Love Canal Superfund site
Geography
City	Niagara Falls
County	Niagara County
State	New York
Information
CERCLIS ID	NYD000606947
Progress
Proposed	12/30/1983
Listed	09/08/1984
Construction completed	09/29/1998
Deleted	09/30/2004
Superfund sites

Love Canal was a neighborhood in Niagara Falls, New York, located in the white collar LaSalle section of the city. It officially covers 36 square blocks in the far southeastern corner of the city, along 99th Street and Read Avenue.^{[citation needed]} Two bodies of water define the northern and southern boundaries of the neighborhood: Bergholtz Creek to the north and the Niagara River one-quarter mile (400 m) to the south. In the mid 1970s Love Canal became the subject of national and international attention after it was revealed in the press that the site had formerly been used to bury 21,000 tons of toxic waste by Hooker Chemical (now Occidental Petroleum Corporation).^{[citation needed]}

Hooker Chemical had sold the site to the Niagara Falls School Board in 1953 for $1, with a deed explicitly detailing the presence of the waste,^[1] and including a liability limitation clause about the contamination. The construction efforts of housing development, combined with particularly heavy rainstorms, released the chemical waste, leading to a public health emergency and an urban planning scandal.^{[citation needed]} Hooker Chemical was found to be negligent in their disposal of waste, though not reckless in the sale of the land, in what became a test case for liability clauses.^{[citation needed]} The dumpsite was discovered and investigated by the local newspaper, the Niagara Falls Gazette, from 1976 through the evacuation in 1978. Potential health problems were first raised by reporter Michael H. Brown in July 1978.^{[citation needed]}

Ten years after the incident, New York State Health Department Commissioner David Axelrod (not to be confused with presidential advisor David Axelrod) stated that Love Canal would long be remembered as a "national symbol of a failure to exercise a sense of concern for future generations."^[2] The Love Canal incident was especially significant as a situation where the inhabitants "overflowed into the wastes instead of the other way around."^[3]

Early history[link]

The Love Canal came from the last name of William T. Love, who in the early 1890s envisioned a canal connecting the Niagara River to Lake Ontario. He believed it would serve the area's burgeoning industries with much needed hydro electricity; however, the power scheme was never completed due to limitations of direct current (DC) power transmission, and Tesla's introduction of alternating current (AC). Furthermore, the Panic of 1893 caused investors to no longer sponsor the project.^[4] Also, Congress passed a law barring the removal of water from the Niagara River, to preserve Niagara Falls.^[5] After 1892, Love's plan changed to incorporate a shipping lane that would bypass the Niagara Falls, reaching Lake Ontario. He envisioned a perfect urban area called "Model City" and prepared a plan with a community of parks and homes along Lake Ontario. His plan was never realized. He began digging the canal and built a few streets and homes when his funds were depleted.^[6] Only one mile (1.6 km) of the canal, about 50 feet (15 m) wide and 10 to 40 feet (3 m to 12 m) deep, stretching northward from the Niagara River, was dug.^[4]

There is little information about those who actually worked for Love.^[7] Canal building was exhausting, dirty and often dangerous. Immigrants usually performed this arduous work, along with removing all trees and vegetation.

With the project abandoned, the canal gradually filled with water.^[6] The local children swam there in the summer and skated in the winter. In the 1920s, the canal became a dump site for the City of Niagara Falls, with the city regularly unloading its municipal refuse into the pit. In the 1940s, the U.S. Army began using the site to dump wastes from the war effort during World War II, including some waste from the Manhattan Project, the rest of which was dumped in nearby Lewiston, New York at the Niagara Falls Storage Site.^{[citation needed]}

By the 1940s, Hooker Electrochemical Company (later known as Hooker Chemical Company) founded by Elon Hooker, began searching for a place to dump the large quantity of chemical waste it was producing. Hooker was granted permission by the Niagara Power and Development Company in 1942 to dump wastes in the canal. The canal was drained and lined with thick clay. Into this site, Hooker began placing 55-US-gallon (210 L) metal or fibre barrels. The City of Niagara Falls and the army continued the dumping of refuse.

In 1948, after World War II had ended and the City of Niagara Falls had ended self-sufficient disposal of refuse, Hooker became the sole user and owner of the site.

This dumpsite was in operation until 1953. During this time, 21,000 tons of chemicals such as "caustics, alkalines, fatty acids and chlorinated hydrocarbons from the manufacturing of dyes, perfumes, solvents for rubber and synthetic resins" were added.^[8] These chemicals were buried at a depth of twenty to twenty-five feet.^[5] In 1947, Hooker bought the canal and the 70-foot-wide (21 m) banks on either side of the canal.^[9] After 1953, the canal was covered with soil, and vegetation began to grow atop the dumpsite.

The Love Canal Disaster[link]

Sale of the site[link]

At the time of the dump's closure, Niagara Falls was entering an economic boom and the population had surpassed 85,000, with the population expanding at record percentages. The Niagara Falls City School District needed land to build new schools, and attempted to purchase the property from Hooker Chemical that had been used to bury toxic waste. The corporation refused to sell, citing safety concerns, and took members of the school board to the canal and drilled several bore holes to demonstrate that there were toxic chemicals below the surface. However, the board refused to capitulate.^[1] Eventually, faced with the property being condemned and/or expropriated, Hooker Chemical agreed to sell on the condition that the board buy the entire property for one dollar. In the agreement signed on April 28, 1953, Hooker included a seventeen line caveat that explained the dangers of building on the site. Hooker believed it was thus released from all legal obligations should lawsuits arise in the future.^[8]File:Hooker Electrochemical Quit Claim Deed to Board of Education.pdf

Hooker stated that the area should be sealed off "so as to prevent the possibility of persons or animals coming in contact with the dumped materials."^[10]

Construction of the 93rd Street School and the 99th Street School[link]

Despite the disclaimer, the board began construction of the 99th Street School in its originally intended location. In January 1954, the architect of the school wrote to the education committee informing them that during excavation, workers discovered two dump sites filled with 55-US-gallon (210 L) drums containing chemical wastes. The architect also noted that it would be "poor policy" to build in that area since it was not known what wastes were present in the ground, and the concrete foundation might be subsequently damaged.^[11] The school board then moved the school site eighty to eighty-five feet further north.^[3] The kindergarten playground also had to be relocated because a chemical dump lay directly beneath. Upon completion in 1955, 400 children attended the school, and it opened along with several other schools that had been built to accommodate students. That same year, a twenty-five foot area crumbled exposing toxic chemical drums, which then filled with water during rainstorms. This created large puddles that children enjoyed playing in.^[3]

In 1958, a second school, the 93rd Street School, opened six blocks away.

