# Robbie Williams discography
The Robbie Williams discography is the recorded output of the English singer [Robbie Williams](https://www.edgepedia.org/robbie-williams), covering his studio albums, live releases, compilations, and soundtracks from his 1996 departure from [Take That](https://www.edgepedia.org/take-that) to the present. It includes more than a dozen studio albums, of which all but one have reached Number 1 on the UK Official Albums Chart, and it made him the artist with the most UK Number 1 albums in chart history.[1](https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/1849/robb%C4%B1e-w%C4%B1ll%C4%B1ams/) • [2](https://www.umusicpub.com/us/artists/robbie-williams)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Studio albums | From *Life Thru A Lens* (1997) to *BRITPOP* (2026); all but one (*Reality Killed the Video Star*, Number 2) reached Number 1 on the UK Albums Chart[1](https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/1849/robb%C4%B1e-w%C4%B1ll%C4%B1ams/) • [3](https://los40.com/2026/01/26/robbie-williams-supera-a-los-beatles-en-reino-unido/) |
| UK chart records | 16 UK Number 1 albums, the most of any artist, after *BRITPOP* passed The Beatles' total in January 2026[2](https://www.umusicpub.com/us/artists/robbie-williams) |
| Singles | Seven UK Number 1 singles, beginning with "Millennium" in September 1998; 31 UK Top 10 singles in total[1](https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/1849/robb%C4%B1e-w%C4%B1ll%C4%B1ams/) |
| Sales | 90 million album sales worldwide; six of the Top 100 best-selling albums in British history[2](https://www.umusicpub.com/us/artists/robbie-williams) |
| Awards | A record 18 BRIT Awards, more than any other artist[2](https://www.umusicpub.com/us/artists/robbie-williams) |
| Signature song | "Angels" (1997), a million-selling single that never reached Number 1 but ranks among the UK's Top 100 best-selling songs of all time[1](https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/1849/robb%C4%B1e-w%C4%B1ll%C4%B1ams/) |
| Biggest deal | An £80 million contract with EMI signed in 2005, described as the biggest music deal in British history at the time[4](https://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Guardian/documents/2009/04/14/robbievtakethat.pdf) |
## Take That years and the start of a solo career
Williams found fame as a member of Take That, the boy band formed in Stoke-on-Trent's orbit in the early 1990s under manager Nigel Martin-Smith. In 1992 the first Take That single with a solo Williams lead vocal, their cover of [Barry Manilow](https://www.edgepedia.org/barry-manilow)'s "Could It Be Magic?", became the group's biggest British hit to date, and in 1993 the title track of their second album, *Everything Changes*, became the first song sung by Williams to reach Number 1.[5](https://robbiewilliams.com/blogs/news/robbie-williams-the-first-twenty-years-part-1) He left the group in the summer of 1995, three months after the release of their sixth Number 1 single, "Back For Good".[5](https://robbiewilliams.com/blogs/news/robbie-williams-the-first-twenty-years-part-1)
His solo debut single, released late in 1996, was a cover of [George Michael](https://www.edgepedia.org/george-michael)'s "Freedom '90"; it reached Number 2 in the UK but gained little traction beyond that.[6](https://los40.com/2025/07/17/cuando-robbie-williams-dejo-take-that-treinta-anos-del-gran-terremoto-en-la-historia-de-las-boy-bands/) • [7](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/robbie-williams-mn0000227697) The second single, 1997's "Old Before I Die", carried a distinct Oasis influence.[7](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/robbie-williams-mn0000227697)
## The breakthrough albums, 1997–2001
**Life Thru A Lens (1997).** Williams's first solo album became a chart-topping hit in Britain, boosted by the international success of "Angels". The single, which sold a million copies in the UK, never reached Number 1 but went on to place among the UK's Top 100 best-selling songs of all time.[1](https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/1849/robb%C4%B1e-w%C4%B1ll%C4%B1ams/) • [7](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/robbie-williams-mn0000227697)
**I've Been Expecting You (1998).** The second album went multi-platinum on release and produced his first solo Number 1 single, "Millennium", in September 1998; it also included "She's the One".