Robbie Williams: "I would love to sing with Estopa, the Spanish Oasis!"

Robbie Williams, who shares the story of his life in the film ‘Better Man’, talks about his battle with anxiety and mental health issues on the road to the tour that will bring him to Barcelona on July 5.

How should we interpret that his character in ‘Better Man’ is represented by a monkey? Is it a metaphor about the animal nature of human beings, a joke about his role as a fairground attraction...?

No, no, no, there's no metaphor. Maybe it was for Michael Gracey, the director, but to me, it just seemed like a damn good, unusual, and bold idea. I'd like to give a deeper, more meaningful answer, but no, it just seemed like a great madness, an absurdity. A huge, gigantic, ridiculousness. Some people have had a hard time understanding it, but when they see it, they realize that the monkey plays the role better.

Coming from a time when you've aired very private issues, related to depression, addictions... Is the film the final act of that period?

I think what the movie means to me, and what it actually represents, is not very clear yet. It reflects a long journey, I'm proud of it and that all those people have come into my life, and that Michael Gracey directed it so well. I've had faith in him, and in myself, and in my story, but it all overwhelms me. It's so incredible that I still don't fully understand what it means.

In your 2023 concerts in Spain you already spoke openly about your personal problems and said that your 'shows' were therapeutic. Do you still need that kind of live therapy?

The concerts were brutal, with a very warm response from the audience. But every day is like a school day, really, and I like to say that I'm less crazy every day, but still crazy anyway. Anyway, I'm better, but I can be better.

But do you feel more centered than two years ago?

In the last two weeks, anxiety has visited me again. It's strange because I hadn't felt like this for a long time, but I think when you have a complicated inner life you never reach complete peace, you never fully heal. You just learn to cope with it. It's a process that accompanies you all your life.

When you started with Take That in the 90s, these mental health issues were not part of the public conversation for a pop artist. Do you feel that you now connect with your audience through this channel?

We have a mental illness epidemic and it doesn't matter if you're a pop star, or an accountant, or a schoolboy. I'm lucky because now I'm at the end of the process, looking back and saying "phew, I'm not in the middle anymore." I can speak from experience. But part of the problem with my mental illness is that I talk too much about myself, I expose myself too much, and people respond to all that. But, look, it's 2025 and we're all screwed, and it's good that we talk about it.

What would you say to the 21-year-old Robbie, back in 1995, when you were at your peak with Take That and about to go solo?

I could write an entire book with the things I would tell him, but he wouldn't read it, nor listen to what I said. There's so much to tell him... The main thing is that people want to be loved, to feel safe, and to know if everything is going to be okay. And I can tell myself that everything is going to be okay. But there's a whole journey here. It's a matter of waiting and enduring.

What is your relationship with music like now? You haven't released an album of new songs since 2019.

There's a new album coming out this year. In September, I think. It's too early to talk about it, but I can say it will be a guitar album.

Will there be songs from that album at the Barcelona concert on July 5?

I'll sing some. Even though the album comes out later, I'll release some tracks before the tour and also during the tour.

In fact, there's a new song, 'Forbidden Road', on the 'Better Man' soundtrack. A quiet, acoustic track.

The movie needed a kind of embrace at the end, because the last half hour is quite traumatic, very emotional, and there needed to be a song there that made you know everything is okay, that you can breathe. That's what the song is about.

The music world, the industry, has changed a lot since the 90s. Is there anything that worries you about the way music is listened to, or consumed, nowadays?

My concerns are about myself, in a selfish way. I don't want to have less success than I had in 2002. I don't want to be less recognized or relevant. And of course, I can't be the same as a 51-year-old guy, but my concerns are about me, my family, and my career. Issues like Artificial Intelligence are fascinating, but I've never understood the music industry and I still don't understand it.

The live scene is a bit wild. All those stadiums filled with your friends from Oasis. Are you surprised?

That they got together was something that probably had to happen, and it didn't surprise me, and the size of the tour either. They are a very, very important band and mean a lot to many people. Their tour will be healing for all that audience who can get nostalgic and remember who they were when they were fitter, healthier, and more exultant.

Nostalgia is a driver of pop and show business. Do you like that it is also in your 'shows'?

Sure, I must know my place. Music and songs are time machines. It's my job every night, to guard my own time machine and make sure it works properly.

And, well, will there be a meeting one day or another with Estopa, whom you have invited to sing at the Barcelona concert? They won't be able to be there, they have a performance that night at the Río Babel festival in Madrid.

The two brothers, of course! We haven't contacted yet, but that should happen. Yes, of course, I would love to sing with them. I listened to some of their music while promoting the movie in Spain. They are the Spanish Oasis!