Just for sharing, because I felt like it.
I am very keen on Robbie Williams. I am also keen on tearing ads/interesting pictures out of magazines. Was sorting through some old (old, old) magazines tonight, and came across an issue of Sugar from December '99. It had an interview with Robbie in it, and actually this is the interview that made me really adore him as a person, up until then I'd only cared about his music. So I thought I'd share. This is the whole thing, except for some editorial stupid comments that added nothing but teenybopper ick.
(Not actually in a bad mood. Icon used solely for Robbie reasons.)
Rob, you were in one of the hottest boy bands of the 90s, so why do you hang your Take That awards in the loo?
'Cause that's where they belong! Take That had the creativity of mentally unstable morons and were spawned by Satan, our manager Nigel Martin Smith. I still shake with fear when I think of him.
In Karma Killer, which you dedicated to him, you regret the fact Nigel's still alive. Isn't that a bit harsh?
No, he ruined me emotionally. He knows there are young people who will do anything to become famous. At 16 I was very easy to manipulate. He gives you fame and wealth and you give him a quarter of your money.
You were a millionaire by 18! It couldn't have been all bad!
Yeah, but I could never respect myself for what I did. I hated Gary Barlow, I hated Take That's music and, by the end, I hated myself. Once, we played at a school in the States and the audience was full of people who were into rap. We came on singing, "I found heaven on the wins of love." I'll take the feelings of shame I had to my grave!
Do you need to be a bit bonkers to be a successful pop star?
Hmmm, people like stars who crash from time to time. Too much self-confidence can quickly become a nail in your coffin, because people become bored of you being normal.
You once said: "To get noticed, I would climb the Eiffel Tower and write on my back 'Birds shit on me'." That sounds like you've got a major problem with your ego.
I think anyone who doesn't have an over-sized ego is never going to make it as a popstar. Take away the microphone from Robbie Williams and he's shy and insecure. I can perform in front of 80,000 people, but I become a bundle of nerves if I have to talk to someone I don't know in a bar. I still don't know who I am, but one thing I am is entertaining!
So, if you're so shy, how come you became a popstar? (Although we're glad you did!)
Because it feels good to be noticed. When you're a child inside, applause gives you confidence. Take the applause away and I become a wreck very quickly. I once thought fame could make my weaknesses disappear, but now I know fame only increases your weaknesses.
When did you discover you had problems with your self image?
My earliest childhood memory is of two boys at the beach laughing at me, because my belly was bigger than theirs. That's pretty messed up to only remember self-doubt and insecurities. Some days my belly still looks as if two puppies are fighting inside it.
When you parted company with Take That, there were rumours you were losing the plot big time. How bad did it get?
Bad. I was finished and when I feel bad, I start destroying myself. That's why I took all sorts of drugs.
In the papers you were sneered at as a "fat joke." How did that make you feel?
They were right. I was a pathetic, pitiful creature. The first thing I'd do in the morning would be finish the red wine I'd fallen asleep over two hours earlier. Then I'd take cocaine. When I tried to fall asleep I'd get paranoid, thinking, 'There are people in the room and everyone is talking about me.'
When you had a breakdown in 1997, you went into therapy. What effect did that have on you?
All I want to say is that without it, I would be dead. I'll never be able to drink again without feeling guilty.
Didn't your mum, a drugs counsellor, say you've got a tendency for self-destruction?
I might have an addictive personality. I've thought a thousand times that the worst thing I could do would be to take a line of coke, then I'd immediately call my dealer. I was that bad.
You've made a packet from your music. How do you spoil yourself?
I just ordered a £30,000 pool table in New York. I only bought it 'cause the salesman thought I couldn't afford it! That's the most ridiculous thing I own. No, the most laughable thing I own is the new single by Gary Barlow. I got it free when I bought some jazz records.
So you and Gary aren't bessie mates, then?
One of my songs is called Strong, he did one called Stronger, so I have to call my next album Strongest! But I shouldn't talk badly about Gary. His music makes mine sound like Johann Sebastian Bach and his interviews are so embarrassing, I look like a god in comparison.
Now for the question we've been dying to ask: Do you have a girlfriend right now?
No.
What happened with you and All Saints' Nic?
Something that happens to thousands of other couples. You meet someone new to go partying with. It's as simple as that.
Do you think it's a good idea when stars marry each other?
Pavarotti and Kylie Minogue may not be such a good idea! I'm married to my career at the moment, but I think my next girlfriend will probably be a star as well, just because it makes life easier. But you never know...