In 1957, the City of Niagara Falls constructed sewers for a mixture of low-income and single family residences be built on lands adjacent to the landfill site. The school district had sold off the remaining land, and homes were to be built by private developers, as well as the Niagara Falls Housing Authority, who planned to build the Griffon Manor housing project. While building the gravel sewer beds, construction crews broke through the clay seal, breaching the canal walls.^[1] Specifically, the local government removed part of the protective clay cap to use as fill dirt for the nearby 93rd Street School, and punched holes in the solid clay walls to build water lines and the LaSalle Expressway. This allowed the toxic wastes to escape when rainwater, no longer kept out by the partially removed clay cap, washed them through the gaps created in the walls.^[12] Hence, the buried chemicals had a further opportunity to migrate and seep from the canal. The land where the homes were being built was not part of the agreement between the school board and Hooker; thus, none of these residents knew the history of the canal.^[13] There was no monitoring or evaluating of the chemical wastes which were being stored under the ground. Additionally, the clay cover of the canal which was supposed to be impermeable began to crack.^[13] The subsequent construction of the LaSalle Expressway restricted groundwater from flowing to the Niagara River. Following the exceptionally wet winter and spring of 1962, the elevated expressway turned the breached canal into an overflowing pool. People reported having puddles of oil or colored liquid in yards or basements.^[14]

Health problems, activism, and site cleanup[link]

A protest by Love Canal residents, ca. 1978.

In 1976, two reporters for the Niagara Falls Gazette, David Pollak and David Russell, tested several sump-pumps near Love Canal and found toxic chemicals in them. The matter went quiet for more than a year and was resurrected by reporter Michael Brown, who then investigated potential health effects by carrying forth an informal door-to-door survey in early 1978, finding birth defects and many anomalies such as enlarged feet, heads, hands, and legs. He advised the local residents to create a protest group, which was led by resident Karen Schroeder, whose daughter had many (about a dozen) birth defects. The New York State Health Department followed suit and found an abnormal incidence of miscarriages. The dumpsite was declared an unprecedented state emergency on August 2, 1978. Mr. Brown, who wrote more than a hundred articles on the dump, also further tested groundwater and later found that the dump was three times the size officials knew, with possible ramifications beyond the original evacuation zone. He was also to discover that highly toxic dioxin was there. On August 2, 1978, Lois Gibbs, a local mother who called an election to head the Love Canal Homeowners' Association, began to further rally homeowners. Her son, Michael Gibbs, began attending school in September 1977. He developed epilepsy in December, suffered from asthma and a urinary tract infection, and had a low white blood cell count,^[15][16] all associated with his exposure to the leaking chemical waste. Gibbs had learned from Mr. Brown that her neighborhood sat on top of 21,000 tons of buried chemical waste.^[17]

In the following years, Gibbs led an effort to investigate community concerns about the health of its residents; she and other residents made repeated complaints of strange odors and "substances" that surfaced in their yards. In Gibbs' neighborhood, there was a high rate of unexplained illnesses, miscarriages, and mental retardation.^[16] Furthermore, basements were often covered with a thick, black substance, and vegetation was also dying. In many yards, the only vegetation that grew were shrubby grasses.^[18] Although city officials were asked to investigate the area, they did not act to solve the problem.

According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1979, residents exhibited a "disturbingly high rate of miscarriages ... Love Canal can now be added to a growing list of environmental disasters involving toxics, ranging from industrial workers stricken by nervous disorders and cancers to the discovery of toxic materials in the milk of nursing mothers." In one case, two out of four children in a single Love Canal family had birth defects; one girl was born deaf with a cleft palate, an extra row of teeth, and slight retardation, and a boy was born with an eye defect.^[19] A survey conducted by the Love Canal Homeowners Association found that 56% of the children born from 1974–1978 had at least one birth defect.^[20]

With further investigation, Gibbs discovered the chemical danger of the adjacent canal. This began her organization's two-year effort to demonstrate that the waste buried by Hooker Chemical was responsible for the health problems of local residents. Throughout the ordeal, homeowners' concerns were ignored not only by Hooker Chemical (now a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum), but also by members of government. These parties argued that the area's endemic health problems were unrelated to the toxic chemicals buried in the Canal. Since the residents could not prove the chemicals on their property had come from Hooker's disposal site, they could not prove liability. Throughout the legal battle, residents were unable to sell their properties and move away.

However, when Eckhardt C. Beck (EPA Administrator for Region 2, 1977 – 1979) visited Love Canal in the late 1970s, he discerned the presence of toxic substances in the community:

Robert Whalen, New York's Health Commissioner, also visited Love Canal and believed that the Canal constituted an emergency, stating: "Love Canal Chemical Waste Landfill constitutes a public nuisance and an extremely serious threat and danger to the health, safety and welfare of those using it, living near it or exposed to the conditions emanating from it, consisting among other things, of chemical wastes lying exposed on the surface in numerous places pervasive, pernicious and obnoxious chemical vapors and fumes affecting both the ambient air and the homes of certain residents living near such sites."^[21] Whalen also instructed people to avoid going into their basements as well as to avoid fruits and vegetables grown in their gardens. People became very worried because many had consumed produce from their gardens for several years.^[22] Whalen urged that all pregnant women and children under the age of two be removed from Love Canal as soon as possible.

However, local politicians were all but indifferent if not trying to mask the problem. The Mayor of Niagara Falls, Michael C. O'Laughlin, went so far as to say "There's nothing wrong here [in Love Canal]!" in order to address the irate residents of the area.

The 99th Street School, on the other hand, was located within the former boundary of the Hooker Chemical landfill site. The school was closed and demolished, but both the school board and the chemical company refused to accept liability. The 93rd Street School was closed some two years later due to concerns about seeping toxic waste.

State of emergency[link]

The lack of public interest in Love Canal made matters worse for the homeowners' association, which now battled two organizations who were spending vast amounts of money to disprove negligence. Initially, members of the association had been frustrated by the lack of a public entity that could advise and defend them. Gibbs met with considerable public resistance from a number of residents within the community: the mostly middle-class families did not have the resources to protect themselves, and many did not see any alternative other than abandoning their homes at a loss.

