Robbie Williams has delayed the release of his album Britpop to avoid a clash with Taylor Swift.
The Angels hitmaker was due to bring out his 13th solo record on October 10 – just a week after Taylor’s much-anticipated album The Life of a Showgirl drops – but has now pushed the release back to February 2026.
Those who have pre-ordered Britpop this week received an e-mail that reads: “Due to scheduling changes, Britpop will now be released on February 6, 2026.”
Robbie will surpass The Beatles as the artist with the most chart-topping albums should Britpop reach the summit but going up against Taylor could scupper his ambitions.
A source told The Sun newspaper’s Bizarre column: “Robbie will go down in the history books if he scores another No1 he’s not taking any chances.
“Taylor is undoubtedly the biggest artist in the world right now and her first-week sales are sure to eclipse any other artist who has released a record in recent years.
“The sales will still be Âmassive in the second week, so Robbie and his team decided it’s better to just move the release date.
“The new date in February has actually opened up loads more exciting opportunities, so there will be a lot happening in the New Year.”
Meanwhile, Robbie admitted last month that he would relish the chance to open for Oasis.
The 51-year-old singer famously feuded with both Noel and Liam Gallagher but admits that he would jump at the opportunity to share the stage with the Don’t Look Back in Anger rockers on their Oasis Live ’25 tour.
He told ITV News: “I would open for Oasis.
“In this moment that they’re having right now, they are omnipresent and they are the peak Zeitgeist.
“I can’t compete with that. So I would, I would open for Oasis. We’re not exactly friends, but I don’t think we’re enemies.”
Despite being branded as the “fat dancer from Take That” by Noel back in 2000, Robbie has often spoken of his love of Oasis and pays homage to the Britpop era with his latest album.
The Rock DJ singer said: “I set out to create the album that I wanted to write and release after I left Take That in 1995. It was the peak of Britpop and a golden age for British Music. I’ve worked with some of my heroes on this album; it’s raw, there are more guitars and it’s an album that’s even more upbeat and anthemic than usual. There’s some ‘Brit’ in there and there’s certainly some ‘pop’ too – I’m immensely proud of this as a body of work and I’m excited for fans to hear this album. I also can’t wait to perform a song or two from it on my upcoming Britpop tour, which I’m opening in the UK, naturally.”