Robbie Williams “gave up” trying to “crack” America because he doesn’t want to be famous in the US.
The Take That star lives in the US with his wife Ayda and their four children, but he’s never enjoyed the same levels of fame there as he’s experienced in his native UK and across the rest of the world. Now Robbie has admitted he doesn’t care about failing to establish himself as a chart star in the country he now calls home because it affords him more anonymity.
During an appearance on The Scott Mills Breakfast Show on BBC Radio 2, he explained: “I gave up on it very quickly.
“I got to America and I was promoting an album, and I was ill, I was mentally ill, and I was an addict and an alcoholic and everything was overwhelming, and I was at the top of this pile at the time, that I couldn’t manage and I couldn’t handle.
“I was thinking, what do I want? I’ve got money and I’ve sold albums, if I crack here, then I’m famous all over the world. Why do I want that? Why do I need that? And I was like, well, I don’t.”
He went on to compare himself to superhero Batman and his alter-ego Bruce Wayne, adding: “I chose to be Bruce Wayne in Los Angeles and Batman everywhere else. I might not be here if I hadn’t.”
It comes after the pop star admitted he delayed the release of his new album because he “can’t compete” with Taylor Swift.
Williams had been due to debut his record BRITPOP on October 10 – just a week after Swift launched her latest album The Life of a Showgirl – but he pushed the release back to February 2026 because the Shake It Off singer would have blocked him from topping the charts.
During an intimate show at London’s Dingwalls venue, Williams previewed songs from his new album and told the crowd he wanted to avoid releasing it at the same time as Taylor’s latest offering.
He said: “We’re all pretending it’s not about Taylor Swift, but it f****** is. You can’t compete with that.”
He added: “Here’s the truth: I want 16 Number One albums. Taylor then decided to put her album out the same weekend as me.
“I was like: ‘For f***’s sake! I’ll put it out the next week’, and they were like: ‘She does these other deluxe versions’. I was like: ‘F****** hell! Can I put it out the week after that then?’ “They were like: ‘Oasis might be around then ‘ … ‘For f***’s sake! Let’s do it in f****** February when no one’s got an album out’.”
Williams went on to say: “I was worried about making you all f****** wait, and then I was like: ‘F*** it! I want a 16th Number One album!’
“I’m sorry, but I’m f****** being selfish. How many times in your life do you get to have the most Number One albums the UK’s ever f****** had?”
A source previously told The Sun newspaper’s Bizarre column that Robbie moved the album release date because he didn’t want to jeopardise his chances of breaking chart records .
The insider said: “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 massive 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.”