After 30 Years, Robbie Williams Wants Something Bigger

0:00 Hello, Robbie.

0:00 How are you?

0:01 I'm good.

0:02 How are you doing?

0:02 This is Robbie Williams: pop star, artist, and brand builder.

0:10 With more U.K.

0:11 number one albums than The Beatles,

0:13 Robbie is one of Britain's most successful artists.

0:17 But he's not just focused on music anymore.

0:20 He's moved into art, launched a fashion label,

0:23 and now wants to build businesses beyond the stage.

0:28 Here in London's Soho, we discuss career challenges.

0:35 It was the perfect storm to head to mental illness.

0:38 Triumph.

0:39 I'll take it and I'll grab it with both hands.

0:42 And why he's still pushing for more.

0:44 The ambition is still there.

0:46 The drive is still there.

0:48 I want to create big businesses.

0:50 CNBC Meets Robbie Williams.

1:00 I'm Tania Bryer and I'm in Soho, central London to meet British pop legend

1:05 Robbie Williams who's recently released a new album.

1:09 Robbie, it's great to see you.

1:11 What are the emotions like when you're releasing something new like this?

1:16 It just depends where I am in my career.

1:19 You know, I always think that the event of releasing an album,

1:23 everything rides on it,

1:25 because it sort of tells you I've got this oil tanker of a career

1:32 and these particular events tell you if you're

1:35 going to crash into the harbor or not,

1:39 or show you if you're still relevant or how much it's declined.

1:44 I feel as though I've completed music.

1:47 Still enjoy writing songs, but I've got so many creative ideas and wants

1:52 and desires that it's not the only finger in the pie.

1:56 But it's also the calling card to let people know that you still exist.

2:00 It's the calling card to go, "Here I am.

2:03 I've got this thing.

2:04 I'm also doing these other things.

2:06 I want you to have a look at all these other things

2:09 and I hope you enjoy them too." "Britpop" was Robbie's 16th U.K.

2:13 number one album, making him the artist with the most number one albums in U.K.

2:20 history, surpassing The Beatles.

2:21 I feel as though there's been a glitch

2:24 in the matrix with the whole of my success, from Take That to solo success.

2:29 It's felt like I've stolen somebody else's spot, but I'll take it,

2:33 you know, I'll take it and I'll grab it with both hands.

2:36 At just 16, Robbie joined boy band Take That.

2:40 Two years later, their cover of "Could It Be Magic"

2:42 with Robbie on lead vocals became their first UK top five hit,

2:53 turning them into a national phenomenon.

2:59 But behind the success, those early years were far from stable.

3:04 It was kind of a perfect storm, the perfect storm to head to mental illness.

3:10 And what was happening at home, you know,

3:13 what was happening outside home in my local area,

3:17 what was happening with me and my trainee-alcoholism and addictions,

3:22 what was happening in the band, what was happening with the band's management,

3:28 what was happening in the sort of "Lord of the Flies" energy of the band.

3:35 Don't get me wrong, we loved each other,

3:37 but there was "Lord of the Flies" stuff, and there would be hundreds of girls

3:42 that would arrive outside the house every day.

3:46 There was also excitement.

3:48 In June 1995, Robbie left Take That.

3:52 How hard was that for you and how important was

3:56 it for you to then have control of your own career?

4:00 I was so out of control by then, fully blown alcoholic, fully blown addict,

4:06 and how it went was I went into rehearsals as normal for this tour.

4:14 Looking back now, what should have happened was,

4:18 should have come in and gone, "you're going rehab, we'll get on with this tour,

4:24 get yourself well." But we didn't know any of that stuff back then.

4:28 And nobody would have recognized what an alcoholic or an addict looks like.

4:32 And you know people would have just

4:35 thought "he's enjoying himself." And then what happened,

4:38 I went into rehearsals one day,

4:40 and I drank a bottle of vodka the night before and was

4:43 in a bad way and I wasn't learning any of the dance routines.

4:47 And then at lunch Jay sat down with the boys.