By 1978, Love Canal had become a national media event with articles referring to the neighborhood as "a public health time bomb," and "one of the most appalling environmental tragedies in American history."^[19] Brown, a reporter for the local newspaper called the Niagara Gazette, was the first person to discover and further investigate health problems at the Love Canal. His research is credited with not only breaking open that case but with establishing toxic chemical wastes as a nationwide issue. Brown's book, Laying Waste, examined the Love Canal disaster and many other toxic waste catastrophes nationwide.^[23]

On August 7, 1978, United States President Jimmy Carter announced a federal health emergency, called for the allocation of federal funds and ordered the Federal Disaster Assistance Agency to assist the City of Niagara Falls to remedy the Love Canal site.^[24] This was the first time in American history that emergency funds were used other than for a natural disaster.^[25] Carter had trenches built that would transport the wastes to sewers and had home sump pumps sealed off.^[24]

At first, scientific studies did not conclusively prove that the chemicals were responsible for the residents' illnesses, and scientists were divided on the issue, even though eleven known or suspected carcinogens had been identified, one of the most prevalent being benzene. There was also dioxin (polychlorinated dibenzodioxins) in the water, a very hazardous substance. Dioxin pollution is usually measured in parts per trillion; at Love Canal, water samples showed dioxin levels of 53 parts per billion.^[24] Geologists were recruited to determine whether underground swales were responsible for carrying the chemicals to the surrounding residential areas. Once there, chemicals could leach into basements and evaporate into household air.

In 1979, the EPA announced the result of blood tests that showed high white blood cell counts, a precursor to leukemia,^[19] and chromosome damage in Love Canal residents. In fact, 33 percent of the residents had undergone chromosomal damage; in a typical population, chromosomal damage affects 1% of people.^[24] Other studies were unable to find harm.^{[26][27][28][29][30]} The United States National Research Council (NRC) surveyed Love Canal health studies in 1991. The NRC noted that the major exposure of concern was the groundwater rather than drinking water; the groundwater "seeped into basements" and then led to exposure through air and soil^[31]:196 noted that several studies reported higher levels of low-birth weight babies and birth defects among the exposed residents^[31]:190-91 with some evidence that the effect subsided after the exposure was eliminated.^[31]:165 The National Research Council also noted a study which found that exposed children were found to have an "excess of seizures, learning problems, hyperactivity, eye irritation, skin rashes, abdominal pain, and incontinence" and stunted growth.^[31]:196 Voles in the area were studied and found to have significantly increased mortality compared to controls (mean life expectancy in exposed animals "23.6 and 29.2 days, respectively, compared to 48.8 days" for control animals).^[31]:215 New York State also has an ongoing health study of Love Canal residents.^[32] In that year the Albert Elia Building Co., Inc., now Sevenson Environmental Services, Inc., was selected as the principal contractor to safely re-bury the toxic waste at the Love Canal Site.

Eventually, the government relocated more than 800 families and reimbursed them for their homes, and the United States Congress passed the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), or the Superfund Act, that holds polluters accountable for their damages. In 1994, Federal District Judge John Curtin ruled that Hooker/Occidental had been negligent, but not reckless, in its handling of the waste and sale of the land to the Niagara Falls School Board.^[33] Curtin's decision also contains a detailed history of events leading up to the Love Canal disaster. Occidental Petroleum was sued by the EPA and in 1995 agreed to pay $129 million in restitution.^[34] Residents' lawsuits were also settled in the years following the Love Canal disaster.^[35]

Aftermath[link]

Today,^[when?] houses in the residential areas on the east and west sides of the canal have been demolished. All that remains on the west side are abandoned residential streets. Some older east side residents, whose houses stand alone in the demolished neighborhood, chose to stay. It was estimated that fewer than 90 of the original 900 families opted to remain.^[24] They were willing to remain as long as they were guaranteed that their homes were in a relatively safe area.^[36] On June 4, 1980, the Love Canal Area Revitalization Agency (LCARA) was founded to restore the area. The area north of Love Canal became known as Black Creek Village. LCARA wanted to resell 300 homes that had been originally bought by New York when the residents were relocated.^[36] These homes were farther away from where the chemicals had been dumped. The most toxic area (16 acres (65,000 m²)) has been reburied with a thick plastic liner, clay and dirt. A 2.4 metres (7 ft 10 in) high barbed wire fence was constructed around this area.^[37] It has been calculated that 248 separate chemicals, including 60 kilograms (130 lb) of dioxin, have been unearthed from the canal.^[37]

There has been much controversy surrounding Love Canal and what the eventual health consequences were for the inhabitants. In 1998, Dr. Elizabeth Whelan wrote an editorial about the Canal in which she stated that when the media started calling the Canal a "public health time bomb," it created hysteria. She declared that people were not falling ill due to exposure to chemical waste, but from stress caused by the media.^[37] These findings were contradicted in the New York State Department of Health's own study ten years later, which stated, "Rates of congenital malformations (among those exposed to the environment at Love Canal) were twice that expected compared to the external standard populations, a difference that exceeded the range of rates expected by chance alone".^[38]

Love Canal, along with Times Beach, Missouri, are important in United States environmental history as the two sites that in large part led to the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA). CERCLA is much more commonly referred to as "Superfund" because of the fund established by the act to help the clean-up of toxic pollution in residential locations such as Love Canal. It has been stated that Love Canal has "become the symbol for what happens when hazardous industrial products are not confined to the workplace but 'hit people where they live' in inestimable amounts."^[39]

Love Canal was not an isolated case. Eckardt C. Beck, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency during the Love Canal crisis suggested that there are probably hundreds of similar dumpsites.^[25] President Carter declared that discovering these dumpsites was "one of the grimmest discoveries of the modern era."^[25] Had the residents of Love Canal been aware that they were residing on toxic chemicals, most would not have moved there in the first place. Beck noted that one main problem remains that ownership of such chemical companies can change over the years making liability difficult to assign (a problem that would be addressed by CERCLA, or the Superfund Act).^[25] Beck contended that increased commitment was necessary to develop controls that would "defuse future Love Canals."^[25]

The free market environmentalist movement has often cited the Love Canal incident as a consequence of government decision-makers not taking responsibility for their decisions. Stroup writes, "The school district owning the land had a laudable but narrow goal: it wanted to provide education cheaply for district children. Government decision makers are seldom held accountable for broader social goals in the way that private owners are by liability rules and potential profits."^[12]

