“I want a hit. I don't think anybody spends 12 months writing and recording an album, making something cool, and says, 'Great, I hope this doesn't sell.' I don't understand that mind-set. I want hits: a big bunch of them.”

English singer and songwriter, born 1974

Robbie Williams is an English singer and songwriter. Born Robert Peter Williams, he came to fame as a member of Take That from 1990 to 1995, then launched a solo career in 1996. His debut solo album, Life thru a Lens, arrived in 1997 and included his best-selling single, "Angels". He followed it with I've Been Expecting You, which contained "Millennium" and "She's the One", his first two number one singles. His career has produced seven UK No. 1 singles, and all but one of his 14 studio albums reached No. 1 in the UK. In 2006, he set a Guinness World Record for selling 1.6 million tickets in a single day during the Close Encounters Tour.