„I set out to create the album that I wanted to write and release after I left Take That in 1995“
Robbie Williams has announced his new album ‘BRITPOP’, previewing the record with a new track featuring a Black Sabbath legend.
The former Take That star has today (May 21) shared news of his first studio album in almost a decade, previewing the record with brand new track ‘Rocket’, featuring Tony Iommi, which he’d previously teased during an interview with NME while promoting his biopic, Better Man.
“This [track] is massive guitars, as you can imagine,” he’d previously said of the song, the music video for which is set for release this Friday (May 23). “It’s adrenaline-filled and balls-to-the-wall.” He also said that while the track was more rock-influenced, “pop songs turned up along the way” while he was working on the album.
Touching on that in a recent press release, Williams said he set out to create the album he wanted to write after leaving Take That in 1995.
“It was the peak of Britpop and a golden age for British Music,” he said. “I’ve worked with some of my heroes on this album; it’s raw, there are more guitars and it’s an album that’s even more upbeat and anthemic than usual. There’s some ‘Brit’ in there and there’s certainly some ‘pop’ too – I’m immensely proud of this as a body of work and I’m excited for fans to hear this album.”
He rounded-off by saying he couldn’t wait to “perform a song or two from it on my upcoming ‘BRITPOP’ tour, which I’m opening in the UK, naturally.” Out on Columbia Records this autumn, you can pre-order the new album here, with fans who do so before 11.59pm on May 27 in for a chance at winning a meet and greet with Williams at any show on the upcoming tour.
Formerly named the ‘Robbie Williams Live 2025’ tour, the upcoming stadium dates will see the ‘Candy’ singer perform in cities across the UK, Ireland and Europe this summer –kicking off next week (May 31) in Edinburgh before making stops in London, Manchester and Bath.
The tour will then continue across Europe with dates in countries including Ireland, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and Sweden. Find a list of new dates below, and visit here to buy tickets.
MAY
31 – Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh
JUNE
6 – Emirates Stadium, London
7 – Emirates Stadium, London
10 – Co-op Live, Manchester – SOLD OUT
11 – Co-op Live, Manchester – SOLD OUT
13 – Royal Crescent, Bath – SOLD OUT
14 – Royal Crescent, Bath – SOLD OUT
AUGUST
20 – Come Together Festival, Newcastle
The album’s cover artwork nods to one of Robbie’s most iconic looks, the red tracksuit worn to Glastonbury Festival in 1995 when he partied with Oasis at the height of the Britpop era.
In another call back to that era, Williams is notably going on tour at the same time as the Gallagher brothers’ return.
Previously commenting on the Oasis reunion, he said: “The soap opera alone will either be exciting and or ghoulish to watch. As for the shows? They’re gonna be incredible, off-the-scale special,” before going as far as calling it a “healing moment for our country.”
He continued: “Liam Gallagher reading his phone on the toilet would be more charismatic and intriguing than 99.9% of the world’s population at their most enigmatic. All he has to do is stand there and sing for the audience to be guaranteed their money’s worth,” before taking a slight jibe at his brother: “Noel will be there too.”
The world’s defining voice in music and pop culture: breaking what’s new and what’s next since 1952.
When you purchase through affiliate links on NME.com, you may contribute to our site through commissions. Learn more
© 2025 NME is part of NME Networks.