Robbie Williams back for good with Take That

July 16, 2010 By Trudi Johnson
After today's announcement all 5 original Take That members are reunited

After today's announcement all 5 original Take That members are reunited

15 years after his departure from the chart topping 90’s boy band and Robbie Williams is back.

The happy news was announced today, and the reunited band also revealed that all five original members have already been working on new material for a forthcoming album which is due out in November.

The four band members Gary Barlow, Mark Owen, Jason Orange and Howard Donald re-launched the group back in 2005 to some success, picking up a number of top 10 hits and also performing a sell-out arena tour.

Robbie admitted he was “embarrassingly excited” at the prospect of re-grouping with his Take That band mates and it seems the feeling is mutual as Jason described the news as “absolutely brilliant.”

Rumours that Robbie was considering a move back with the band have been circulating for some time. Only last month the Robster revealed he and Gary Barlow had put their differences aside and have co-written a track together, Shame, which they are due to release in October.

As well as the Williams/Barlow single and the new album release, the reunited boys are looking to take the band out on the road again in a nationwide tour. According to reports the O2 Arena and Wembley Stadium are battling it out to host the £15 million Take That tour. Although the O2 is the favoured venue, it only has the capacity to hold 23,000 fans, whereas Wembley has room for an audience of 100,000.

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Robbie defends his decision to pull out of European Music Awards performance

November 2, 2009 By Trudi Johnson
Robbie Williams will not perform at the Europe Music Awards on Thursday

Robbie Williams will not perform at the European Music Awards on Thursday

Robbie Williams has defended his decision to pull out of the European Music Awards in Germany this week. The four minute performance was a potentially massive comeback gig for the former Take That star. The reason initially cited for the singer’s withdrawal from the show was “scheduling conflicts” but Robbie’s management have made a statement to set the record straight on the real cause of the no-show.  

In a statement released at the end of last week Robbie’s people claim that they were forced to pull out of the prestigious awards ceremony after spending cutbacks at MTV meant Robbie’s set design, including elaborate staging for his performance was being forced to scale down.

The official word from Robbie’s camp is, “The truth is MTV and the European Music Awards are victims of big budget cuts and Robbie’s performance was being compromised so it was decided he wouldn’t play.” The Rock DJ singer’s management also implied that Eminem is said to be on the brink of walking out of the show for the same reason.

The decision to walk-away from the show was made just a week before the event. MTV insiders have told a tabloid paper that the move has cost them a lot of money and are now having to work frantically to get another big name in to take over the slot. MTV Say “We tried to be accommodating but they walked away with a week to go. It’s caused mayhem.”

As yet, no announcement has been made for a replacement for Robbie at Thursday’s awards ceremony at Berlin’s O2 Venue.

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Robbie Williams to be honoured with top accolade at the Brit Awards

October 23, 2009 By Kate Owen
Robbie to pick up top gong at Brit Awards 2010

Robbie to pick up top gong at Brit Awards 2010

It was announced today that next year’s recipient of the Outstanding Contribution to Music Award at the Brits will be none other than Robbie Williams. The 35-year-old is set to perform at the glitzy event in London’s Earls Court next year on February 16th when he picks up his prestigious award.

Robbie has picked up more Brit awards than any other artist, so it seems fitting that he should be presented with the biggest award of the night. He’ll join an elite group of previous winners who include U2, Oasis, Pet Shop Boys, and Paul McCartney.

2010 will also be an important year for the Brit Awards as the event will be celebrating its 30th anniversary and Robbie will have the honour of closing the show with a rousing live performance of some of his biggest hits from his career.

As part of Take That the Robster won his first Brit in 1993 when Could It Be Magic was named Best Single. After picking up 4 awards with the group, Robbie split from the mega-popular boy band in 1995. It wasn’t long before Rob’s solo career took off and in 1999 he scooped the first of his 11 Brit Awards.

In a statement released today, Ged Doherty the chairman of the Brit’s committee said: “Robbie is one of the outstanding artists and performers of his generation. It will be an absolute thrill to have him at the Brits 30th anniversary show receiving the Outstanding Contribution Award. We are delighted.”

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Robbie Williams set to perform on the X-Factor

September 18, 2009 By Trudi Johnson
Robbie Williams will not perform at the Europe Music Awards on Thursday
Robbie Williams will perform on the X-Factor

Robbie Williams will perform on the X-Factor

Former Take That star Robbie Williams plans to make a massive comeback as he debuts his brand new single for the first time in front of an audience on the X-Factor. The Rock DJ singer will perform his latest track, Bodies, on the popular Saturday night show in October so as to coincide with the single’s release date.

