Robbie Williams opens up about his mental health struggles and ‘biggest career regret

 

Exclusive: The singer discusses his new tell-all Netflix documentary, which chronicles his rise to fame and ensuing mental health struggles, and gets candid about his career

Robbie Williams has opened up about his history of mental illness and self-harming in a frank discussion ahead of a new documentary chronicling his life, along with sharing what he regrets most in his career.

 

The four-part series, simply titled Robbie Williams, sees the “Angels” and “Let Me Entertain You” singer provide commentary as he watches footage from the early 1990s right through to the 2010s, showcasing his stratospheric rise to fame and the numerous obstacles he faced as a result of his struggles with depression and addiction.

 

“As humans, nobody likes looking at photographs of themselves and no one likes hearing their own voice, so if you multiply that by watching yourself suffer with mental illness, breakdowns, alcoholism, depression, [and] agoraphobia, you’re in a tortuous headlock where you’re forced to watch the car crash in slo-mo,” the singer tells The Independent. He wryly adds: “It’s all right – it’s gonna work out for me.”

 

Williams, 49, describes making the documentary as “traumatic”, adding: “I hope it is for the viewer, too.” In fact, to psych himself up for the shoot, which took place in his bedroom, the singer came up with a new song, the lyrics of which go: “Trauma watch, trauma watch, come and watch me have a trauma watch.”

 

In the 1990s, Williams, who hails from Stoke-on-Trent, successfully embarked on a solo career after leaving boyband Take That. He achieved what, on paper, every musician would consider the pinnacle: record-breaking success that led to him matching UK chart records previously held by Elvis Presley, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. However, he was struggling internally and, because he was “box office” in the eyes of tabloids, what should have been occurring behind closed doors found its way onto the front pages.

 

“It’s very difficult for people to understand the psychology of this great gift that has been given to you but yet it’s breaking you,” Williams explains. “Up to now, mental health was talked about in a different way. It was very confusing for people who went, ‘All he’s gotta do is get up and sing another song. Give him a nudge or else we’ll lose all the money.’ What should have happened is, ‘Get in a car, we’ll just go get better.’ But it didn’t, and it’s OK ’cause I lived to tell the tale. It makes life’s tapestry richer, I suppose.”

 

One detail omitted from the documentary is an incident when Williams referred to an act of self-harm. He gets onto this subject following a question about whether he has contacted Lewis Capaldi in the wake of the singer’s decision to postpone all dates after becoming overcome by tics during a Glastonbury 2023 set. Williams says he has.

 

There’s nothing sexy about taking a knife and slashing your own wrists, which I did “There’s nothing sexy about [self harm],” he says. “I remember in the Nineties, when I tried to talk about what was going on with me, I was berated and belittled and told to pull my socks up. What that does is isolate you even more. I know celebs are celebs, but they’re people, too.”

 

When asked to clarify the comments he had made about self-harming, Williams told reporters: “The reason I say that is to qualify that people are people. Whether they’re on MAFS [Married at First Sight] or in Martin Scorsese’s new film, we better be careful how and what we accuse people of, or say what we think of them when it comes to their own mental illnesses. I haven’t had a drink for 24 years and I haven’t done drugs for a decade or so. There’s a reason people stop: because they’re in hell.”

 

The documentary shines a spotlight on Williams’s fractured relationships with key figures from different chapters of his life: his former Take That bandmate Gary Barlow, his ex-girlfriend Geri Halliwell, and songwriter Guy Chambers, with whom he enjoyed huge success until they parted ways in 2002. I ask whether he consulted with any of them ahead of, during or after production.

 

“No, because legally I didn’t have to,” he replies. However, he says, “When it comes to the biopic [the forthcoming Better Man, directed by The Greatest Showman’s Michael Gracey], I’ve had to have chats there, yeah, and they are uncomfortable. The chats have been uncomfortable. Needless to say, when the biopic was being made, there were several c***s in that film. Now there’s only one – it’s me.”

 

In terms of regrets, there is one that rests at the forefront of Williams’s mind: the panned song “Rudebox”, which was the title track from his divisive 2006 album.

 

“I think what happened with that album is, for the first time, I was having real, proper fun making a record. There was no professional business about it and it was silly and full of humour and I thought, ‘People are going to love this ’cause I’m being me for the first time.’ I should have put it out third and explained properly: ‘It’s daft, I know! I’m not trying to be a grime artist – let’s all laugh together!’”