4:50 "Robbie we've been having a think we want to try

4:54 and do this as a four-piece." And in my mind, it was just like relief.

5:00 I can go.

5:01 And then they said, "What do you think?" And I said,

5:06 "I think you should." And then there was a bunch

5:11 of vegetables that the lads were juicing and there was a watermelon,

5:16 and I stood up and I said, "Can I take this?" And I took my watermelon and left.

5:22 Robbie went on to build a solo career

5:26 defined by hits like 1998's "Let Me Entertain You",

5:29 cementing his status as a global showman.

5:39 And entertaining is big business.

5:42 According to Goldman Sachs, global live music revenue,

5:46 comprising ticket sales and sponsorship,

5:48 was estimated to be worth more than $38 billion dollars in 2025.

5:54 And they project that figure will grow to more than $67 billion by 2035.

6:01 In 2023, one of Robbie's companies generated

6:05 more than $90 million dollars in revenue, largely driven by live performances.

6:12 But despite that success, music is no longer his only focus.

6:16 He's now looking to build beyond the stage.

6:20 As well as becoming an exhibiting artist,

6:23 Robbie launched a fashion brand called Hopeium in 2025.

6:28 I've got so many ideas,

6:30 and I've figured out that if you can create music, you're a creative.

6:34 Therefore, shine your light,

6:36 that creative light in the corner of the room and there's art.

6:40 Shine a light in another corner of the room and there is clothes.

6:45 I also feel because ADHD is a super-strength,

6:47 that eventually if I wanted to go "I want to beat Elon to Mars.

6:52 How do we do this?" I obviously wouldn't build the rocket,

6:56 but I'd have something to do with it.

6:59 And I know that's delusional, but I haven't got here by not being delusional.

7:03 I would like there to be something out there in the world where I

7:07 create clothes for me and I hope that the clothes for me, other people like.

7:12 Is there a strategy to grow the brand, Robbie?

7:14 Would you like to work with retail partners, or where do you see it?

7:20 Slowly, slowly catchy monkey, you know, it's just, I've got one toe in it.

7:25 This is going to be in a few places.

7:27 If it sells through, if it's exciting,

7:29 then I will carry on and it will get my full attention.

7:33 The most exciting thing is me creating these things.

7:36 If I'm creating these things, if I'm drawing or if I'm making ideas for clothes,

7:42 I'm not thinking about Radio Rob- my brain is,

7:47 I have a very complicated inner life, and if I set it tasks, it calms down.

7:53 Three decades being a household name,

7:56 do you feel that Robbie Williams is a brand in itself?

8:02 It definitely is a brand.

8:03 I only call it a brand because it helps

8:06 to facilitate all these ideas that I want to do.

8:10 I haven't stopped being interested.

8:12 I haven't stopped wanting and needing.

8:15 The ambition is still there.

8:17 The drive is still there.

8:19 I still have a ton of energy.

8:22 What I'm saying to myself is, "I'm the right key,

8:25 I've just got to find the right door." I've

8:28 also got to busy myself and keep myself interested.

8:31 There's never been more abundance in the world.

8:34 Never been more opportunity to actually DIY,

8:37 do it yourself, create it from the ground up.

8:40 I want to absolutely smash and exceed anything that was possible.

8:47 Already done it.

8:49 Now, there are other glass ceilings that I want to go through.

8:53 Which one of the glass ceilings?

8:55 What's the priority for you?

8:57 I want to create big businesses.

8:58 I want to create big businesses.

9:00 I want my own hotels, where I perform in my own hotels.

9:04 I've got quite a few fingers in a few pies.

9:08 I'm watching my American counterparts do this with ease,

9:12 owning small towns and then extending on the towns.

9:16 And I want to design hotels and create the interiors and exteriors.

9:22 So, I've got all of these ideas flowing out of me

9:25 and we've not been able to execute one of them yet,

9:30 apart from me singing live and music.

9:34 In 2025 single "Human", Robbie explores the rise of artificial intelligence

9:40 and what it could mean for humankind.

