Robbie Williams



Born in the Midlands town of Stoke on February 13, 1974, Robert Peter Williams is the biggest male singer to come out of Britain in a long, long time. He's shifted nearly 50 million records worldwide - more than any other solo British artist - while the single that launched him on the road to solo megastardom, Angels, is still one of the most popular songs of all time.

Even Vogue magazine, not famed for its male cover stars, bowed to pressure and stuck a naked Rob on the front, alongside Brazilian überbabe Gisele Bundchen.

His first appearance on the pop scene came in 1990, but in a remarkably different guise. Music svengali Nigel Martin-Smith had created a boyband called Take That, and the role of the "cheeky one" fell to 16-year-old Robbie.

Six years later, with songs like Back For Good, Relight My Fire and Could It Be Magic, and earnings of £80 million for their label RCA under their belts, the group split up. But Robbie was long gone. He had left the band in July 1995 after a wild weekend's carousing at the Glastonbury Festival in the company of Liam and Noel Gallagher. "People looked at me like I was a zit on the end of their nose because I'm a member of Take That," said the teen pin-up, recalling that lost weekend. "They think I'm a prat."

When, in 1996, Robbie released his first single, a cover version of George Michael's Freedom, the prognosis was not good. But, when he returned a year later with the song Old Before I Die, it looked as though the handsome entertainer was back at his best. Since then, his popularity has grown and grown, as has his stature as a songwriter. He and his musical partner Guy Chambers picked up two gongs, for Angels, at the UK's Ivor Novello awards and, thanks to three million-selling albums, have become the most sought-after musicians in London.

Voted the sexiest man alive by a women's magazine in 2001, Robbie has not been short of arm-candy in the past. Curbed by a "no girlfriends" rule in Take That, it wasn't long before Robbie had cosied up with the aristocratic daughter of a dentist, Jackie Hamilton-Smith. A long romance (and short-lived engagement) with All Saint Nicole Appleton was followed by a rumoured association with Geri Halliwell and a ten month relationship with model Rachel Hunter. The singer has publicly stated that he is still looking for love, and searching for someone to share his life with.

Robbie bought a house in Los Angeles in 2002, in an attempt to crack to American music industry. However, the talented singer's move across the pond has been blighted by bouts of depression and insecurity, despite his continued popularity in his native UK. Ironically, while his former Take That bandmates reunited with phenomenal success, Robbie was struggling to overcome his demons and checked into rehab on his 33rd birthday, in February 2007. Fans and wellwishers are left hoping that the great entertainer and showman will return to his sparkling, world beating best.