Robbie Williams thinks British people are “very good at piercing the balloon of our own success”.
The 51-year-old pop star recently achieved his 16th number one with Britpop, his new album, and Robbie is now keen to recognise his achievements within the music business.
The former Take That star – who begins his Long 90s tour this week – told BBC News: “I think as British people we’re very good at piercing the balloon of our own success and undercutting it and devaluing ourselves. It’s what we do best. In many ways it’s why we’re great.
“But with this one, I really want to let it sink in and I really want to stand in the middle of it and go, ‘OK, success, do your thing to me’.”
Robbie enjoyed huge success during the so-called Britpop era in the 90s, when he left Take That and launched a solo career.
The pop star enjoyed huge success at the time, but he also suffered from depression.
Robbie shared: “I was going through my own mental illness and anything good that’s happening to somebody that is in the throes of depression … they can’t experience joy and there were lots of incredible things happening and I couldn’t experience joy from any of it.
“But now I look back at it and think, what a decade. The last great decade for popular culture because everything since then has become quite vanilla.”
Robbie now reflects on the 90s as being “an amazing time to have a bad time”.
The Angels hitmaker – who is one of the best-selling music artists of all time – said: “You don’t know 2007 from 2023, but you know the ’50s, you know the ’60s, you know the ’70s you know the ’80s and you know the ’90s and so I look back and with a wry smile and say that the ’90s was an amazing time to have a bad time.”