So you're not in love now then?
No. I only know what lust is! When I was younger, I never understood what emotional baggage was. Now I realise I carry incredible amounts of baggage with me. Before I fall in love again, I've got to sort that out and that's what I'm trying to do at the moment.
(Not actually in a bad mood. Icon used solely for Robbie reasons.)
Rob, you were in one of the hottest boy bands of the 90s, so why do you hang your Take That awards in the loo?
'Cause that's where they belong! Take That had the creativity of mentally unstable morons and were spawned by Satan, our manager Nigel Martin Smith. I still shake with fear when I think of him.
In Karma Killer, which you dedicated to him, you regret the fact Nigel's still alive. Isn't that a bit harsh?
No, he ruined me emotionally. He knows there are young people who will do anything to become famous. At 16 I was very easy to manipulate. He gives you fame and wealth and you give him a quarter of your money.
You were a millionaire by 18! It couldn't have been all bad!
Yeah, but I could never respect myself for what I did. I hated Gary Barlow, I hated Take That's music and, by the end, I hated myself. Once, we played at a school in the States and the audience was full of people who were into rap. We came on singing, "I found heaven on the wins of love." I'll take the feelings of shame I had to my grave!
Do you need to be a bit bonkers to be a successful pop star?
Hmmm, people like stars who crash from time to time. Too much self-confidence can quickly become a nail in your coffin, because people become bored of you being normal.
You once said: "To get noticed, I would climb the Eiffel Tower and write on my back 'Birds shit on me'." That sounds like you've got a major problem with your ego.
I think anyone who doesn't have an over-sized ego is never going to make it as a popstar. Take away the microphone from Robbie Williams and he's shy and insecure. I can perform in front of 80,000 people, but I become a bundle of nerves if I have to talk to someone I don't know in a bar. I still don't know who I am, but one thing I am is entertaining!
So, if you're so shy, how come you became a popstar? (Although we're glad you did!)
Because it feels good to be noticed. When you're a child inside, applause gives you confidence. Take the applause away and I become a wreck very quickly. I once thought fame could make my weaknesses disappear, but now I know fame only increases your weaknesses.
When did you discover you had problems with your self image?
My earliest childhood memory is of two boys at the beach laughing at me, because my belly was bigger than theirs. That's pretty messed up to only remember self-doubt and insecurities. Some days my belly still looks as if two puppies are fighting inside it.
When you parted company with Take That, there were rumours you were losing the plot big time. How bad did it get?
Bad. I was finished and when I feel bad, I start destroying myself. That's why I took all sorts of drugs.
In the papers you were sneered at as a "fat joke." How did that make you feel?
They were right. I was a pathetic, pitiful creature. The first thing I'd do in the morning would be finish the red wine I'd fallen asleep over two hours earlier. Then I'd take cocaine. When I tried to fall asleep I'd get paranoid, thinking, 'There are people in the room and everyone is talking about me.'
When you had a breakdown in 1997, you went into therapy. What effect did that have on you?
All I want to say is that without it, I would be dead. I'll never be able to drink again without feeling guilty.
Didn't your mum, a drugs counsellor, say you've got a tendency for self-destruction?
I might have an addictive personality. I've thought a thousand times that the worst thing I could do would be to take a line of coke, then I'd immediately call my dealer. I was that bad.
You've made a packet from your music. How do you spoil yourself?
I just ordered a £30,000 pool table in New York. I only bought it 'cause the salesman thought I couldn't afford it! That's the most ridiculous thing I own. No, the most laughable thing I own is the new single by Gary Barlow. I got it free when I bought some jazz records.
So you and Gary aren't bessie mates, then?
One of my songs is called Strong, he did one called Stronger, so I have to call my next album Strongest! But I shouldn't talk badly about Gary. His music makes mine sound like Johann Sebastian Bach and his interviews are so embarrassing, I look like a god in comparison.
Now for the question we've been dying to ask: Do you have a girlfriend right now?
No.
What happened with you and All Saints' Nic?
Something that happens to thousands of other couples. You meet someone new to go partying with. It's as simple as that.
Do you think it's a good idea when stars marry each other?
Pavarotti and Kylie Minogue may not be such a good idea! I'm married to my career at the moment, but I think my next girlfriend will probably be a star as well, just because it makes life easier. But you never know...
So you're not in love now then?
No. I only know what lust is! When I was younger, I never understood what emotional baggage was. Now I realise I carry incredible amounts of baggage with me. Before I fall in love again, I've got to sort that out and that's what I'm trying to do at the moment.