9:48 What's your take on it,

9:50 and how do you think it impacts creativity within your industry?

9:55 In the early noughties, maybe the late nineties,

9:58 the music industry as we knew it was over.

10:01 We were kings, and then pretty soon after that, we weren't.

10:06 And everything disintegrated, and it's disintegrated still.

10:10 The horse had bolted.

10:12 It had left the stable, there's nothing we could do about it.

10:17 Then Spotify arrived and all the streamers and all the download for free

10:21 and all of that, and recording money runs out of the record industry.

10:26 Now what we have is AI has arrived.

10:30 The horse has yet again bolted.

10:34 We've seen this.

10:35 A guy I know, 18 months ago came around with this program that wasn't out there.

10:40 Put a few prompts in.

10:42 "Robbie Williams da da da", pressed a button and a hit came out with my voice,

10:50 and I was just like, "it's over." And then,

10:55 you know, because I write a lot of songs for my albums,

10:59 and I'm finding that I can't find

11:02 that gold-plated what you would call "hit" hit.

11:06 No arguments, evergreen, let's go,

11:08 this goes out, moves the needle, everyone's happy.

11:10 Can't find them.

11:11 And if you do, you might find one or two as you write 80 songs.

11:16 Press this button on this machine now and it just does it.

11:21 It's over.

11:21 Would you use it?

11:24 I have used it for my writing.

11:27 I write a lot for my Instagram, and I write the thing first,

11:34 and then I throw the thing into AI.

11:39 It now knows who I am, talks to me as Rob, you know, and it talks in my voice.

11:46 And I've thrown so much stuff at it now, it knows, it knows me back to front.

11:54 So, what I will do is, like I've written a piece for my Instagram for tomorrow.

11:59 I will, you know, like I'll just need an end.

12:02 I don't know how to wrap this up.

12:05 Boom.

12:05 End.

12:05 I'll take that bit.

12:06 I'll take that bit, ah that's good, and then I'll rewrite it myself.

12:10 So, I would say that the things I'm writing on Instagram,

12:14 I can't spell, my grammar is terrible, they sort that out.

12:18 Do you feel a pressure or responsibility with making

12:23 content every day and talking to your fans?

12:27 No, I see it as I'm an entertainer and my Instagram is my TV channel.

12:32 It's like this is where I go to be creative and entertain.

12:38 And why wouldn't I?

12:40 I find no pressure, and I also find that how it actually

12:46 feels in some crazy mixed-up world is that I'm sharing with friends,

12:51 and I'm genuinely interested to know their thoughts.

12:55 I have ADHD.

12:56 I can only do things I'm interested in, and with Instagram in particular,

13:02 I'm mega interested.

13:03 Robbie, you've achieved so much success over the years.

13:08 Can you highlight one of your proudest moments within that time?

13:13 It's all about next.

13:15 It's all about the next one.

13:17 It's all about getting, achieving, being.

13:19 It's why I don't have any awards up

13:22 in my house or anything that tells you I'm me.

13:25 It's like, I don't want a mausoleum to the past, you know,

13:29 I'm still hungry, you know, I don't want there just to be a 90s room.

13:36 You know, I've got many rivers to cross, I've got many mountains to traverse,

13:41 and I am delusionally optimistic that the best is yet to come.

13:46 What's your advice to yourself?

13:48 Because you do inspire others, so many others around you.

13:54 I thought and hoped that I could fix myself without any discipline whatsoever.

14:00 I just thought if I waited around on my bare bones,

14:04 that I would get through the horizon and I would be happy and healthy and whole.

14:10 Unfortunately, the truth is, discipline is freedom,

14:14 and you have to do something every day to maintain your well-being,

14:22 physically or mentally.

14:24 Discipline is freedom.

14:25 I have to remind myself that if I become complacent.

14:31 Robbie Williams, thank you so much for talking to me today.

14:34 It's been such a pleasure.

14:35 Thank you.

14:40 Lovely to see you.