Robbie Williams on addiction: ‘I’m only seconds away from it at all times’

In an exclusive interview with Stellar, Robbie Williams gets candid about his relationship with drugs and alcohol, reveals why he’s always getting naked, and shares how Olivia Newton-John inspired his career.

The end of this month marks 25 years since you released your debut solo album Life Thru A Lens, and you’re embarking on a full-blown anniversary campaign with a new one called XXV.

Robbie Williams: One of the first singles is called “Lost”, and you’ve described it as being “about the times in my life when I’ve abandoned myself to reckless behaviour”.

How do you sing about your past from the perspective of now?

RW: Because it’s not very far away, always. The tragedy of addiction follows me all the time, and with every choice that I make, there is a tightrope, and a door that can open at any given moment, and I can go back into that room.

There is a lower energy that exists inside me that will constantly try to push me back into that room. So I’m only seconds away from it at all times.

Does singing help?

RW: You know, I’ve always sung from my diary. And I guess it’s cathartic. The only way I know how to write songs is to express what I’m feeling at any given moment. Does singing help? I don’t think it is unhelpful.

The new album reimagines your biggest hits with an orchestra, which is an expensive exercise. As a father of four, do you worry about how much these big projects are going to cost you?

RW: I do now – (but) I didn’t at the time. They’re not cheap. I suppose it will be one of the last times I’ll be doing anything like this.

You’re nude on the album cover, have conducted interviews from your bed sans clothes and, of course, there’s your 2000 “Rock DJ” music video in which you strip. Why are you constantly in the buff?

RW: I don’t like wearing clothes; I don’t feel comfortable in them. I just at least want to be in pyjamas.

I suppose that when I take moments to do these Zoom calls, where do I feel the most comfortable? I feel the most comfortable in bed. And what do I feel the most comfortable wearing in bed? Nothing.

So I’m going to be as comfortable as possible when I lay myself naked with the words that I’m espousing. (Editor’s note: Williams is not naked during this interview.)

Do you wish you could perform nude?

RW: If I had a bigger c*ck, yeah. But I just don’t. It would be so much of a let-down. I’ve always said it’s an optical illusion: it’s not that I’ve got a small c*ck, it’s just I’ve got massive thighs!

Robbie Williams: “(Kylie) will forever be my crush” Picture: Leo Baron / Farrell Music, featuring in Stellar.

Your new version of ‘Kids’ again features Kylie Minogue, and she kicks things off by asking, “Want to do this one more time?” Were you together in the studio?

RW: Well, it was Covid... Kylie re-recorded the vocal, which I’m very grateful for. That was a nice turn she did for me. She will forever be my crush.

Was Olivia Newton-John also a crush? Did she loom large in your life, whether through film or music?

RW: Yeah, in a very big way. I was with John Travolta the week before she passed away. She, and he, made my life in this industry possible – they were the first performers I recognised where (I thought), “That’s me. That’s what I want to do.”

XXV also appears to draw inspiration from the Bee Gees on the new song ‘Disco Symphony’. Is it time for disco to be given its due after the backlash Barry Gibb and his brothers suffered in the late ’70s?

RW: You could tell from interviews over the years that destroyed them and their confidence and their happiness and their wellbeing – from that pile-on over something that was so beautiful and magical.

When people talk about bands, they only talk about The Rolling Stones and The Beatles – and the other people they should be talking about in the same way [is] the Bee Gees. They just made magic.

You’re in Ibiza with the family as you take this call. Are you enjoying this gypsy life or have you and your wife Ayda Field decided on where to call home?

RW: I’m kind of enjoying being constantly in flux. I realised that when we started this journey with these four beings and me and her, that we were constantly travelling and looking for an answer, and then problems present themselves. And then another problem presents itself.

So what you were complaining about three years ago… has it changed?

RW: What I realise now is: this is our lot. This is what happens with us. No need to get stressed about it. Just float down the stream and put down your belongings when everything’s settled and you understand what is happening in your life.

Procrastination can be a wonderful thing.

RW: Yeah, but we procrastinate and we’re impulsive, so we kind of buy things in the wrong places, then realise that where we thought the kids were going to go to school, they’re now going to be homeschooled.

But, we need to put down our roots before high school starts... there’s all sorts of domestic f*ckery.

Do you think there is potential for a Williams family band featuring your children Teddy, Charlie, Coco and Beau?

RW: Yeah, but everyone will want to be the lead singer, I can already tell.

What’s wrong with that?

RW: Well… ask Gary Barlow.

Robbie Williams features in this Sunday’s Stellar. Picture: Daniel Nadel.

XXV is out on Friday. Robbie Williams will perform at the 2022 AFL Grand Final in Melbourne on September 24.

Originally published as Robbie Williams on addiction: ‘I’m only seconds away from it at all times’