the new corporate handshake was the Escapology album, preceded by the No.1 single, Feel. In some respects the album was re-treading old ground with facsimiles of earlier Robbie blueprints. Despite critical misgivings the album shot to No.1 with further hit singles including Come Undone and Something Beautiful. Again Robbie turned to the States with promo appearances and live gigs aimed at re-introducing him to the American market. EMI had planned to ship 4m copies of the album to the US but eventually, it sold just 71,000 copies across the pond.

In 2003 Robbie announced a potentially crucial split with songwriting partner Guy Chambers. The Robster was allegedly miffed that Chambers had begun to write more songs for other artists, including Will Young. Robbie drafted up an exclusivity contract for Chambers to sign. He refused. End of a beautiful friendship. For some, Chambers had been the musical brains behind Robbie success. Robbie promptly announced he would begin writing songs with ex Durannie and Lilac Time member Stephen 'Tin Tin' Duffy. And Robbie's popularity showed no sign of waning when he staged the biggest ever live shows in the UK, playing to 375,000 people over three nights at Knebworth.

In October 2004 Robbie released the first fruits of his Duffy collaboration - the retro-electro, Human League kitsch of Radio complete with the nonsensical lyric: 'He puts an "e" in the arsenal, A comb in my 'fro, Devine retribution, And away we go.' Mixed reviews ensued but not from the public as the single entered the chart at No.1. A Greatest Hits album followed, again debuting at No.1 on the UK charts, followed by Robbie's second Duffy collaboration, the Bridget Jones soundtrack ballad, Misunderstood. An official autobiography, Feel, also stormed to the top of the top of the best seller charts demonstrating that basically, Robbie could do no wrong. At his current level of popularity he could probably release a track where he reads the contents of his Corn Flakes cereal packet and storm to No.1.!

Williams has left the UK and now lives in Los Angeles, California. He remains single. Speculation about his ambiguous sexuality and romantic life is rampant in the British media. Williams likes to encourage an image as a smooth womaniser and there are numerous widely-circulated Internet accounts, allegedly written by Williams' female sexual partners, claiming his considerable prowess as a lover. He regularly plucks female fans from the audience of his live performances and french kisses them on stage.

Williams, a self-confessed attention seeker, has garnered a reputation for pushing the envelope in regards to male nudity. Though it is quite common for female celebrities to appear scantily clad in photographs (and in fact often expected of them), this is far less common for men. Williams' tendency to pose provocatively has gone from somewhat light-hearted "mooning" and "pants-down" photos early in his career to more sexually explicit content. In 2004 the German website set up by his record label to promote his music posted an allegedly nude photograph of Williams with his crotch area blurred out. They promised that if one million people clicked on the photo they would unblur the area and reveal the nudity. Once unblurred it was revealed that Williams was in fact holding some sort of phallus in front of his actual genitals so that they could not be seen; 24 hours later even this was covered by a miniature cut-out of his album cover.

Subsequently Williams has stated in a variety of press interviews that he considers himself to be a naturist/nudist at heart, jokingly commenting that he will "end up being one of those dads who embarasses" his children. In late 2005 a campaign called "Get More" was launched by William's label to promote his album Intensive Care. A video at the website featured thirty seconds of various camera close-ups of William's nude body, culminating in a four second full body shot where he was frontally nude and fondling his penis. Such blatant incorporation of nudity in an advertising campaign is virtually unheard of for a pop singer of either gender.

Williams, now aged 31, has had mental health problems throughout his career, most notably his struggle with depression, insecurity and self loathing. Some sources claim he is gay, but Williams does not affirm this information. He was reported to be suffering an addiction to anti-depressants in 2005. In his fly-on-the-wall documentary Nobody Someday (2001) he repeatedly mocked his flamboyant but puppet like behaviour on stage and felt that the persona and 'brand' of Robbie Williams Popstar was a fake that he increasingly felt uncomfotable with. In more recent documentaries he anguishes to become a credible artist in the eyes of the serious music press. Williams is regarded with bafflement by some observers, who note that he seems to have achieved huge success in the UK with only moderate looks, a mediocre singing voice and an unimpressive musical background. His time as member of a boyband does not seem to have hampered his 'cool' image.

Much of Williams' success can be attributed to his 'cheeky chappy' persona and ironic sensibility much loved by his UK fans. This is perhaps a major reason why Williams has failed to make any impact in the USA - without appreciating his ironic persona Americans see him as arrogant and self-aggrandising. Williams has said in interviews he hates performing, and compares his style to old-school UK comedian Norman Wisdom. Yet UK fans highlight the energy and entertainment value of his live performances as a major part of his appeal. Others remain unconvinced by what they see as mainly hype.

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