The legacy of the disaster spawned a fictionalized made-for-TV film entitled Lois Gibbs and the Love Canal (1982). A documentary entitled In Our Own Backyard was released in the U.S. in 1983, and Modern Marvels retold the disaster in 2004.^{[citation needed]} The film Tootsie has a character attempting to produce a play called "Return To Love Canal". Joyce Carol Oates has brought the story of Love Canal into her 2004 novel The Falls however setting the suspicions of harm to the 1960s.^{[citation needed]}

See also[link]

• 102nd Street Chemical Landfill, a landfill located immediately to the south of Love Canal.
• Cancer Alley (in Louisiana)
• Landfills in the United States
• William Ginsberg, member of New York State task force investigating Love Canal in 1979, and author of state report.
• Spring Valley, Washington, D.C.
• Gordon Matta-Clark Bingo 1974
• List of Superfund sites in New York
• Joyce Carol Oates "The Falls"

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Blum, Elizabeth D. (2008). Love Canal Revisited : Race, Class, and Gender in Environmental Activism. Kansas: University Press of Kansas. ISBN 978-0-7006-1560-5. http://books.google.com/books?id=ZDkSAQAAIAAJ. 
• Colten, Craig E.; Skinner, Peter N. (1996). The Road to Love Canal: Managing Industrial Waste Before EPA. Austin: University of Texas Press. 
• Levine, Adeline Gordon (1982). Love Canal: Science, Politics and People. Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath and Company. ISBN 978-0-669-05411-8. 

External links[link]

• Love Canal Collections in the University Archives, University at Buffalo Libraries
• Contemporary commentary by Eric Zuesse published in Reason Magazine [3]
• MP3 of Lois Gibbs on environmental justice and Love Canal [4]
• Former Domtar Mill site, Cornwall, ON New Love Canal
• Berton, Pierre Niagara: A History of the Falls, Koidenesha America, 1997
• Video of Lois Gibbs about Love Canal and Superfund
• Love Canal Pathfinder by Nathan Tallman
• Love Canal Images from the Western New York Legacy Digital Collection
• Love Canal Medical Fund, Inc.

Coordinates: 43°04′50″N 78°56′56″W / 43.080518°N 78.948956°W / 43.080518; -78.948956

• Street-level view of Love Canal Area, October 2007 Google Maps

Robbie Williams
Williams performing as part of the Progress Live tour in May 2011
Background information
Birth name	Robert Peter Williams
Born	(1974-02-13) 13 February 1974 (age 38) Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England
Genres	Pop rock, soft rock, dance
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, musician, vocal coach, record producer, actor
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, bass guitar, synthesiser, drums, piano, violin, harmonica, marimba
Years active	1990–present
Labels	Universal (2011–present) Virgin (2009–2010) Chrysalis (1996-2008)
Associated acts	Take That
Website	robbiewilliams.com

Robert Peter "Robbie" Williams^[1] (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer-songwriter, vocal coach and occasional actor. He is a member of the pop group Take That.

Williams rose to fame in the band's first run in the early- to mid-1990s. After many disagreements with the management and certain group members, Williams left the group in 1995 to launch his solo career. On 15 July 2010, it was announced he had rejoined Take That and that the group intended to release a new album in November 2010^[2][3] which became the second fastest-selling album of all-time in UK chart history^[4] and the fastest-selling record of the century.^[5]

Williams has sold over 70 million records worldwide, which ranks him among the best-selling music artists worldwide.^[6] He is the best-selling British solo artist in the United Kingdom and the best selling non-Latino artist in Latin America. Six of his albums are among the top 100 biggest-selling albums in the United Kingdom. He has also been honoured with seventeen BRIT Awards—more than any other artist—and seven ECHO Awards. In 2004, he was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame after being voted as the "Greatest Artist of the 1990s."

Life and career[link]

1974–89: Early life[link]

Williams was born to Peter and Janet Williams in Stoke-on-Trent on 13 February 1974. His parents ran a pub called the Red Lion in the town of Burslem, before his father became the licensee at the Port Vale F.C. Social Club - this led to Williams' lifelong affinity for the team.^[7] Williams attended Mill Hill Primary School in Stoke-on-Trent^[8] then St Margaret Ward Roman Catholic School in Tunstall,^[9] and also attended dance school UKDDF in Tunstall.^{[citation needed]} He participated in several school plays, and his biggest role was that of the Artful Dodger in a production of Oliver!.

1990–95: Take That[link]

In 1990, the sixteen year old Williams was the youngest member to join Take That. According to the documentary Take That: For the Record, his mother read an advertisement seeking members for a new boy band and suggested that he try out for the group. He met fellow member Mark Owen on the day of his audition/interview with Nigel Martin-Smith. During the heights of the band's popularity, Williams was known as the extrovert and practical joker of the band. Although the majority of the band's material was written and performed by Gary Barlow, Williams did perform lead vocals on their first Top Ten hit "Could It Be Magic", "I Found Heaven", and "Everything Changes". However, he had conflicts with Martin-Smith over the restrictive rules for Take That members, and he began drinking more alcohol and dabbling in cocaine.

In July 1995, Williams's drug abuse had escalated to the point of his having a near drug overdose the night before the group was scheduled to perform at the MTV Europe Music Awards. According to the documentary For the Record, he stated that he was unhappy with his musical ideas not being taken seriously by lead singer Barlow and Nigel Martin-Smith, because his desire to explore hip hop and rap conflicted with the band's usual ballads. Barlow explained in interviews that Williams had given up trying to offer creative input and merely did as he was told. As well as Williams's friction with the management of the band, Jason Orange had problems with his increasingly belligerent behaviour, his lack of interest in performing, and his frequent habit of missing the band's rehearsals.

Both Orange and Barlow confronted Martin-Smith about the internal conflict, because they did not want him dropping out while touring and before any possible future touring of America, which never took place. During one of the last rehearsals before the tour commenced, the group confronted Williams about his attitude and stated they wanted to do the tour without him. He agreed to quit the band and left; it would be the last time for twelve years that they were all together. Despite the departure of Williams, Take That completed their Nobody Else Tour as a four-piece band. They later disbanded on 13 February 1996, Williams's 22nd birthday.

Shortly afterwards, Williams was photographed by the press partying with the members of Oasis at Glastonbury Festival. Following his departure, he became the subject of talk shows and newspapers as he acknowledged his plans to become a solo singer, and he was spotted partying with George Michael in France. However, a clause in his Take That contract prohibited him from releasing any material until after the group was officially dissolved, and he was later sued by Martin-Smith and forced to pay $200,000 in commission. After various legal battles over his right to a solo career, Williams was victorious in getting released from his contract with BMG. On 27 June 1996, Williams formally announced that he had signed with Chrysalis Records.