[1](https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/1849/robb%C4%B1e-w%C4%B1ll%C4%B1ams/) • [7](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/robbie-williams-mn0000227697) In 1999 the US-only compilation *The Ego Has Landed*, drawn from his first two albums, was released to break him into the American market.[7](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/robbie-williams-mn0000227697)
**Sing When You're Winning (2000) and Swing When You're Winning (2001).** The third studio album arrived in late 2000 with the video hit "Rock DJ" and the duet "Kids" with [Kylie Minogue](https://www.edgepedia.org/kylie-minogue); a year later Williams released a big-band album of standards, *Swing When You're Winning*, which included "[Somethin' Stupid](https://www.edgepedia.org/somethin-stupid)" recorded with [Nicole Kidman](https://www.edgepedia.org/nicole-kidman).[7](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/robbie-williams-mn0000227697) • [8](https://music.apple.com/us/artist/robbie-williams/17973) By this point his solo work had sold far more copies than his output with Take That.[7](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/robbie-williams-mn0000227697)
## Escapology to Rudebox, 2002–2009
*Escapology* (2002) opened with the Oasis-like "How Peculiar" and ranged from the piano-based pop of "Feel", "Sexed Up", and "Love Somebody" to rockier tracks such as "Me & My Monkey".[9](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-and-Media/00s/2002/MM-2002-12-14.pdf) In 2003 Williams played to a record-breaking 375,000 people at Knebworth across three nights, and the following month earned a Guinness Book of Records entry for the most concert tickets ever sold in one day, 1.6 million, for the Close Encounters tour.[1](https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/1849/robb%C4%B1e-w%C4%B1ll%C4%B1ams/) • [10](https://robbiewilliams.com/blogs/news/robbie-williams-the-first-twenty-years-part-2) A live album, *Live at Knebworth*, followed in 2003.[11](https://www.sonymusic.es/artista/robbie-williams/)
In 2005 he signed an £80 million deal with EMI, and *Intensive Care*, released that October, achieved the largest weekly British sale of any of his albums to that point, 373,000 copies.[4](https://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Guardian/documents/2009/04/14/robbievtakethat.pdf) • [10](https://robbiewilliams.com/blogs/news/robbie-williams-the-first-twenty-years-part-2) *Rudebox* (2006) took an experimental turn but still led the UK chart, and *Reality Killed the Video Star* (2009) became the exception to his album chart record, peaking at Number 2.[3](https://los40.com/2026/01/26/robbie-williams-supera-a-los-beatles-en-reino-unido/)
## Later albums and the Number 1 record
The 2010s brought *Take the Crown* (2012), containing the hit "Candy", and *Swings Both Ways* (2013), which according to one account was the first swing album in UK chart history to debut at Number 1.[8](https://music.apple.com/us/artist/robbie-williams/17973) • [3](https://los40.com/2026/01/26/robbie-williams-supera-a-los-beatles-en-reino-unido/) *The Heavy Entertainment Show* followed in 2016 and *The Christmas Present*, his first Christmas album, in 2019.[11](https://www.sonymusic.es/artista/robbie-williams/) • [12](https://robbiewilliams.com/blogs/news) The retrospective *XXV* (2022) made him the solo artist with the most UK Number 1 albums at that point, his 14th.[13](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/singers-songwriters/yeah-i-want-that-more-than-anything-in-my-career-right-now-of-course-i-do-robbie-williams-is-gunning-to-break-the-beatles-record-of-15-uk-number-one-albums)
The record then fell twice in quick succession. The *Better Man (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)*, released in January 2025 alongside his Oscar-nominated biographical film, became his 15th UK Number 1 album and put him level with [The Beatles](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-beatles).[2](https://www.umusicpub.com/us/artists/robbie-williams) In January 2026 *BRITPOP*, an album he described as the record he wished he had made when he left Take That, secured his 16th UK Number 1 album and broke the record outright.[2](https://www.umusicpub.com/us/artists/robbie-williams) • [14](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/m-le-mag/article/2026/02/05/robbie-williams-the-nostalgic-pop-star_6750166_117.html)