 

He says “the biggest cringe point” for him in the documentary “is when I explain to an audience that are about to listen to ‘Rudebox’ for the first time that this is going to be the biggest single since ‘Angels’.”

 

People started filming me when I was 16 and they never stopped – I don’t f***ing know why

 

Making the documentary has also been a time for Williams to be particularly introspective about his fame. “People started filming me when I was 16 and they never stopped,” he says, adding: “I don’t f***Ing know why; I didn’t ask them to.” He also says he’s “not a musician” but “an entertainer who writes some songs”, and believes that, if he was a teenager today, he’d probably have “become a content creator” instead of one of the country’s biggest pop stars.

 

Still, he’s happy with his lot, and is very much aware of the extent of his success. “What I’ve done is the equivalent of stretching an elastic band from Stoke to Mars, when it comes to my talents and where I’ve found myself. And I’ve sold the most No 1s in the UK ever: The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Elvis and me – that wasn’t supposed to f***ing happen. And I say that in a way like I’m as dumbfounded as anybody else.”

 

Williams has also been happily married to Ayda Field since 2010, and the couple have four children, one of whom, 11-year-old daughter Teddy, appears in the documentary. But while he says his mental health is “better than it ever was”, he “refused” to give Netflix producers the catharsis they desired for the final episode.

 

“I think that was the narrative, and the last day was five hours of them trying to get that out of me. I was like, ‘That’s not how I f***ing feel!’ I know for the last four weeks, I’ve been out of the headlock and been having a really nice time, but who knows what happens. I’m not bipolar, but there is a sort of semi-bipolaresque element to my mental health. Some days good, some days bad – but it’s better than it ever was in the 1990s and at the start of this century.”

 

‘Robbie Williams’ will be released on Netflix on 8 November.

 

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertai...t-b2442216.html

Edited November 6, 20231 yr by Sydney11

Robbie Williams looks stylish in a blue paisley print gilet as he attends the BAFTA TV screening of his upcoming Netflix documentary with director Joe Pearlman

 

Photo Tim Whitby for Getty Images for BAFT

 

Robbie Williams opted for a stylish look as he attended the BAFTA TV preview of his upcoming Netflix documentary on Monday. The Take That singer, 49, took to the stage alongside the limited series' director Joe Pearlman. The English pop star sported a catchy blue paisley print sleeveless gilet and a typical newsboy hat.

He completed his look for the occasion with a total black look, as he appeared in his highest spirits. The hotly-anticipated series, who airs on November 8, is told to uncover the 'real' Robbie.

 

Viewers will be able to get a glimpse into the singer's mental health as well throughout the addictions, past romance, and the price of fame. On stage, the Angels hitmaker discussed his explosive four-part docu-series charting his roller-coaster career with film producer Anna Higgs. The Dark Horse producer also welcomed Joe on stage - known for successful documentaries as Lewis Capaldi: How I'm Feeling Now (2023) and Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts (2022). The director beamed on stage as he opened up about the making of the pop star's docu-series.

 

Photo Tim Whitby for Getty Images for BAFT

 

Photo Tim Whitby for Getty Images for BAFT

 

The former Take That sensation has candidly opened up about his darker days and mental health battles as he tried to cope with the enormous fame he experienced. A year after he embarked on what would turn out to be a hugely successful solo career following his split from the boy band in 1995, he went on a six-day vodka and cocaine binge where he was vomiting 'black bile' and didn't sleep for 144 hours, believing he was 'indestructible'. His drugs and alcohol battle was described by Robbie as a 'fast track to death' and has seen him have several stints in rehab, including in 2007 after taking speed, acid, heroin, cocaine and 'heart-stopping' amounts of prescription drugs, reported The Sun.

 

The English songwriter has previously revealed his ongoing battles with body dysphoria and anorexia, which he discusses in the Netflix show and how one time he was surviving on just one banana a day - while battling anorexia. His love-life was just as frantic and saw him date a string of high-profile celebrities including Spice Girls Melanie C and Geri Horner, Lindsay Lohan, and All Saints' Nicole Appleton, while rumours swirled he bedded Kylie Minogue and Nicole Kidman. Today, Williams' life has taken a complete turn and he has channelled his addictive personality into living a healthy lifestyle with his American actress wife Ayda, their four children - Teddy, Charlie, Coco, and Beau - through exercise, art, pickleball - and searching for aliens.

Gone are the days of drugs and alcohol, with the star, thought to have a net worth of £155 million, instead proudly being 23 years sober. He has even rubbed shoulders with royalty having attended Princess Eugenie's wedding to Jack Brooksbank at Windsor Castle, with his daughter, Teddy, a bridesmaid.