[edit] 1996–98: Life Thru a Lens and I've Been Expecting You

After leaving Take That, Williams launched his solo career starting off in 1996 by covering George Michael's "Freedom", the single reached number two in the UK Singles Chart.^[10]

Recordings for Williams's first album began at London's Maison Rouge studios in March 1996. Shortly after his introduction to Guy Chambers, Williams released "Old Before I Die" which would be the first single taken from his début album. The single reached number two on the UK Charts;^[10] however, it was largely ignored on international charts.

His debut album, Life Thru a Lens, was released in September 1997. The album launched with his first live solo gig at the Élysée Montmartre theatre in Paris, France. The album debuted at number eleven of the UK Album Charts.

Williams released what would be the fourth single taken from his album. "Angels" became Williams' best-seller in the United Kingdom.^[11] The song, apart from becoming a hit around Europe and Latin America, caused sales of his album to skyrocket. The album remained inside the British top ten for forty weeks and spent 218 weeks there altogether, making it the 58th best selling album in UK history with sales of over 2.4 million.^[12] The album eventually managed to sell over three million copies in Europe.^[13]

Williams and Chambers started writing the second album in Jamaica in early 1998. The first single, "Millennium", became Williams' first solo number one single in the United Kingdom.^[14] It also became a top twenty hit in many European countries, Latin America and Australia.^[15]

When the album I've Been Expecting You was released in late October 1998, it débuted at number one in the UK Albums Chart.^[14] The album received more attention outside the United Kingdom, leaving its mark in the European and Latin American markets with hits such as "No Regrets", a collaboration with The Pet Shop Boys' singer Neil Tennant and The Divine Comedy's Neil Hannon.

A cover of a track from World Party's album, Egyptology, became Williams' second number one hit in the UK.^[14] Williams finished the year with a European Tour late in 1999.

The album I've Been Expecting You sold almost 3 million copies in the UK and was certified 10x Platinum by the BPI.^[16] In Europe, the album sold over 4 million copies.^[17]

[edit] 1999–2001: Sing When You're Winning and Swing When You're Winning

In 1999, Williams was signed to Capitol Records in the United States, a part of EMI. He embarked on a US promotional tour and released his first U.S. and Canadian single, "Millennium". The album The Ego Has Landed was released in July 1999 in the United States and Canada.

Williams in London in 2000, gesturing to a paparazzo photographer.

In the middle of promotion and the tours in 1999, Williams began work on his third studio album. This time he had finally found his inner confidence.^[18]

The first single taken from the album was "Rock DJ", a song inspired by Williams's UNICEF mentor, the late Ian Dury. The video showed Williams in an attempt to get noticed by a group of females, first stripping and then tearing chunks of skin and muscle from his body, and caused controversy in the United Kingdom and many other countries. The video was edited by Top of the Pops for its graphic content and many other channels followed suit.^[19] The song became an instant hit, reaching number one in the UK (becoming his third number one single as a solo artist) and New Zealand. The song went on to win "Best Song of 2000" at the MTV Europe Music Awards, "Best Single of the Year" at the BRIT Awards and an MTV Video Music Award for Best Special Effects.

When the album, Sing When You're Winning was released in August 2000, it topped the charts in many different countries.^[20] In the UK the album was certified 2x Platinum on its first week of release.^[21]

After the success of his third album, Williams wanted to take another musical direction. He took two weeks off from his tour to record what would be his fourth studio album, a big band album.^[22] Born from his life-long love for Frank Sinatra – combined with the success of the track "Have You Met Miss Jones?" that he recorded for the film Bridget Jones' Diary in early 2001 – the album was recorded at Capitol Studios in Los Angeles.

Williams took the chance to duet with his long-time friend Jonathan Wilkes, Little Voice star Jane Horrocks, Saturday Night Live star Jon Lovitz, Rupert Everett and actress Nicole Kidman. The first single released from the album was a duet with Kidman, on "Somethin' Stupid". Originally a hit for Frank and Nancy Sinatra, the song became Williams' fifth number one hit in the UK.^[23] It eventually went on to become one of the biggest hits of 2001.^[24]

When the album Swing When You're Winning (in reference to his 2000 studio album Sing When You're Winning) was released in late 2001, it became an instant hit in the UK, Ireland, New Zealand, Austria, Germany and Switzerland.^[25]

"Beyond the Sea" was featured over the credits of the film Finding Nemo in 2003 and was also released on the film's soundtrack CD.

A DVD called Robbie Williams Live at the Albert Hall was released in December of that year. So far, it has become one of the best selling music DVDs in Europe, being certified 6x Platinum in the United Kingdom^[26] and 2x Platinum in Germany.^[27]

[edit] 2002–05: Escapology and Intensive Care

In 2002, Williams signed a record-breaking £80 million contract with EMI.^[28] The contract included a number of provisos, including the label ceding greater creative control to the artist and a commitment to breaking Williams into the US market. So far it is the biggest music deal in British history. The deal was brokered by Ingenious Media, a leading UK corporate finance advisory business.^[29]

Williams began working on what would be his fifth studio album, spending a year in the recording studio. The album heralded a new era for Williams. He had taken a more active role in the making of this album, giving an indication of his growing confidence in the studio. "One Fine Day", "Nan's Song", and "Come Undone" were the first songs that Williams wrote without the input of Guy Chambers. Most of the songs were recorded in Los Angeles.^[29]

The album's first single, "Feel", written by Williams and Chambers, was recorded as a demo. When they started working on the album and were trying to re-record the vocals, Williams felt unsatisfied with it, so he decided to include the demo version and then release it as the first single.^[30] When the single was released in late 2002, it became Williams' biggest international hit, going number one in countries like The Netherlands and Italy, as well as reaching the top ten in almost every single European country.^[31]

When Williams' fifth studio album, Escapology, was released in late 2002, it hit number one in at least 10 countries around the world. In the United States, however, it failed to make such an impact.

Due to the controversial video for the album's second single, "Come Undone", it was heavily censored by MTV Networks Europe for depicting a debauched (but fully clothed) Williams having three-way sex with two women. The video was about some young people having a party and it showed footage of fights, drug taking and alcohol abuse. It also showed unsettling images of insects and reptiles. The uncensored version of the video was released on DVD single in Europe and was also included on the Enhanced CD Single.^[32] BBC Radio 2 also banned the song for its explicit content.^[33] At that time, it was confirmed that Williams and Guy Chambers were to officially split up.^[32]

Escapology sold almost 2 million copies by the end of 2003 in the United Kingdom.^[34]

In October 2003, Williams released his first live album, Live at Knebworth.

