Robbie Williams is on course to achieve his 16th UK Number One album with ‘BRITPOP’, breaking a previous record set by The Beatles.
READ MORE: Robbie Williams – ‘BRITPOP’ review: a love letter to the ’90s and bid to live forever
The pop star surprise-released his 13th solo record last Friday (January 16), having previously postponed it from October 2025 to this February.
During a tiny gig in London last autumn, Williams confirmed that he’d delayed the original release date so that ‘BRITPOP’ didn’t clash with Taylor Swift‘s ‘The Life Of A Showgirl’.
“Here’s the truth: I want 16 Number One albums,” he told the audience. “Taylor then decided to put her album out the same weekend as me. I was like, ‘For fuck’s sake!’”
Now, Official Charts is reporting that Williams is likely to clinch the top spot yet again. Should he succeed this Friday (January 23), the singer would overtake The Beatles’ 15 UK Number One albums.
He tied with the Fab Four’s record a year ago with the Better Man soundtrack, saying: “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.”
It is said that ‘BRITPOP’ is currently leading the way in the midweek chart, with Williams being ahead of Madison Beer, Sleaford Mods and Nathan Evans/SAINT PHNX.
This week’s official albums chart will be announced here from 5:45pm on Friday.
Speaking about his decision to push back ‘BRITPOP’ at his London show in October – where he performed the album in full – Williams explained: “I was worried about making you all fucking wait, and then I was like, ‘Fuck it! I want a 16th Number One album!’
READ MORE: Robbie Williams on working with Tony Iommi, ‘BRITPOP’, Glastonbury and his bromance with Soft Play
“I’m sorry, but I’m fucking being selfish. How many times in your life do you get to have the most Number One albums the UK’s ever fucking had?”
Last week, the artist was asked about the prospect of taking The Beatles’ title. “I want that more than anything in my career right now, of course I do,” he said.
“Let me just qualify that by saying I’ve broken the matrix. When that sort of record is mentioned, and it’s me, I don’t know how that’s happened. I just know that it has. It massively makes my imposter syndrome come out to play, and the first thing I feel is embarrassed about it.”
‘BRITPOP’ contains the singles ‘Pretty Face’, ‘Rocket’, ‘Spies’ and ‘Human’, as well as a song about being Morrissey’s stalker. Williams wrote the latter cut with his former Take That bandmate Gary Barlow.
The singer will embark on a run of small UK dates next month, dubbed the ‘Long ’90s’ tour. The brief stint includes a stop at London’s O2 Brixton Academy on February 8.
In a three-star review of ‘BRITPOP’, NME described the album as “a love letter to the ’90s and [a] bid to live forever”.
“He’s standing firm. Rather than neck a BuzzBall on a Lime Bike and do his take on ‘Brat’, Robbie knows his game and has done a record for himself,” it added. “An album to be remembered for? Probably not, but it’s bold, it’s a laugh, and he’s done it his way. That’s what makes him Robbie. For that alone, he’ll live forever.”
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