 

Asked what caused such a dramatic change, Williams often returns to the same answer: Ayda. Appearing on the Jonathan Ross show in 2020, the Angels hitmaker got emotional as he credited her with saving his life. 'I look back at 15 years of being with my wife, she did, she gave me a life,' he said.'Here I am on the telly getting emotional. She absolutely did.'That same year he spoke candidly about his relationship with his wife during an appearance on Jessie and Lennie Ware's Table Manners podcast.The singer admitted it makes him want to 'cry' when he talks about Ayda as he revealed he feels 'safe' with her and their 'mini tribe' of children.He said: 'It's a very special thing to have. In a very turbulent, unsafe world, our mini tribe, you know that saying people say "nothing outside can affect you when inside is safe", and that's how I feel. Nothing out there can hurt me when I am with her.'

But constant reminders of his battles are never too far away, as Ayda still locks away painkillers out of fear he could relapse. He told the On The Edge podcast with Andrew Gold: 'Something's always lurking around the corner and I still can't be trusted with pills.'The wife has to put them behind lock and key... They can be there for 18 months, every single day. Vicodin, whatever, every day, see them, go to bed.'He admits it's lucky he's still alive, but nowadays Robbie's life appears calmer, content, and settled.In one recent Instagram post he wrote: 'Im not worried about the future. It's amazing Im still here …

 

'My memory being s***,my thoughts being cloudy, my back being full of arthritis, My eyesight going, My looks fading, the elasticity of my skin being f*****, the hair thinning….ect,ect,ect.'Im still here ,were still here….Still, so much to do….'His partying antics have taken a toll on his health, though, with the singer revealing in a recent interview with The Sun how they had left him feeling 'knackered'. 'The hair is thinning, the testosterone has left the building, the serotonin is not really here and the dopamine said goodbye a long time ago,' he said.'I’ve used up all of the natural good stuff. I’ve got the manopause.'

So what does he want to celebrate his 50th? Apparently he's going to gift himself a £20,000 neck life and some 'Turkey teeth' with the star already having had botox.

 

As for what else is ahead in the future, the Take That star has previously spoken of his fascination with UFOs and that 'something is up' and wants to go on a 'TV quest' in search of finding out if there's anything behind his mental health.He once lavishly rented out a plane used by rapper Snoop Dogg and asked journalist Jon Ronson to go UFO hunting with him and wanted the documentary-maker to set up a night for him to spend a night in a haunted house in the search for ghosts. He changed his mind on the latter. Speaking on Alan Buxton's podcast in January, he told of how he spotted an 'penalty box-sized' unidentified flying object 16 years ago when he was completely sober. 'This was flat and it appeared over a tree. It was matt black underneath had yellow stripes like The Hacienda (London nightclub). 'I didn't think "little green men", I thought "there's a bit of tech we are not being told about". I thought it was the American government.'

He also spoke of another time when a 33ft elongated strip of 'negative light' had passed through while he was 'whittling' lyrics for a song about alien abduction at his now former Hollywood home in San Fernando Valley.

 

But he says nothing has happened ever since his children have been born. 'It is thrilling see those things,' he said. 'If I get to stay alive for another 25 years it will be a TV quest I will go on where I will go and examine my own mental illness or maybe there's something to it 'I think something is up. I read everything to do with conspiracies, UFOs, with Bigfoot, with ghosts, with ghouls, with absolute everything... folklore, myths, blah. blah, blah. I don't believe anything other than something is up.'

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/artic...ocumentary.html

Edited November 7, 20231 yr by Sydney11

@1721894812708897235

:wub:

 

View this post on Instagram

A really lovely post from Guy ..

 

 

Two gorgeous photographs of their younger & older selves :heart:

 

View this post on Instagram

Edited November 7, 20231 yr by Sydney11

https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/documentaries...netflix-review/

https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/ent...cid=socialshare

Robbie Williams: Netflix Series Review https://loudandclearreviews.com/robbie-will...-series-review/ via @loudandclearrvs

Very positive preview!!

Unfortunately the first review I’ve seen today is the Guardian. It shouldn’t surprise me that they have produced a horrible review - they got no interview access for promo with anyone.

 

Makes me anxious for Rob, though.

