When it comes to entertainers in the pop music world, not many are as big as Robbie Williams. The former Take That singer saw greater success as a solo artist than he did when he was part of the boy band.

So just who is this Robbie Williams?

At age 16, Williams joined Take That in 1990. Inspired by our New Kids on the Block, Take That  sold 25 million records, dominating the UK charts for the first part of the 90s, before Brit Pop took off.  Here in America, Take That are considered to be one hit wonders. Their song Back For Good was a smash, reaching number one is 31 countries and was in the top 10 in the States.

Angels is William’s greatest commercial success, being certified Double Platinum in the United Kingdom and selling 2 million copies worldwide. The song won Best British Single at the 1998 Brit Awards. In June 2005, it was voted by the British public as the best song in the past twenty-five years of British music. Not bad for a song that only reached #4 on the chart! (I always thought it was a #1…guess not.)

From there, Robbie hit number one with Millennium, inspired by the music in James Bond films thus the sample of You Only Live Twice. This lead to a number one album and string of hits. By late 1998, Robbie was on the top of the charts, selling out massive tours around the UK and Europe.

American audiences, and yours truly, were introduced to Mr. Williams when he signed with Capitol Records in 1999 and the release of The Ego Has Landed. This album was a collection of his hit singles and selected tracks from his albums. Because of this, in my opinion, this is a really strong pop album. I was head over heels for Robbie; I even had his photo taped to my locker door in high school. Unfortunately, the album wasn’t a massive hit and Williams never conquered America…just my heart.

Throughout the past decade, Williams released four albums, including Swing When Your Winning a big band album. Things did start to unravel with the release of Rubebox in 2006. The electro-pop album received very mixed reviews. While it did reach number one, it was overshadowed by the newly reunited without him Take That who were greatly outselling his album.

It appeared that Take That’s careers were climbing as quickly as Robbie’s was declining. For the next few years, Williams didn’t release anything, but instead moved to Los Angeles, went to rebab (again) and made a documentary about UFOs (causing some to question his sanity).

Earlier this fall, Williams came back to the music scene with the release of the single Bodies from the new album Reality Killed the Radio Star. He returned to the stage on the X Factor and kicked off this season of the BBC Electric Proms. Released this past week, it appears Williams has earned his ninth #1 album. Well done! Having heard the new album, I think it is one of his strongest efforts. The first single is a bit of a grower, but the second single “You Know Me” is the best song on the album.

At this point in his career, Williams has sold more albums in the UK than any other British solo artist. He has won 10 BRIT Awards, more than any other artist to date. He has sold more than 55 million albums worldwide. In 2004, he was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame as the Greatest Artist of the 1990s. He appears in the all-time Top 100 biggest selling albums in the UK six times.

There is even talk now of Robbie reuniting with Take That, whether it be on an album or tour. Things look like they’ve come full circle for Mr. Robbie Williams.

Now, if Robbie would tour the States, I’d be one happy gal…

Author Info -  When not dreaming of future trips to England, MK is usually found listening to The Beatles, reading Sherlock Holmes or watching Stephen Fry on the telly. Read more from this author

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