In October 2004, Williams released, Greatest Hits, a retrospective of his career, and also, to reveal the new tracks he had been working on with the then-new collaborator, Stephen Duffy.^[35] "Radio", the compilation's first single, debuted at number one in the UK Singles Chart^[14] (becoming Williams' sixth number-one hit). When the compilation was later released it debuted at number one in the UK^[14] and was the best selling album of the year in the UK^[36] and Europe.^[37]

Eight years after the release of "Angels", in February 2005 the British public voted it as the "Best Single of the Past Twenty-Five Years" at the 2005 BRIT Awards.^[38]

After touring Latin America in late 2004 for the promotion Greatest Hits, Williams started working on his sixth studio album. Recorded at his house in the Hollywood Hills, the album was co-written by Stephen Duffy over the course of 24 months.^[39]

The track "Ghosts" was inspired by the Human League's "Louise", about a man who breaks off a relationship with his partner and realises he still has strong feelings for her.^[39]

The album Intensive Care was launched in Berlin on 9 October. It became a smash hit around the world.

In November 2005, Williams took home the MTV Europe Music Award for 'Best Male', but also, entered in The Guinness Book of World Records when he announced his World Tour for 2006, selling 1.6 million tickets in one single day.^[40] But after the success, Gary Barlow, Mark Owen, Jason Orange, and Howard Donald had agreed to reunite in Notting Hill, west London, for a preview screening of a documentary about Take That. The documentary screened on ITV1 on 16 November 2005. Unfortunately, according to a source quoted by The Sunday Mirror, "Robbie announced he wasn't coming. The rest of the band were gutted but felt the show had to go on."^[41]

Williams kicked off his Close Encounters World Tour in South Africa in April 2006, when he finished his European leg of the tour. 2.5 million people had seen the show,^[42] and after touring Latin America and Australia the numbers went up to 3 million.

[edit] 2006–09: Rudebox and Reality Killed the Video Star

Robbie Williams in concert in Hamburg, Germany in 2006

Williams released his much anticipated dance/electro album, Rudebox, on 23 October 2006. It featured collaborations with the Pet Shop Boys, William Orbit, Soul Mekanik, Joey Negro, Mark Ronson, Chris Grierson, The Orr Boys. It received mixed reviews: Allmusic gave it a four star rating, the NME 8 out of 10, and Music Week and MOJO were equally positive,^[43] but it received much weaker reviews from some of the British press.

The first single, "Rudebox", was premièred on radio by Scott Mills on his show on BBC Radio 1. The event caused some controversy, as the record label's embargo date was broken, although Williams himself later backed the presenter for doing so. More controversy followed due to the first single's radical change of direction when compared to his older releases. British newspaper The Sun named the song "The Worst Song Ever".^[44] However, Victoria Newton stated that there were sure-fire hits on the album.^[45]

Robbie Williams at a concert in Vienna, Austria in 2006.

The album sold 2x Platinum in Europe with sales of over 2 million making it the fastest platinum-selling album of 2006.^[46] The album finished at number eighteen in the list of 2006's best selling albums worldwide. Neil Tennant claimed the album had sold 4.5 million copies by early 2007.^[47]

To promote his album, Williams commissioned a series of short films.^[48] Goodbye to the Normals was directed by Jim Field Smith and features "Burslem Normals" by Robbie Williams.

On 4 October 2007, Williams made a guest appearance at Mark Ronson's concert in Los Angeles, performing The Charlatans' "The Only One I Know", which features on Ronson's album Version.

Rumours of a new studio album co-written with Guy Chambers surfaced in early 2007, along with known commitments required by Williams to his EMI contract. British singer-songwriter Laura Critchley commented that she had sung vocals for three songs, and said that it would not be released until 2009.^[49]

On 16 January 2008 UK tabloid The Sun announced that Williams had been working on some songs with The Blockheads member Chaz Jankel. The article went on to state that the reunion with Chambers hadn't worked out and that the material that Williams is working on with Jankel will form the basis of his next studio album.^[50] However, although it had been confirmed on the Blockheads' official site that Jankel was writing with Williams, the rumour that Chambers was no longer working with him was not official. In late August 2008, Williams' friend Callum Blue commented that he was still working on the album.^[51]

Williams performing at ARIA Music Awards of 2009 in Sydney, Australia.

In February 2009, it was confirmed that Williams had written material with Guy Chambers and Mark Ronson. A spokesman said that Williams was planning to begin the recording sessions in March and that the new album would be released in late 2009. This will probably be the last Williams album released by EMI.^[52] On his official website, Williams confirmed that he was working with producer Trevor Horn on his new album, which would eventually be titled Reality Killed the Video Star,^[53] a reference to the song "Video Killed the Radio Star" by Horn's former band The Buggles. The album was released on 9 November 2009 in the United Kingdom.^[54]

On 11 October 2009 Williams published a 12-track compilation album, titled Songbook, as a free CD for the newspaper The Mail on Sunday. The CD is a one-off album of some of his biggest hits - including several rare live performances.^[55] That same evening, Williams made his "comeback" on The X Factor results show, performing his new single "Bodies" for the first time live.^[56]

On 20 October 2009 Williams opened the BBC Electric Proms at the London RoundHouse.^[57] It was his first live concert for 3 years^[58] and was broadcast across 200 cinemas worldwide.^[59] Accompanied by a string section, horn section, full band and producer Trevor Horn, Williams performed several new tracks from Reality Killed the Video Star and older tracks.

Reality Killed the Video Star was previewed in the UK on the Spotify music streaming service on 6 November 2009, and official released on 9 November.^[60] In a high profile chart battle, Williams' album was pitted against X Factor 2008 runners-up JLS who released their debut album the same day. JLS beat Williams to the number one spot by 1500 sales. The album was also released in the United States (Williams' first album to be released there since 2002's Escapology).

In late November 2009, Williams traveled to Australia to perform at the ARIA Music Awards of 2009.