This documentary will polarize, critics like The Guardian who have rarely been nice about him or TT, those who dislike him will dislike him more, the fans who have not known the details will love him more, and those who do know the details will defend him. Interesting will be the General Public and if they watch, which is most important. Rob needs to get back into the public eye - not the fan's eye - if he want to sell his next year movie and if he wants to stay relevant or become relevant again before he will be a legend in 15 years or so.

He is no Beckham with few critics and many people who appreciate him. He is Robbie Williams and he is pop. This is different and he does nothing to change this. I hope that his mental health is strong enough to not get hurt. I do not want to see him lamenting about the reactions of the documentary in 5 years and how it hurt him. He would have and must know what he sold his soul to.

Robbie Williams review: you wonder if his demons have been put back in their bottle. Netflix documentary shows Williams remains uneasy about fame and not sure if it was worth the price

 

Ed Power

Wed Nov 8 2023 - 09:45

 

 

Robbie Williams is a natural-born show-off cursed with a crippling level of self-awareness. And crippling is the world: halfway through the four-part Robbie Williams (Netflix from Wednesday), the pop star stands backstage in Leeds, marvelling that so many people have come to see him. That astonishment turns to panic a few hours later when, emerging from a trap door to a packed stadium, he loses his nerve and spends two hours wrestling a panic attack. Afterwards, he’s too upset to speak.

 

Because Williams is one of the biggest pop stars of the past 30 years, these and other moments of extraordinary vulnerability are caught on film. The big gimmick behind Joe Pearlman’s enjoyable new documentary is that we catch up with present-day Robbie, who, from his bed, watches the old footage on a laptop. He laughs at some of it: the haircuts, the supremely bouncy brio he displays from the moment he joined Take That at age 16. But mostly, he winces and wants to look elsewhere: fame for Williams had plenty of perks yet was ultimately a drag.

 

Ireland has a few cameos. There is a revealing clip of Williams promoting his 1999 Slane Castle show. A journalist asks Robbie how he’s feeling. “Slane is three days away and I’m really scared ... I was in bed worrying about it last week ... I’ve been in a black depression for the last five weeks.” He then offers to provide a different answer. “Biggest gig of my life,” he beams. “It’s going to be a wonderful experience.”

 

Croke Park then pops up in part three as Williams starts his 2006 tour on Dublin’s northside. Backstage, he admits to having never been so nervous before. Having been at the show, I can attest his jitters were justified. A weird atmosphere settled on Croke Park that day – a frenzy that boiled up to something more manic. Williams seems to have never entirely recovered: a few months later, in Leeds, he fell apart entirely.

 

One Netflix documentary can feel much like the next one. There are certainly parallels between Robbie Williams and the streamer’s recent series about David Beckham. The difference is that Williams is far harder on himself and insightful – to a fault perhaps – on celebrity and its many downsides.

 

He constantly comments on how adrift he is. An early scene of Williams recording his second album in the Caribbean and on the phone to his then-girlfriend, Nicole Appleton of All Saints, leads Williams to remark that he sounds like a child talking to his mum. Then there’s the shocking footage from backstage in Germany, where a down-in-the-dumps Robbie insists on a steroid shot before he performs – over the objections of a frustrated assistant.

 

It’s hardly news that Robbie has a fragile ego. He talks about how much the British press had it in for him. You can only sympathise, though surely it’s better to have a properly functioning music press than, as is the case in Ireland, a media that never says anything even mildly negative about certain Irish artists for fear of nonplussing the wrong people (ask any Irish music journalist and they will tell you Big Brother is always watching).

 

The only real flaw in Robbie Williams is its hasty conclusion. After tracking his rise with Take That and his bumpy solo career, it finishes with him waving goodbye to his wife, Ayda Field, and their four kids in LA and flying to London for a show.

 

He tells us he’s in a better place and looking forward to going on stage. But you wonder if those demons have been put back in their bottle. The worrying takeaway is that people don’t change and that, despite his current profession of happiness, underneath it all, Williams remains uneasy about fame and not quite sure if it was worth the price.

 

https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/tv-radio...n-their-bottle/

Edited November 8, 20231 yr by Sydney11

Critics Are Pretty Split About The New Robbie Williams Netflix Documentary. The Angels singer the the subject of a personal four-part series on the streaming service.

 

Victoria Sanusi

08/11/2023 12:31pm GMT

 

Pop star Robbie Williams is the latest celebrity to get the Netflix documentary treatment, after his self-titled four-part series hit the streaming service on Wednesday. It tells the story of how Robbie rose from being 16-year-old boy from Stoke-on-Trent to become part of one of the UK’s biggest boy bands at the time, Take That. Charting the highs and lows that followed – including his personal difficulties with his mental health, drug use and stint in rehab – the series features never-before-seen personal archival footage to coincide with the 25th anniversary of his solo career.