The performance will be the first time the singer has performed the song live in the U.K, and what a way to do it. With an audience of millions of music loving fans and a panel of high profile judges, Robbie couldn’t have asked for a better platform on which to showcase his new work.

The 32-year-old singer has confessed to being fan of the hit ITV show and said he’ll “be watching every week, just like everyone else.” An insider at the X-Factor said they were very excited to have secured Robbie’s performance on one of the live finals. They also said they were looking into the possibility of having the singer from Stoke conduct a master class with some of the finalists or even work as a mentor with one or two.

Last year Mariah Carey, Britney Spears and Beyonce all performed on the show and it seems this year they’re not exactly begging for performers with a starry line-up already being talked about. One of X-Factor’s own judges, Cheryl Cole is due to perform her debut single on the show too and rumours are circulating as regards to a few other top musical names.

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Robbie Williams’ new single finally revealed

September 4, 2009 By Trudi Johnson
Robbie Williams's new single revealed
Robbie Williams's new single revealed

Robbie Williams's new single revealed

A relaxed looking Robbie Williams hand delivered the first copy of his brand new single to Chris Moyles this morning. The track was heard for the first time after it was played on the legendary Radio 1 Breakfast Show.

After two and a half years out of the spotlight Robbie’s new single, Bodies, has finally been revealed and will be available to download from October 11th. Whether or not the public will take to it remains to be seen, however the Robster seems to be pretty pleased with his latest effort. Before playing the track Robbie instructed the audience to prepare themselves for “something cosmic.” After the track finished the 35-year-old unashamedly congratulated himself declaring, “Come on Williams. He’s back!”

When asked about the possibility of teaming up again with his former band, Take That, Robbie was typically elusive. At one moment the singer from Stoke said he would “really like to work with them again” and after the Breakfast Show presenter jokingly suggested that some of the Take That members were “non-committal” when asked about Rob’s potential return he quipped back with “That’s it, I’m not joining Take That then. It’s official.”

It seems the band mates are back on good terms again as Robbie explained how he had watched a taping of Take That’s recent concert with Gary Barlow a few weeks ago and said it was “one of the best shows I have ever seen.” Fellow Take That-er Mark Owen recently announced his plans to wed his long term partner this winter, and Robbie is rumoured to have received an invite.

The Angels singer now splits his time between the U.K and L.A and said he’s feeling fit and ready to launch his musical comeback after embarking upon a healthy regime, describing himself as a “food ninja.” So the old Robbie is back and he’s cockier than ever, but will his new album live up to his own hype? We’ll have to wait and see…

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Robbie Williams Comeback

August 6, 2009 By Kate Owen
Robbie Williams could be about to tie the knot as early as February 14th

robbie-williams-011Hot off the heels of his former Take That band mate’s success, Robbie Williams has announced he too is launching a brand new album. His latest musical offering entitled “Reality Killed The Video Star” will be released this November with the first single “Bodies” going on sale on October 11th.

This will be Robbie’s first foray into the public eye for three years. His last studio album Rudebox failed to set the world alight despite going to number one. It featured collaborations with Mark Ronson and backing vocals, from the then unknown, Lily Allen. However Rudebox was Robbie’s lowest selling album to date.

With this in mind, Robbie’s latest effort needs to impress. When asked what his fans should expect from the forthcoming album Williams described it as a mix of “old Robbie, new Robbie, and a Robbie that neither of us have met.” Through his blog, he also revealed that one of the album tracks is a tribute to the late legend, Michael Jackson. Top lyricist Don Black who co-wrote the bond themes “Thunderball” and “Diamonds are Forever” has also added his expertise to the new Robbie album.

For the past three years you could have been forgiven for thinking the singer from Stoke had hung up his microphone. The renowned ego hadn’t landed, more like left the building. This was a conscious move on the solo star’s part; he’s just been relaxing in L.A with new love, Ayda Field. His attempt at dodging the media limelight was so successful that Robbie revealed a friend of his had been asked if he was dead.

Take That recently achieved a smash hit with their second album since reforming, The Circus, which was one of the biggest selling records of the last 12 months. Can Robbie replicate his former band mate’s success and pull off a blistering comeback? We wait with baited breath…

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