Britpop king Robbie Williams proves he’s still got star power
Last weekend Robbie Williams, infamously dubbed the “fat dancer from Take That” by Noel Gallagher back in the day, showed Edinburgh and his old sparring partners Oasis that he’s still got star power.
He may be a 51-year-old, grey-haired dad of four, but he is no longer fat and he can sing as well as dance. And, like Oasis, he has written some of the greatest pop anthems of the last 30 years.
Robbie, toned thanks to the diet drug Ozempic and a rigorous weight training regime, took Murrayfield by storm when he opened his Britpop tour there two Saturday nights ago. I was one of the 60,000 or so adoring fans who danced their way through his greatest hits, from Millennium to Angels. My particular favourite, Come Undone, is one of the finest pop songs ever written about the impact of sex, drugs and rock and roll on a vulnerable youngster. And while Michelle McManus is no Kylie Minogue, her duet with Robbie was as dazzling as her dress, which looked suspiciously like a Shein special.
Twenty-five years ago, Robbie and the Gallagher brothers were at loggerheads, vying to be the kings of Britpop. Now they are engaged in a battle to see who is the greatest fifty-something pop icon. My money is on Robbie. The Gallager brothers, who barely move when they are on stage, save for lead singer Liam banging a tambourine occasionally, are no match for the former boyband star.
His irresistible charisma, touching vulnerability and show-stopping wardrobe is pop magic. He is, as he told us, the ‘king of entertainment’. His rendition of Frank Sinatra’s classic My Way may have verged on the cheesy, but it was schmaltz with a touch of class.
I have no doubt that there will be tens of thousands of dads in parkas screaming for joy when Oasis strike up Live Forever at Murrayfield in August, assuming of course that Noel and Liam haven’t fallen out before their comeback tour reaches Edinburgh. And there won’t be a dry eye in the stadium when Noel warbles Wonderwall. But for me, and every loyal Robbie fan, there is only one Britpop king – he’s the one.