 

Following the documentary’s release, critics have had their say, and it’s fair to say the reception has been pretty mixed – here’s what the reviews are saying...

 

The Guardian (2/5 stars)

“It’s hard to know whether to laugh or cry. Most likely, you will do neither. Fame’s psychological ill-effects are patently not funny, and Robbie Williams is more evidence that celebrity is an affliction and an addiction, which in turn leaves the series feeling like an opportunity to rubberneck at disaster.

“At the same time, Williams is so hard to empathise with. It turns out it’s surprisingly tricky to emotionally connect with someone when all you see is them – as this myopic documentary has proven to its own detriment.”

 

Independent (4/5 stars)

“While Robbie Williams is undoubtedly a PR exercise (as, it should be said, most shows of its ilk are) there is enough texture in the patina to make it work. The glossy surface of the manufactured modern pop story, from Taylor Swift to Ed Sheeran, is absent here.

 

“Robbie Williams combines titillation and pity as effectively as its namesake does braggadocio and vulnerability.”

 

iNews (3/5 stars)

“There are no other interviews or talking heads throughout the series (aside from a few snippets of insight from Williams’s wife of 13 years, Ayda Field, in the final episode), giving the films an intimate feel yet also curiously limited scope.

 

“Has Netflix exploited a troubled celebrity for views and subscribers? It’s hard not to come to such a conclusion, especially since the ending – in which a present-day Williams leaves his crying children to go on tour, the very thing that broke him in the first place – feels so quietly devastating.”

 

NME (4/5 stars)

“Robbie Williams is a tale of the last era of super-charged celebrity. It’s an unflinching depiction of tabloid f***ery, mass ignorance of mental health issues and a pre-social media age in which a handful of celebrities found themselves at the molten centre of the pop culture universe. Few, of course, remained unscathed. The set-up is innovative: director Joe Pearlman eschews the usual talking heads to focus on Robbie himself, who is shown previously unseen archive footage from throughout his career and responds to it in real-time. For some reason, he usually does so in his pants.

 

“It’s a persuasive account of the gulf that can occur between wealth and happiness, a simple sentiment that can be difficult to really feel. Like Robbie himself, the show’s imperfect and a little insular, but its emotional pull is undeniable.”

 

Radio Times (4/5 stars)

“[...] This documentary gives an insight into the human Robbie Williams, rather than the entertainer we have grown up listening to over the years.

 

“Told in his own words, Williams controls the narrative of his life, which has been spoken about by millions for years. And while it’s dark, a difficult watch at times, it’s essential viewing to gain perspective on how fame and stardom isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”

 

https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/robb...4b0e63c9dc1bccc

Edited November 8, 20231 yr by Sydney11

Honest insight or navel-gazing? Critics differ over Robbie Williams documentary

 

08/11/2023 | 12:35 PM

BY CHARLOTTE MCLAUGHLIN, PA SENIOR ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER

 

A new Netflix documentary about Robbie Williams has been hailed as an “honest insight” into the star but has also been branded “navel-gazing”. The four-part series – which charts the 49-year-old’s rise as a member of Take That, his struggles with addiction, mental health issues and what the last episode calls “redemption” – has been given a mixed reception by critics.

 

Most of the reviews of the programme, titled Robbie Williams, were particularly struck by the singer’s “on-stage panic attacks”, which the Guardian called “horrific to watch”.

 

The newspaper rated the documentary two stars out of five, saying it is a “claustrophobic, navel-gazing, four-hour-long monologue delivered by Robbie” that makes makes “grim viewing”. Its review said Williams “is more evidence that celebrity is an affliction and an addiction” and claimed it is “so hard to empathise” with the We Will Rock You and Let Me Entertain You singer. It concludes: “It turns out it’s surprisingly tricky to emotionally connect with someone when all you see is them – as this myopic documentary has proven to its own detriment.”

 

However, The Times disagreed, giving the documentary five stars and praising it as “a searing examination of the price of fame”. “It revealed a fragile young man being slowly broken on fame’s wheel until he collapsed, addicted to alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, approval,” the newspaper said.

