Robbie Williams: I was the smuggest person that ever lived
The 51-year old performed at the O2 Academy Brixton on Sunday night.
Robbie Williams has described himself as the “smuggest person that ever lived” after watching the Take That documentary.
The Rock DJ singer performed at the O2 Academy Brixton on Sunday night as part of a limited run of shows for his Long 90s Tour.
The 51-year old sang tracks from his debut solo album Life Thru A Lens and his most recent record Britpop.
He opened the show with Lazy Days before a number of hit songs including Let Me Entertain You, Angels, All My Life and Morrissey.
Before singing Ego a Go Go, which he said is about his former Take That bandmate Gary Barlow, Williams referenced the recently released documentary about the boyband.
He said: “What an asshole I am in episode two.
“The smuggest person that has ever lived in the world.
“Gary Barlow was supposed to be mean but I am f****** mean. A horrible dickhead I was.”
He said he has since apologised to Barlow “a million times” before suggesting he was being honest.
He added: “It’s not nice now but it was f****** fun at the time.”
The packed crowd belted out Angels along with the singer before he took a moment to thank fans for following his career and standing by him as if he were their favourite football team.
He said: “What I managed to do is stretch, with my career, an elastic band from Stoke-on-Trent to the moon.
“It feels like the simulation theory might be real.
“It feels like The Matrix may exist, because I’m not supposed to be here with 16 number one albums.
“At some point in these 36 years, you guys decided that I am your football team. And I f****** love being your football team.
“Thank you very f****** much.”
Despite being able to fill arenas, Williams opted for more intimate venues for the tour which kicked off last week at Glasgow’s Barrowland Ballroom followed by a gig in Liverpool on Friday night.
After his show in the capital, Williams will end the limited run of shows with a performance at Wolverhampton’s Civic hall on Monday night.
Williams released his 13th studio album Britpop in January, three weeks earlier than originally planned, and it became his 16th solo chart-topper.
He became the artist with the most number one albums in the UK charts, including compilations and soundtracks, after previously being tied with The Beatles.
The new album features collaborations with Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, Supergrass’s Gaz Coombes, Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi and Williams’ former Take That bandmate Barlow.
Before his solo career, Williams was part of the boyband Take That, who were behind the hit songs Pray, Everything Changes and Sure.
In 2023 he was the subject of a self-titled Netflix documentary series which documented his struggles with addiction and mental health issues.
A year later he released the biopic Better Man, in which he is played by a CGI chimpanzee – a comment on how he feels like a “performing monkey”.
Other chart-topping albums include I’ve Been Expecting You (1998), Sing When You’re Winning (2000), Escapology (2002), Intensive Care (2005) and Rudebox (2006).