[edit] 2010–2011: In and Out of Consciousness and reunion with Take That

In October 2010 Williams released his second greatest hits album, In and Out of Consciousness: The Greatest Hits 1990–2010, to celebrate 20 years as a performing artist.^[61] A single, "Shame", was also released, which was written and sung by Williams and Barlow.^[61]

On 15 July 2010, Williams announced he was returning to Take That. A joint statement between Williams and the group said "The rumours are true... Take That: the original lineup, have written and recorded a new album, to be called, Progress for release later this year," read the band's statement. "Following months of speculation Gary Barlow, Howard Donald, Jason Orange, Mark Owen and Robbie Williams confirmed they have been recording a new studio album as a five-piece, which they will release in November."^[62]

On 26 August 2010, it was announced Williams would become a guest vocal coach on the ninth series of German reality television show Popstars: Girls forever to teach candidates for a girl group.^[63]

On 20 September 2010, Williams released his second book called "You Know Me" in collaboration with Chris Heath. The book features a collection of photographs of Williams from the past 20 years of his career and discussion of them by Williams as transcribed by Heath.^[64]

In October, Media Control named Williams the most successful album-artist of the millennium due to the fact that he had spent No. 1 on the German Albums Chart for 38 weeks since 2000. He also reached that chart's Top Ten 135 times.^[65]

2011-present: Move to Universal and ninth studio album[link]

In June 2011 Robbie Williams revealed that he has been working with Gary Barlow on a new solo album, that will be produced by Barlow.^[66] Williams confirmed on his official site that he will be doing a new duet.^{[67][citation needed]}

Williams launched a radio show titled Radio Rudebox on 6 October 2011 where he played music and interviewed Gary Barlow.^[68]

On 21 October 2011 Williams announced that he had signed with Universal Music, following his departure from his previous record label EMI in 2010. He said in a statement, "I'm really thrilled to be joining the Universal family at what I think is the most exciting time in my career." The singer's forthcoming ninth studio album is set to be released during the autumn of 2012.^[69]

Other projects[link]

Reunion of Take That[link]

Williams announced in December 2008 that he was planning to relocate to the UK prior to releasing his eighth studio album in late-2009, and a possible reunion with Take That. Photos also showed Williams with his new tattoo of the Take That logo on his right arm, in tribute to his former bandmates.^[70] Williams bought a £7 million home in the village of Compton Bassett, Wiltshire.

On 27 March 2009, Williams stated he felt ready to re-join Take That. He said: "I'm in regular contact with them, even Gaz, and it's looking more likely by the week. The lads all seem up for it and some people think it's a done deal. I think it would be fun."^[71] Williams was eager to re-join the band on their The Circus Live tour, but these plans never materialised. In September 2009, Williams was reported to be working in New York with Take That, however these rumours were never confirmed.^[72]

While it was rumoured that Williams would reunite with Take That on 12 November 2009 for a Children In Need charity concert at The Royal Albert Hall, they merely greeted each other warmly on stage between performances. However, both did join with the other acts in the final song of the evening, with Williams putting his arm around Gary Barlow and singing "Hey Jude". Williams subsequently implied in an interview that a proper reunion was still a distinct possibility. On 15 February 2010, The Sun printed an interview with Williams, stating that he and Take That had been sighted going to an Los Angeles studio together.^[73]

It was announced on 15 July that Williams had rejoined Take That. In November 2010 the Take That album Progress was released, becoming the fastest selling album since 2000 and the second fastest selling album in UK history. Williams explained that the long-standing friction between himself and Gary has been resolved, and how close they now were.^[74]

The band also announced the Progress Live tour which would travel across the UK, including a record breaking 8 nights at Wembley Stadium in London,^[75] then continue across Europe. The tour was the fastest selling in UK history with ticket hotlines and websites crashing under the demand.^[75]

Collaborations[link]

One of his most famous collaborations was on the song "Kids", a duet with Australian pop star Kylie Minogue. The single peaked at number 2 on the UK singles charts in 2000. Williams also collaborated with Australian film star Nicole Kidman on a cover of Frank and Nancy Sinatra's "Somethin' Stupid". The single reached number 1 on the UK singles chart in 2001. His single "No Regrets" featured Neil Tennant, and Neil Hannon on backing vocals.

In 2002, Williams appeared on the track "My Culture" on the 1 Giant Leap album, alongside rapper Maxi Jazz (which features lyrics from the hidden track "Hello Sir" from Life Thru a Lens). Williams also features on a double CD titled Concrete which was released on the same day as Rudebox. The CD features a concert recorded for the BBC featuring the Pet Shop Boys and Williams singing their classic hit "Jealousy". Their joint effort, "She's Madonna", was released as a single in March 2007. On 13 August 2007, a Dean Martin duets album was released, on which Williams sings "Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone". Most recently it was announced that Williams has recorded what is going to be Mexican singer Thalía's first single from her upcoming English-language album.

In 2010 he announced that he was to release "Shame", a duet with Take That lead singer songwriter Gary Barlow as the first single from his greatest hits collection In and Out of Consciousness: The Greatest Hits 1990–2010 which was certified silver in the UK and charted in 19 countries worldwide.

Video game[link]

Williams features in his own karaoke video game, We Sing Robbie Williams which was released on 12 November 2010 by Nordic Games.

Achievements[link]

It has been claimed that Williams has sold more albums in the UK than any other British solo artist in history and has won more BRIT Awards than any other artist to date.^[76] His album sales stands at over 57 million worldwide.^[77][78][79] Williams was entered in The Guinness Book of World Records when, after he announced his World Tour for 2006, 1.6 million tickets were sold in one single day.^[80]

He has been presented many awards, including seventeen BRIT^[81] and seven ECHO awards.^[82] In 2004, he was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame, after being voted as the Greatest artist of the 1990s.^[83]

Williams appears in the list of the all-time Top 100 biggest selling albums in the United Kingdom six times.^[36]

In October 2009 it was announced that he would receive the Outstanding Contribution To British Music award at the 2010 BRIT Awards.^[84]

In September 2010 Williams switched on the Blackpool illuminations, stating that it was one of the greatest honours he'd ever achieved.^[85]

Personal life[link]

Since 2006, Williams has spent most of his time in Los Angeles, California.^[86] Williams moved back to the UK in 2009 when he bought an £8.5 million mansion in Compton Bassett, Wiltshire, nearby to close friend Jonathan Wilkes who lives in Swindon. Williams sold the mansion a year later to move back to Los Angeles.^{[citation needed]}

Williams has reportedly battled mental illness, obesity, self-esteem issues, alcoholism, and substance abuse throughout his life.^[87][88] He once discussed how his friend Elton John booked him into a clinic to cope with his drug use that emerged from the depression he was experiencing while still in Take That.^[88] He entered a rehabilitation centre in Tucson for his addiction to the prescription pills Xanax, Seroxat/Paxil, Vicodin, and the energy drink Lucozade in February 2007^[89] Williams used to smoke up to 60 cigarettes a day; he gave up in 2009 for his girlfriend Ayda Field.

