Robert Peter Maximillian Williams was born on the 13th of February, 1974 in Newcastle, England. He joined a loving family consisting of an older sister named Sally and parents Jan and Pete (who divorced when Rob was 3). Mischevious even at a young age, Rob once took all of the money (approx. 2000 pounds) from his family's pub's till and threw it out of the window onto the street. Needless to say Mum Williams was not thrilled! School was a time of fun for young Rob. He claims to have been a good lad in that he never got caught! As you can probably imagine, Rob was deemed the class clown and would always make the class laugh. Rob was quoted as saying "I was just this chubby boy who would go around pulling faces and telling jokes and I found myself with a big circle of friends.". The thrill of an audience appealed to Rob and he decided he wanted to be an actor. Performances in Oliver Twist, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Fiddler on the Roof, The King and I and Hans Christian Anderson followed. Rob also made it a point to join the school band....a sign of what was to come a few years later. As with most young lads in England, Rob developed an intense love of sports...especially football (UK football) and cricket. To this day, Rob is a devout supporter of the Port Vale Club. At the age of 16, Rob left school determined to pursue his acting career. As with most beginners, Rob was forced to take a day job selling double-glazing. He claims to have been absolutely horrible at the job though. He found himself unable to be dishonest with potential customers and told them the windows were overpriced and then he left! Shortly after leaving school, Rob was presented with an opportunity to join a band. He took the job and Take That was born.

An agent named Nigel Martin-Smith had an idea to form a band in the style of New Kids on the Block. He put together a group of lads who had sought him out for representation but was in need of a fifth member. Martin-Smith instantly thought of Rob who had just signed with him. Rob met the other lads (Mark Owen, Gary Barlow, Jason Orange and Howard Donald) and sang a song by Jason Donovan called "Nothing Can Divide Us" as his audition piece. The others were impressed with him and several weeks later, 16 year old Rob got the call. Take That was complete. Rehearsals started soon after and then their first proper gig was held at a nightclub in Huddersfield. Two months after joining the band, Rob got his first real taste of being a celebrity. Take That made their first television appearance on Cool Cube. The band went on to become one of Britain's all-time best selling groups whose popularity was sometimes compared to the original fab-five, The Beatles. Three albums and _ singles later, the day came when Rob was forced to leave the band due to his partying ways. He had grown rebellious and was frequently found in the company of rock 'bad boys', the Gallagher brothers from Oasis.

Robbie's solo career was officially launched on June 27th 1996. He held a press conference at a London hotel where he announced that his first ever solo single would be a cover of George Michael's Freedom. July 29th was the UK release date and the single went on to hit number 2 in the charts. (Number one was held by the newly-popular Spice Girls).Rob's second single Old Before I Die was released over 8 and half months later and peaked at Number 2. In June of '97, Rob checked himself into a rehab center for treatment of his drug/alcohol addiction. A month later, Rob appeared healty and ready to take on the music charts again. July 14th saw the release of his third single Lazy Days.Finally, September '97 saw the release of Rob's fourth single South of the Border and his first ever solo album Life Thru A Lens. Unfortunately, it took 28 weeks for the album to hit number one in the charts. The album turned into the ultimate sleeper hit of the year thanks mostly to the beautiful fifth single Angels. Angels set Rob's career completely ablaze...two weeks later the album went double platinum. A sell-out British tour quickly followed and Rob was proclaimed one of the biggest stars in the UK. February '98 saw Rob appear at the Brit Awards (UK's version of the Grammy's) with one of his childhood idols Tom Jones. Decked out in black leather, Rob along with Jones sang a medley from the popular film The Full Monty. In March the final single off of Life Thru A Lens called 'Let Me Entertain You' was released to massive sales and acclaim. The video certainly lived up to the title, featuring Rob in traditional Kiss makeup. The following months were filled with tons of promotion...and more critics drastically reversing their original negative opinion of Rob's music. September saw the release of the first single off of the second album...Millenium. (Americans will recognize this title as our first single) This catchy tune easily hit number 1 on the charts....the video was one of the year's best (featuring Williams, Rob Williams - a James Bond style video). In October, Rob's much anticipated second album I've Been Expecting You was released to wide acclaim. Rob's second single No Regrets featuring the backing vocals of Pet Shop Boy Neil Tennant and Neil Hannon was released in November. 1999 is certainly the year of the Ego.....In February, Rob was the king of the Brit Awards winning Best Male Singer, Best Song - Angels and Best Video - Millenium. He was nominated for a record-setting 6 awards in 4 categories. (He beat himself in two of those categories) March saw the release of Rob's 3rd single from I've Been Expecting You entitled Strong. Also in March was Rob's first appearance in Canada since his days with Take That. His first solo television interview was held at 4pm on March 10th at the Much Music 'environment' in Toronto. (In front of some very enthusiastic fans who had been waiting there since 7 am -- the editor being one of them). Rob went on to Jasper Alberta and performed his first North American gig at one of Canada's biggest shows - Snow Job '99. After making a few more North American appearances (including a gig at South by Southwest), Rob returned to Europe to do his European tour. Unfortunately, all of Rob's hard work took a toll on his health and he was forced to postpone the tour until fall. May saw the release of The Ego Has Landed in the USA as well as Rob's first North American tour...starting at the Opera House in Toronto on May 1st. Since then, Rob has done several of the European festivals and is currently enjoying some time off before his touring days start again. The fall will see Rob tour Europe and release a double a-side single of She's the One and It's Only Us. Following this, he will return to Canada and the US for a larger scale tour, a second single release (Angels) and appearances on some major television events like Saturday Night Live and the VH1 Fashion Awards. The Ego has finally landed and it's about time!

Written by Jennifer Grant. Sources include: "Take That - Our Story", Take That Factfile 2