 

The Telegraph said that while Williams is “articulate and thoughtful”, the format “has an anaesthetised quality”, and awarded the series three stars. The paper questioned whether there was “anything new to learn” about the pop star, who “has always been candid and has nothing to hide”, while contrasting the series with other documentaries about celebrities. “The endless shots of Williams pacing around his house, or his face bathed in the glow of a laptop screen, are deadening,” the review added. “It plays out like an extended therapy session.”

 

The i newspaper also rated the series three stars while questioning if the documentary was “exploitative”. “It’s hard not to come to such a conclusion, especially since the ending – in which a present-day Williams leaves his crying children to go on tour, the very thing that broke him in the first place – feels so quietly devastating,” its critic said.

 

The Independent gave the series four stars and called it “undoubtedly a PR exercise” while also praising the “rawness” of the archive footage.

It added: “Robbie Williams combines titillation and pity as effectively as its namesake does braggadocio and vulnerability.”

 

https://www.breakingnews.ie/entertainment/h...ry-1549222.html

Edited November 8, 20231 yr by Sydney11

Ok, so I’ve watched all 4 episodes.

 

As a fan, I can’t say I learned anything that I didn’t already know at least the broad outlines of.

But there is some incredible footage to illustrate what I already broadly knew.

 

As feared, I did notice the lack of other perspectives to provide context, and there is a lot skimmed over.

 

The thing I really missed that I think would have contributed to the main argument is the press

coverage of Rob going to rehab in 2007 - that moment when the tabloids decided it was either a publicity stunt to steal Take That’s thunder, a minor addiction to caffeine that he was making an outsized fuss about, or a reaction to Take That having a successful comeback. There really was some truly shocking press coverage of someone having a real crisis, and I wanted that called out.

Also, Rob discusses his difficulty performing Bodies on X Factor, but not the truly cruel and unhinged press response to that.

Again I wanted that to be called out - I felt the press got off far too lightly.

 

Also, although there’s a lovely thread about Rob’s friendship with Guy breaking down, there’s absolutely nothing about them

repairing that relationship. And naturally Guy gets off very lightly - his unreasonable demands during that breakdown go completely

unmentioned. So that is frustrating, if you’ve read the biographies and know that Guy was doing silly things.

 

Swing When You’re Winning is not mentioned at all, which is really odd.

 

The Take That reunion is skimmed over very quickly too. We don’t even get the standard re-hash of the making-up-with-Gary

chat, which is honestly a little bit odd to leave out when being-nasty-about-Gary is featured so prominently.

I know that fans have all heard it before, but narratively it’s a strange choice not to return to that relationship.

Edited November 8, 20231 yr by Kathryn24601

Robbie Williams reveals unseen snaps from a trip to Morocco with his bikini-clad wife Ayda after his second stint in rehab - as the couple open up about their romance in Netflix series

 

 

Photographs courtesy of The Daily Mail online & Netflix

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/artic...-wife-Ayda.html

Edited November 8, 20231 yr by Sydney11

I found this review really interesting ..

 

Netflix series Robbie Williams is an earnest overview of the life and career of one of the UK’s most influential solo artists of the 20th century.

 

 

“It was an unusual scenario to be in, in a very intense background atmosphere surrounding that is a pressure cooker,” says Robbie Williams in his new four-part Netflix docuseries Robbie Williams. He’s referring to his time in the British boyband Take That, which the singer joined at the young age of 16. When reflecting on his time as a band member, Williams speaks candidly about the extensive touring that came with the territory, the band’s obsessive fanbase, and the jealousy he felt toward Gary Barlow, who, as the band’s frontman, consistently held the spotlight. These factors, along with Williams’ drug use, growing concerns from the other band members over his reckless behavior, and a clean-cut boy band image the singer didn’t feel he could maintain, are what led to his departure from Take That in 1995.

 

Williams released his first studio album, “Life Thru A Lens,” in 1997, after attending rehab, but was almost dropped by his record label due to low sales. The singer recounts his music failing to resonate with the public until he released his biggest hit to date, “Angels,” which saved his career. The song propelled him to stardom, a level of fame that not even Williams was prepared for. Despite being an 18-time Brit Award winner, the singer admits that he’s a bit of a loner and can often be found in bed when not performing, which may come as a surprise to lifelong fans. However, Williams remains humble, articulates his struggles, and recognizes his shortcomings without the documentary aiming to gain the viewer’s sympathy.