## The American market
Williams's commercial dominance did not extend to the United States. By 2003, Nielsen SoundScan figures showed US sales of 569,000 units for *The Ego Has Landed* and 126,000 for *Sing When You're Winning*, and industry commentary at the time suggested "Feel" might be "too European for the American market".[15](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/00s/2003/BB-2003-03-29.pdf) "Angels" remains his best-known song there.[1](https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/1849/robb%C4%B1e-w%C4%B1ll%C4%B1ams/)
## Take That collaborations on record
Williams's discography also intersects with his old band. He rejoined Take That in 2010 for the reunion album *Progress*, which became the second fastest-selling album in UK chart history and the fastest-selling record of the century to that point, before leaving the group again in 2014.[16](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/take-that-mn0000159433/biography) • [17](https://time.com/6332204/robbie-williams-netflix-documentary-revelations/) His hits collection *In and Out of Consciousness: Greatest Hits 1990–2010* (2010) included new songs recorded with bandmate [Gary Barlow](https://www.edgepedia.org/gary-barlow).[7](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/robbie-williams-mn0000227697) Counting his three Number 1 albums with Take That (*Everything Changes*, *Nobody Else*, and *Progress*), his chart total spans four decades.[3](https://los40.com/2026/01/26/robbie-williams-supera-a-los-beatles-en-reino-unido/)
## References
1. [Robbie Williams songs and albums, full Official Chart history, Official Charts Company](https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/1849/robb%C4%B1e-w%C4%B1ll%C4%B1ams/)
2. [Robbie Williams, Universal Music Publishing Group artist page](https://www.umusicpub.com/us/artists/robbie-williams)
3. [Robbie Williams supera a los Beatles en Reino Unido, LOS40 (2026)](https://los40.com/2026/01/26/robbie-williams-supera-a-los-beatles-en-reino-unido/)
4. [Take That / Robbie Williams timeline, The Guardian (2009)](https://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Guardian/documents/2009/04/14/robbievtakethat.pdf)
5. [Robbie Williams: The First Twenty Years, Part 1, robbiewilliams.com](https://robbiewilliams.com/blogs/news/robbie-williams-the-first-twenty-years-part-1)
6. [Cuando Robbie Williams dejó Take That, LOS40 (2025)](https://los40.com/2025/07/17/cuando-robbie-williams-dejo-take-that-treinta-anos-del-gran-terremoto-en-la-historia-de-las-boy-bands/)
7. [Robbie Williams, AllMusic biography and discography](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/robbie-williams-mn0000227697)
8. [Robbie Williams, Apple Music artist page](https://music.apple.com/us/artist/robbie-williams/17973)
9. [Music & Media, 14 December 2002, World Radio History archive](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-and-Media/00s/2002/MM-2002-12-14.pdf)
10. [Robbie Williams: The First Twenty Years, Part 2, robbiewilliams.com](https://robbiewilliams.com/blogs/news/robbie-williams-the-first-twenty-years-part-2)
11. [Robbie Williams discography, Sony Music España](https://www.sonymusic.es/artista/robbie-williams/)
12. [News, robbiewilliams.com](https://robbiewilliams.com/blogs/news)
13. [Robbie Williams is gunning to break the Beatles' record of 15 UK Number One albums, MusicRadar](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/singers-songwriters/yeah-i-want-that-more-than-anything-in-my-career-right-now-of-course-i-do-robbie-williams-is-gunning-to-break-the-beatles-record-of-15-uk-number-one-albums)
14. [Robbie Williams, the nostalgic pop star, Le Monde (2026)](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/m-le-mag/article/2026/02/05/robbie-williams-the-nostalgic-pop-star_6750166_117.html)
15. [Williams Seeks To Break In U.S., Billboard, 29 March 2003, World Radio History archive](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/00s/2003/BB-2003-03-29.pdf)
16. [Take That, AllMusic biography](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/take-that-mn0000159433/biography)
17. [Robbie Williams Confronts His Darkest Moments in New Netflix Documentary, TIME (2023)](https://time.com/6332204/robbie-williams-netflix-documentary-revelations/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical works and recordings › Discographies and musical catalogues › Artist and group discographies › Pop, R&B, and Christian/gospel artist discographies*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 19, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 19, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license