Ahead of his concert this month, the star takes us through his pre-concert rituals, creating Angels and more!
“If you’re lucky enough to still be around as a 50-year-old pop star, then you’ve done something right.”
British singer-songwriter and global sensation Robbie Williams is on his way to have all of Etihad Arena grooving this month.
As part of his XXV tour, the star will be performing some of his timeless classics on 18 October in Abu Dhabi, and he’s clearly doing something right – given the almost sold-out performance!
Having performed in the country before (think NYE bash at Atlantis Dubai), this is the star’s first time on stage at the iconic arena. About returning to Abu Dhabi, he says, “All I know is that whenever I’ve been in the UAE, I’ve been greeted very kindly. And there has been a there has been a lot of love beamed towards me while I’m on stage.”
The star first tasted fame as part of Take That, following which he managed to establish a larger-than-life solo career as well. Of course, a massive part of that success involved creating ‘Angels’, a song that still resonates across generations.
About the process, he says, “Well, I’d left Take That. Then I got myself into all kinds of trouble. And then I started to write songs with Guy Chambers. And I think Angels was the second song that we wrote together. And I knew that we had something very special. But from having something very special to it going out into the world and being greeted as something special was miles away at that point. But I knew that on this tape that I had when I left that studio, something important. What has happened to that song since then, I could never have imagined, but here we are.”
The star is infamous for his many eccentricities but lets us in on his nervous ticks or pre-concert rituals. Apart from the usual, Williams has ‘a sort of OCD thing’ where he fist bumps everyone in the vicinity.
So if you find yourself backstage at Etihad Arena, you’re in for the fist bump of a lifetime!
An illustrious career in music aside, Robbie Williams has also taken a step into the metaverse, fittingly with an AI version of Angels. While he believes he’s late to the party when it comes to the internet and social media, his competitive spirit keeps him interested and thereby, extremely relevant in an increasingly digital world.
From boomers to millennials and even Gen-Z, there is no dearth of love for the star across the map and years. Amid all of it, it’s not about one special fan moment, but about the feeling of sharing a kinship while on stage.
“I do know quite often, most gigs, there’ll be somebody at the front, or a group of people that are obviously going through something. And I don’t know why or what it is. Sometimes it’s quite obvious. Sometimes it’s just a feeling. But there is something about that joy that they are feeling in that moment. That is transporting them away from their problems, or whatever life moments they’re having. And I don’t know why it is that I am eliciting this emotion from them. I just know it is,” he shares.
While the singer’s focus will always remain on music and entertainment, he continues to dabble in the metaverse, hospitality, TV shows and so much more. With an unyielding spirit and massive reserves of talent at his disposal, Robbie Williams is just at the beginning of a bigger era.
Follow Yalla – Abu Dhabi Life for all the latest news across the capital and beyond