 

Williams is the sole narrator of Robbie Williams, with interviews taking place in the singer’s bedroom, which only adds to the authenticity and intimacy. The documentary seamlessly weaves decades of archived footage throughout the singer’s career, providing a comprehensive insight into Williams’ life as he watches his own journey unfold. From drug addiction to his ongoing mental health struggles that lead to depression and social anxiety, Robbie Williams reveals a different side of Williams, unlike anything we’ve seen before. Watching specific footage still triggers the star, making him skip or pause particular clips. However, his self-awareness and willingness to be open about his struggles make him even more relatable and endearing.

 

As the minutes pass by and you learn more about the singer’s incredible career, you realize that much of his confidence was a facade that masked his sensitivity and pain. His bravado rang true after he became a target of the UK press at the peak of his career. Robbie Williams reflects on his high-profile romances with All Saints’ Nicole Appleton and The Spice Girls’ Geri Halliwell. That said, the time spent revisiting past relationships is relatively brief, and he credits his wife of thirteen years, Ayda Field, and their four children for saving his life. Even though the documentary doesn’t feature Williams’ family often or include interviews with his peers in the music industry, his narration keeps viewers engaged. Williams’ simplistic storytelling style is particularly compelling given the difficult subject matter at hand.

 

Robbie Williams covers all phases of his career, including his time with Take That and his rise to fame as a solo artist. However, it’s important to note that the subject matter is quite heavy and may be triggering for some viewers who have experienced addiction and struggled with their mental health. Nonetheless, Williams’ willingness to delve into the darkest depths of his life, even revisiting places he’d rather forget, showcases just how down-to-earth and honest he is as a person and how truthful he wants to be with his fans. Robbie Williams is not a biased documentary but rather an intimate look into the life of someone who has been to hell and back. Williams wants to share his life experiences and challenges with viewers while letting those who may be struggling know that they aren’t alone.

 

 

https://loudandclearreviews.com/robbie-will...-series-review/

 

Ok, so I’ve watched all 4 episodes.

 

As a fan, I can’t say I learned anything that I didn’t already know at least the broad outlines of.

But there is some incredible footage to illustrate what I already broadly knew.

 

As feared, I did notice the lack of other perspectives to provide context, and there is a lot skimmed over.

 

The thing I really missed that I think would have contributed to the main argument is the press

coverage of Rob going to rehab in 2007 - that moment when the tabloids decided it was either a publicity stunt to steal Take That’s thunder, a minor addiction to caffeine that he was making an outsized fuss about, or a reaction to Take That having a successful comeback. There really was some truly shocking press coverage of someone having a real crisis, and I wanted that called out.

Also, Rob discusses his difficulty performing Bodies on X Factor, but not the truly cruel and unhinged press response to that.

Again I wanted that to be called out - I felt the press got off far too lightly.

 

Also, although there’s a lovely thread about Rob’s friendship with Guy breaking down, there’s absolutely nothing about them

repairing that relationship. And naturally Guy gets off very lightly - his unreasonable demands during that breakdown go completely

unmentioned. So that is frustrating, if you’ve read the biographies and know that Guy was doing silly things.

 

Swing When You’re Winning is not mentioned at all, which is really odd.

 

The Take That reunion is skimmed over very quickly too. We don’t even get the standard re-hash of the making-up-with-Gary

chat, which is honestly a little bit odd to leave out when being-nasty-about-Gary is featured so prominently.

I know that fans have all heard it before, but narratively it’s a strange choice not to return to that relationship.

 

 

Yes, the lack of other perspectives is a shame, was he too afraid of what would be said. I always think of Rob as someone looking at his life from behind a cushion , too afraid of what he might see or hear. I read in one of the reviews where they talk about him being a loner & spending a lot of time in bed, that cannot be easy to live with from Ayda's & his families point of view but I guess they make it work. Just glad that he seems to be happy as he can be these days

He’s a loner except when he is incredible sociable!

 

Which he can be - he really values his friendships.

 

He’s a classic introvert. He makes deep connections with people but needs his alone time to recharge.

Robbie Williams’s tale is one of tabloid vitriol, but our dark obsession with celebrity lingers still

 

Elle Hunt

 

 

The documentary series about the troubled singer shows that, while the heyday of the paparazzi is over, pop stars are still prey to intrusion

 

Netflix’s new documentary delivers on its promise of presenting Robbie Williams as you’ve never seen him before, and not just in showing the era-defining cheeky chappy, now rounding on 50, mostly in bed, lounging around in his pants. Its director, Joe Pearlman, brings together hours of behind-the-scenes archival footage, much of it never seen by Williams, and screens it to him on his laptop for his response.