Williams has a strong interest in UFOs and related paranormal phenomena, and has pursued this interest during his 2007–08 sabbatical.^[90] His interest in the subject led to him taking part in a documentary for BBC Radio 4 with Jon Ronson. The documentary followed them to a UFO convention in Nevada. During an interview with Joss Stone on The Jeremy Kyle Show in 2008, Williams revealed that while out of his head on dispirin he has seen UFOs three times.^[91] Williams said his first UFO sighting was when he was a child in Britain while he spotted his second in Beverly Hills, and added that the third sighting was just after he had written a song about alien contact.^[91]

On 30 November 2009, Williams' hairdresser Aaron Vickers was found dead in woodland near to Williams' then home in Wiltshire. Vickers first met Williams in Los Angeles after being introduced by their mutual friend Jonathan Wilkes. When Williams bought the £8.5 million mansion in early 2009, Vickers lived at the estate for some months but had recently moved back in with his mother who lives nearby. Vickers was last seen by his boyfriend at 1am on 30 November, and his body was found hanged in the woods the following morning.^[92][93]

Relationships[link]

Since May 2006, Williams has been in a relationship with the Turkish American actress Ayda Field.^[94] They have reportedly been together for almost five years.^[95] Despite several break up stories in the press^[96][97][98] Williams and Field have been spotted together many times.^{[99][100][101]} On 29 January 2008 they were pictured on vacation together at Mammoth Ski Resort in California, accompanied by Max Beesley.^{[102][103][104]} She was featured in a UFO documentary that Williams did for BBC Radio 4 in April^[105] and took part in a field investigation he did in Trout Lake, Washington in August 2008.^[106]

On 8 November 2008, Williams was spotted with Field at football match at the Emirates Stadium home of Arsenal, where he was also seen with Gary Barlow accompanied by his two oldest children, and Williams's longtime friend Jonathan Wilkes.^[107] The couple has been living together in a mansion in Wiltshire since the beginning of 2009 according to The Sun.^[108] In October 2009, Field appeared in the video of Williams comeback single Bodies. Williams has been referring to Field as his "wife" in recent interviews.^[109]

In November 2009, Williams announced to Jonathan Ross that he was 'in love' with Field.^[110] On 26 November 2009, Williams proposed to Ayda Field live on the Australian radio channel 2dayfm in an interview on the Kyle and Jackie O Show.^[111] However, it was later revealed by Williams' manager that it was "done as a joke following suggestions it was a stunt which was set up prior to the radio show." His spokesman confirmed: 'He did say it, but he did it in a jocular manner. They are not engaged.'^[112] A few days later Williams himself denied the engagement, using his official blog to say "Hey all. We are not engaged. Rob.".^[113][114] On 7 August 2010, Williams and Field married at his home in Los Angeles.^[115] On 30 March 2012 Williams announced that he and his wife, Ayda, would become parents for the first time.^[116]

Sexuality[link]

Williams won a libel case against MGN and Northern & Shell in December 2005 relating to articles which had reported he was a closet homosexual.^[117] In the libel action that resulted from this, Williams accepted substantial damages, and the publishers accepted that the stories were untrue. His counsel, Tom Shields QC, told the court, "Mr Williams is not, and has never been, homosexual." Gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell called for any damages paid out from the libel case to be donated to gay charities, claiming Williams' legal actions had created the impression that it is "bad to be gay."^[118] Williams responded that he was not bothered about being labelled as a gay man, and he would have taken the same action had it been regarding a heterosexual relationship. In 2008, Williams's friend, actor Max Beesley, rejected claims that Williams was gay. Beesley said, "Some of the stuff written about him is enough to make me mad, the rumours about him being gay, for example. Not true. I've never met anybody less gay in my life!"^[119]

Wealth[link]

In 2009, the Sunday Times Rich List claimed he was worth over £130 million.^[120] In 2011 his wealth was estimated at £90 million.^[121]

Williams is a lifelong supporter of Port Vale, based in his home town of Stoke-on-Trent. In February 2006 he bought £240,000 worth of shares in the club, making him the majority shareholder.^[122] He also has a restaurant at Vale Park named in his honour.^[123]

Health[link]

He revealed in 2011 he had been battling a lethargy caused by a type of hormone imbalance called a Andropause for a number of years and thought at first it was a return of his depression.^[124][125]

Charity[link]

Williams warming up for the 2006 edition of Soccer Aid

Williams has set up a charity in his home town entitled Give It Sum, its goal being to "improve local conditions and strengthen community life by giving money to those who are disadvantaged."^[87][126]

Williams, with the help of friend Jonathan Wilkes, has organised charity football matches called Soccer Aid to raise money for UNICEF UK. A mixture of celebrities and professional football players have played Soccer Aid matches in 2006, 2008 and 2010 at Old Trafford in Manchester and Wembley Stadium in London.^[127]

Williams has been the Patron of the children's charity the Donna Louise Trust based in his home town of Stoke-on-Trent, for the last 8 years. The charity offers respite and palliative care to terminally ill and life-limited children who are not expected to live past the age of 16.^[128]

Awards[link]

Williams has won various awards with some of his more recognised accolades being the BRIT awards. He has won 17 BRIT awards which also include the BRITs he won with Take That making him the most successful artist in BRIT history. He has also won 8 Echo Awards from the German music industry.^[82][129]

Discography[link]

Tours[link]

• The Show Off Must Go On (October–November 1997)
• The Ego Has Landed (May–June 1998)
• One More for the Rogue Tour / For a Few Dollars More... Tour (1998–99)
• Robbie Williams North American Tours (1999)
• The Sermon on the Mount Tour (2000–01)
• Weddings, Barmitzvahs & Stadiums Tour / Sing When You're Pacific Rimming Tour (2001)
• Weekends of Mass Distraction Tour / Cock of Justice/Aussie Typo Tour (2003)
• Close Encounters Tour (2006)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Robbie Williams

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Robbie Williams

	Book: Robbie Williams
Wikipedia books are collections of articles that can be downloaded or ordered in print.

• Official website
• 180 years of Robbie's Farrell Family Tree