Researching Robbie Williams

Williams has received a record eighteen Brit Awards—winning Best British Male Artist four times, two awards for Outstanding Contribution to Music and the 2017 Brits Icon for his "lasting impact on British culture", eight German ECHO Awards, and three MTV European Music Awards. In 2004, he was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame after being voted the "Greatest Artist of the 1990s". According to the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), Williams has been certified for 19.9 million albums and 8.2 million singles in the UK as a solo artist. Five of his albums have topped the Australian albums chart. He has sold 75 million records worldwide. Williams also topped the 2000–2010 UK airplay chart. His three concerts at Knebworth in 2003 drew over 375,000 people, the UK's biggest music event to that point. In 2014, he was awarded the freedom of his home town of Stoke-on-Trent, as well as having a tourist trail created and streets named in his honour.

After a fifteen-year hiatus from the group, he was re-united with Take That on 15 July 2010, co-writing and performing lead vocals on their album Progress, which became the second fastest-selling album in UK chart history and the fastest-selling record of the century at the time. The subsequent stadium tour, which featured seven songs from Williams's solo career, became the biggest-selling concert in UK history, selling 1.34 million tickets in less than 24 hours. In late 2011, Take That's frontman Gary Barlow confirmed that Williams had left the band for a second time to focus on his solo career, although the departure was amicable and that Williams was welcome to rejoin Take That in the future. He has since performed with Take That on three separate television appearances, and has collaborated with Barlow on a number of projects—including the West End musical The Band.

Robbie Williams made his first-class debut for Durham University Centre of Cricketing Excellence in three matches during 2007 as a six-foot right-arm medium-fast bowler, before impressing for the Middlesex second XI. He made his List A and County Championship debuts for Middlesex in September 2007. Opening the bowling with Steven Finn versus Essex, he achieved the distinction of taking five wickets in his first innings in county cricket. He dismissed Tom Westley, Tim Phillips, Essex captain Mark Pettini, Graham Napier and centurion Grant Flower. His figures were 28.4-4-112-5.

Williams signed for Leicestershire on a one-year deal at the end of the 2012 domestic season, after being released by Middlesex.