 

One of the more harrowing clips is a video diary recorded by Williams in 2007. It shows him apparently alone, drug-addled and reading online commentary aloud. “‘Robbie Williams is music for people who don’t feel’,” he says, his face grey, eyes sunken. “‘Rob is a showbiz chancer’ – yeah, I am … ‘Robbie Williams is a shit joke’.”

 

The story – of a star being built up, torn down and left to piece a life together from the wreckage – is by now familiar. Pearlman has made it his primary subject, having made similar retrospective films with the 80s boyband Bros, the now-grown cast of Harry Potter, and the Scottish songwriter Lewis Capaldi.

 

Here, what again emerges is a damning picture of the tabloid press, and the toll of living under its scrutiny. Where Williams perhaps differs from Pearlman’s previous subjects is in his complicated public persona: he courted attention as much as he rebelled against it.

 

By contemporary measures of who is deserving of compassion, Williams is low-ranking, seen to have a protective shield of privilege: straight, white, male, able-bodied. Even so, he’s shown buckling under the pressures placed on him, even as a born entertainer.

 

Williams was trailed by sometimes 300 paparazzi at a time, in double-decker buses and helicopters. The doco shows him on the phone to the Sun, challenging their “Stroppy Williams” headline. Later he rails against the paper’s showbiz columnist Victoria Newton from a Jacuzzi.

 

“It felt like every day I would read in print what an abhorrent person I was,” Williams says now. Every attempt to engage or play the press at their own game would backfire. Williams puts out Angels, a song that just about everyone loves, and is sneered about as middle-of-the-road and a crowdpleaser; he attempts something new that (at the time, at least) he believed in, with Rudebox, and is ridiculed.

The prolonged “hatefest” clearly erodes Williams’s self-belief. Often, in footage from the Rudebox era, he looks like a hunted animal. “No matter what I do, no matter what I write, no matter how I sing it, no matter what I say – in my home country, the press are going to f***ing hate me,” he says.

 

Lately there’s been a lot of looking back on the cruelty of the celebrity culture of the noughties – from Britney Spears describing the “constant drumbeat of pressure from the paparazzi” that precipitated her breakdown to Posh and Becks speaking out, in their Netflix documentary, about the hounding that accompanied their relationship.

 

When I have read press from that time, I’ve been shocked by the unchecked vitriol found printed beneath a byline and a perky headshot. But as much as we like to tell ourselves we live now in a kinder time, I’m not convinced. Compared with 20 years ago, we have certainly established some ground rules: commentary on celebrities’ weight, for example (with which Williams long battled), is now couched as faux-concern or a back-handed compliment.

 

But while we may have stamped out the most egregious blows below the belt, it does not compensate for the scale of the modern arena and punishing pace of the game. With social media, it’s not just journalists who get to have their say, it’s everyone – and though the press might be less inclined to openly campaign against pop stars, X (formerly Twitter) shows no such reticence.

 

It’s hard not to get the impression that our media and entertainment industries work to erode our empathy. Watching Williams, wounded by critical or dismissive reviews of his music, made me think of casual shots I’ve taken at people in the public eye. It is uncomfortable to realise, even over the relatively short space of my career, just how many are no longer with us.

 

It’s easy, when you’re commenting publicly on celebrities – whether for a newspaper or on social media – to tell yourself that you’re punching up: they are rich, they are famous, they have chosen to be judged on their art and to live their lives in public. But have they, really? And do the rewards justify the harms?

 

I would not want to live in a world where, if we can’t say anything nice, we don’t say anything at all, if it was even possible to achieve it. At the least, these documentaries function as a cautionary tale, warning that showbiz is not for the fragile or thin-skinned. But there’s a balance to be struck – how much a human being should be expected to endure for our entertainment. These are pop stars, not politicians: there are many more just targets for our collective opproprobium, ones where applying pressure could move us to a better, fairer world.

 

But whether we’re cheering for more or clamouring for them to go away, our widespread obsession with celebrities has minimal power for good – and great potential for individual harm.

 

It’s all too easy to imagine a tragic ending to Williams’s story, but the series ends on an uplifting note, with Williams healed and happy (though still too traumatised to return to the UK), a devoted husband, and a father to four. But it is all too easy, at points, to imagine a tragic ending. No doubt then he’d receive poignant tributes. For now, he gets two-star reviews for being “onanistic”. But if he’s self-absorbed, it’s only reflecting our obsession.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2...ssion-celebrity

Edited November 8, 20231 yr by Sydney11