Robbie Williams has secured his 15th number one solo album, tying him with The Beatles.
The ‘Rock DJ’ hitmaker admitted it is a “huge honour” to have seen his ‘Better Man’ biopic soundtrack take the top spot in this week’s UK Official Albums Chart, with the record outselling the rest of the top five combined.
He said in a statement: “Thank you to everyone who has supported the album and the movie. What a huge honour it is to get my 15th UK Number One album. A special thank you to all my fans, whose support I never take for granted. I’m so proud of the film Better Man so to have the soundtrack album reach Number One makes it even more special.”
In combination with his work from Take That, Robbie has a total of 20 chart-topping UK albums, ranked only behind Sir Paul McCartney, who has hit the number one slot with 22 records thanks to his solo material and music with The Beatles, Wings, and with his late wife Linda McCartney.
The 50-year-old singer – who was just 16 when he joined Take That – recently expressed his hope he can have a career as long as that which Sir Rod Stewart, who is still recording and performing regularly at the age of 80, has enjoyed.
He told the Daily Star Sunday newspaper’s Wired column: “I can only guess at what my future is. And if Rod Stewart is anything to go by, I’ve had a Rod Stewart-style career, and he still gets to be Rod Stewart.
“I hope that the general public allows me to be Robbie Williams when I am Rod Stewart’s age.”
The ‘Angels’ hitmaker has just released his biopic ‘Better Man’ in the US and he hopes it will make enough of an impact for him to finally tour in North America, where he has enjoyed little success over the years.
He said: “I want to come to North America.
“Hopefully, if the success makes an ident, I will do that. I will be touring.”
Robbie recently teased his upcoming new album will feature “massive guitars” and “pop hits”.
In an interview with NME, he said of the project: “I wanted to make the album that I’d make if I’d left Take That now, knowing what I know.
“This particular song [‘Rocket’] encapsulates that perfectly. Unfortunately and fortunately for me, pop songs turned up along the way, too. I’m like: ‘Ah, f*** – a hit!’”